I'm struggling with it

[RTA]

I have been playing this game since last year on my PS4 without any complaints. Then, last week, I bought it on Steam. The game on PC is better to handle. I managed to be faster (trial time) than was on the console version.
But here comes the career mode.
I put the AI in 92 and started a career with McLaren (done that before on PS4). During the second GP, in Saudi Arabia, I was on Pole. I even thought about increasing AI level, but during the race things got insane.
I can only defend myself for about 3 laps. As soon as the DRS is enabled and my ERS drops to 0, I become a sitting duck. There's no way to catch the race pace of the other cars - and I'm talking about the whole grid, my lap times went slower than Haas. It's like they never ran out of battery, just my car.
Of course, it could be me failing somehow to manage ERS. But, as I said before, I never had this problem on PS4.

[Ghostie Boy -iwnl-]

Kind of experiencing a similar issue, but on a lower AI level. I think part of it is because they updated the driver stats to be more "reflective of IRL stats" or whatever, but it seems ESPECIALLY difficult right now. I hear ya on that one bro. Even with ERS, DRS, and at full throttle on a long straight the driver in front of me is STILL pulling away.

All I can think is its A) driver stats were changed and B) the car just needs to be upgraded more.

[hsf_]

Originally posted by RTA:

I have been playing this game since last year on my PS4 without any complaints. Then, last week, I bought it on Steam. The game on PC is better to handle. I managed to be faster (trial time) than was on the console version.
But here comes the career mode.
I put the AI in 92 and started a career with McLaren (done that before on PS4). During the second GP, in Saudi Arabia, I was on Pole. I even thought about increasing AI level, but during the race things got insane.
I can only defend myself for about 3 laps. As soon as the DRS is enabled and my ERS drops to 0, I become a sitting duck. There's no way to catch the race pace of the other cars - and I'm talking about the whole grid, my lap times went slower than Haas. It's like they never ran out of battery, just my car.
Of course, it could be me failing somehow to manage ERS. But, as I said before, I never had this problem on PS4.

If you are hitting 0 on your ERS after 3 laps then you are most definitely not managing your ERS very well.

That being said, during almost all of my races the cars in the top 5 of a race seem to be very competitive until the pits open. After that they seemingly decline to the point where I have a 15-20 second lead by the end of the race.

[RTA]

Originally posted by Ghostie Boy -iwnl-:

Kind of experiencing a similar issue, but on a lower AI level. I think part of it is because they updated the driver stats to be more "reflective of IRL stats" or whatever, but it seems ESPECIALLY difficult right now. I hear ya on that one bro. Even with ERS, DRS, and at full throttle on a long straight the driver in front of me is STILL pulling away.

All I can think is its A) driver stats were changed and B) the car just needs to be upgraded more.

What makes me confused is, if I'm able to set the fast lap on the qualify, I should be getting a stronger pace during the beginning of the race, at least until burning all my tyres down. But it is simply impossible apparently.
And, as you mentioned, the AI speed on straight is something else, indeed!

[RTA]

Originally posted by hsf_:

Originally posted by RTA:

I have been playing this game since last year on my PS4 without any complaints. Then, last week, I bought it on Steam. The game on PC is better to handle. I managed to be faster (trial time) than was on the console version.
But here comes the career mode.
I put the AI in 92 and started a career with McLaren (done that before on PS4). During the second GP, in Saudi Arabia, I was on Pole. I even thought about increasing AI level, but during the race things got insane.
I can only defend myself for about 3 laps. As soon as the DRS is enabled and my ERS drops to 0, I become a sitting duck. There's no way to catch the race pace of the other cars - and I'm talking about the whole grid, my lap times went slower than Haas. It's like they never ran out of battery, just my car.
Of course, it could be me failing somehow to manage ERS. But, as I said before, I never had this problem on PS4.

If you are hitting 0 on your ERS after 3 laps then you are most definitely not managing your ERS very well.

That being said, during almost all of my races the cars in the top 5 of a race seem to be very competitive until the pits open. After that they seemingly decline to the point where I have a 15-20 second lead by the end of the race.

Are you able to harvest energy normally when starting a new career with a tier 2 team? Or did the lack of development affect it in the beginning? Since my battery is drained, the gain is slow and the difference in speed without ERS, when compared to AI cars, is huge.

Funny you mentioned the loss of performance of AI cars during your races. In F122 I used to face the opposite, they saved all their power and tyres till the last stint. It was hard to defend, and, usually, the fastest times were set on the last lap.

[Ghostie Boy -iwnl-]

Originally posted by RTA:

Originally posted by Ghostie Boy -iwnl-:

Kind of experiencing a similar issue, but on a lower AI level. I think part of it is because they updated the driver stats to be more "reflective of IRL stats" or whatever, but it seems ESPECIALLY difficult right now. I hear ya on that one bro. Even with ERS, DRS, and at full throttle on a long straight the driver in front of me is STILL pulling away.

All I can think is its A) driver stats were changed and B) the car just needs to be upgraded more.

What makes me confused is, if I'm able to set the fast lap on the qualify, I should be getting a stronger pace during the beginning of the race, at least until burning all my tyres down. But it is simply impossible apparently.
And, as you mentioned, the AI speed on straight is something else, indeed!

Idk why it seems like there is such a massive difference between quali and the race. One thing I attributed it to is the ERS deployment setting. in quali it gives a little bit of power the entire lap to help bolster lap times. but during the race it only gives a large amount power when activated, if that makes sense. But that's the only thing I can think that would cause such a difference.

I am attributing most of my "issues" to a mix of skill (I am not the most amazing racer, I wont even lie about that lol), AI difficulty (which I could adjust but a challenge is nice) and overall car development. A more developed car has helped a LOT on past games so I am just trying to get to that point right now where I can have a competitive car and get those major upgrades in.

[Maya-Neko]

Overall, pace can vary throughout different GPs. Being good at one doesn't really say anything about how good you are in the next one. Obviously being a 92 driver in one race doesn't make you a 50 driver in another, but you can expect it to be like +-5 depending on how good you've trained on each map or depending on which maps fit your driving style.

Also the setup can play a huge role, especially if you've build your setup on the edge for hotlap times, making it a great option for qualifying, but then when the weight of the fuel gets added, sometimes that's already enough to loose tons of pace until like the 2nd half of the race. Not saying, that this is the case, but being fast in quali and slow in the race usually hints towards this. If you've never done a proper test with full weight in training, then it's also often just luck dependant, if you've a good performing car or not for the race, especially for 50% or 100% races (and unluckily, the game always only gives you barely enough fuel for the programs, so a proper test needs to be done manually, outside of the training programs).

As for ERS, never let it drop below 10 % if possible, since at that point the ERS will reduce its power output further, making you even more susceptible for overtakings, even on tracks where defending is relatively easy. If you've the option, maybe let them overtake and utilize DRS yourself to save up on some ERS. But no matter what to do, don't try to defend a position you've already lost 3 laps ago. If you decide to not accept the defeat, then that usually opens you up to loose even more positions than just like 1-2.

[hsf_]

Originally posted by RTA:

Originally posted by hsf_:

If you are hitting 0 on your ERS after 3 laps then you are most definitely not managing your ERS very well.

That being said, during almost all of my races the cars in the top 5 of a race seem to be very competitive until the pits open. After that they seemingly decline to the point where I have a 15-20 second lead by the end of the race.

Are you able to harvest energy normally when starting a new career with a tier 2 team? Or did the lack of development affect it in the beginning? Since my battery is drained, the gain is slow and the difference in speed without ERS, when compared to AI cars, is huge.

Funny you mentioned the loss of performance of AI cars during your races. In F122 I used to face the opposite, they saved all their power and tyres till the last stint. It was hard to defend, and, usually, the fastest times were set on the last lap.

I just started a new career today and my energy harvesting is terrible as a non-competitive back marker. However I still managed my ERS reasonably well and it wasn't until lap 7 or 8 that I needed to stop using it for a few laps. I managed to finish 13th after qualifying 20th and there was only 1 retirement. I'll see how I do on Saudi Arabia later, as I am not particularly good at that track.

I didn't play F1 22 so I can't comment on that.