Car back at the back of the grid in season 2

[Xivilor]

So I started my own team, got yuki and drugovich. Spent 2 full atr periods on an underfloor and front wing, to build a second part of both, and then a single upgraded part for all the other parts. The other atr periods I spent all on 1 research part each and at the end of the season my cars were between p4-p8. I upgraded some facilities, everyone was happy but when I got to the next season and build some of the new parts I found that my car is now back at the grid again. My driver's finished 16 and 18. Am I doing something wrong? Should I also spam research without spending the atr points?

[AoD_lexandro]

The problem stems from your engineers lack of expertise points.

When using ATR you are adding a bonus on top of their maximum expertise. That means the next few parts will not be as good as they now need to gain more expertise to match it without the ATR allocation.

Essentially you are stacking buffs and not getting enough XP back to compensate next year for not having said buffs. What I do is make all ATR parts "intense" development with 1 engineer to gain maximum expertise while making the part. Using "intense" increases the XP gain from making the part, and using only 1 engineer gives the maximum bonus XP.

This means when you get to making a new car your stats are higher from the "intense" bonus XP, which makes your base car better.

[udtojan95]

Also one mistake is to research too early. You should minimum developing car parts until the Zandvoort or Monza Grand Prix. Research is just a bonus or to reduce the nerf for next season. It doesnt mean that you car parts are getting better for the next season.

If u have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ car part and you research, it might get not worse but it stays ♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Simplified:

Car part has a value of 50 --- research bonus 10%---- Your value is 55
Car part has a value of 30 --- research bonus 50% ---- Your value is 45

It is very simplified just to explain. Ofcourse the system is much more complex.
But as you see, even you research much more, your value is still lower. So focus on developing the car and spend money for researching in the last 1/3 of the season.

And if the rule changes are only slightly i would recommend doing research only in the last ATR period.

[Xivilor]

So if I understand correctly I should upgrade the car as much as possible the first half of the season, prioritizing using atr to maximize expertise? And use research in the second half of the season only to counter the regulation changes for the next season?

How would the ideal upgrade/development for the first and second season look like?

[High Ground]

Originally posted by udtojan95:

Also one mistake is to research too early. You should minimum developing car parts until the Zandvoort or Monza Grand Prix. Research is just a bonus or to reduce the nerf for next season. It doesnt mean that you car parts are getting better for the next season.

If u have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ car part and you research, it might get not worse but it stays ♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Simplified:

Car part has a value of 50 --- research bonus 10%---- Your value is 55
Car part has a value of 30 --- research bonus 50% ---- Your value is 45

It is very simplified just to explain. Ofcourse the system is much more complex.
But as you see, even you research much more, your value is still lower. So focus on developing the car and spend money for researching in the last 1/3 of the season.

And if the rule changes are only slightly i would recommend doing research only in the last ATR period.

That's... completely wrong. It's not "more complex" it's just totally not that.

The research bonus is an additive functionning with regards to expertise, not a multiplier !

Expertise is a single value (per stat, per part) that is grown daily when doing projects.
Expertise gain is lower when at a higher value (let's say arround +3% at 30% for a project, but only +2% when at 50%).
Design uses current expertise value for its gain, while research uses post regulation hit expertise value, which means it'll grow at least as fast (no regulation on that stat x piece) or faster than design.

Research has 2 advantages over design :
- Better expertise payoff
- Better control on the expertise repartition on different stats of a piece (design sliders affect slightly expertise gain, research sliders affect it A LOT)

Research has 1 massive disadvantage over design :
- You do not get to "cash in" that expertise growth" until next season

Research being a faster expertise growth also means it's optimal if you're limited in money/cost cap since you won't have to build the new parts.


Note : Research is pointless to do in between two design projects as the expertise gain is for next year, so one true thing you said is to not research too early.

AI car development is usually :
- 1x Intense design
- 2x Regular design
- 2x Regular research

If you need to catch up (start from the bottom), given that there is time to do so, either go for 4x Regular Design + 2x Research.

[High Ground]

Originally posted by Xivilor:

So if I understand correctly I should upgrade the car as much as possible the first half of the season, prioritizing using atr to maximize expertise? And use research in the second half of the season only to counter the regulation changes for the next season?

How would the ideal upgrade/development for the first and second season look like?

First season (for created team that has lower cost cap due to buy-in) is usually 3 Regular designs + 2 Regular research. Second year and on, you can do a 4th regular design or even start the year with 1 intense (be careful, it'll eat a lot of money/cost cap, so only do that if you don't plan on doing much upgrades to instalations)

I usually try to split ATR between all pieces, because the most important part of ATR isn't the bonus to stats, but the fact each unit (1h of tunnel or 0.1 MAH of MFN) is worth 1 day of expertise gain (which is a lot given you get 69 + 92 units [ = 161] every 60 days as 10th / 11th in basic regulations). That means, since you have 4 slots, that ATR is worth 40% of your progress when beginnning.
Not spreading it means getting behind on some pieces that might bite you in the ass later.

Avoid using more than 1 engineer : less days in design -> less expertise gain.
Also : don't upgrade MFN and Wind Tunnel past lvl 1, it's worthless, especially once you get higher on the grid.

[The Edge]

Originally posted by High Ground:

Originally posted by Xivilor:

So if I understand correctly I should upgrade the car as much as possible the first half of the season, prioritizing using atr to maximize expertise? And use research in the second half of the season only to counter the regulation changes for the next season?

How would the ideal upgrade/development for the first and second season look like?

First season (for created team that has lower cost cap due to buy-in) is usually 3 Regular designs + 2 Regular research. Second year and on, you can do a 4th regular design or even start the year with 1 intense (be careful, it'll eat a lot of money/cost cap, so only do that if you don't plan on doing much upgrades to instalations)

I usually try to split ATR between all pieces, because the most important part of ATR isn't the bonus to stats, but the fact each unit (1h of tunnel or 0.1 MAH of MFN) is worth 1 day of expertise gain (which is a lot given you get 69 + 92 units [ = 161] every 60 days as 10th / 11th in basic regulations). That means, since you have 4 slots, that ATR is worth 40% of your progress when beginnning.
Not spreading it means getting behind on some pieces that might bite you in the ass later.

Avoid using more than 1 engineer : less days in design -> less expertise gain.
Also : don't upgrade MFN and Wind Tunnel past lvl 1, it's worthless, especially once you get higher on the grid.

Frontier apologist ?

[High Ground]

Originally posted by The Edge:

Originally posted by High Ground:

First season (for created team that has lower cost cap due to buy-in) is usually 3 Regular designs + 2 Regular research. Second year and on, you can do a 4th regular design or even start the year with 1 intense (be careful, it'll eat a lot of money/cost cap, so only do that if you don't plan on doing much upgrades to instalations)

I usually try to split ATR between all pieces, because the most important part of ATR isn't the bonus to stats, but the fact each unit (1h of tunnel or 0.1 MAH of MFN) is worth 1 day of expertise gain (which is a lot given you get 69 + 92 units [ = 161] every 60 days as 10th / 11th in basic regulations). That means, since you have 4 slots, that ATR is worth 40% of your progress when beginnning.
Not spreading it means getting behind on some pieces that might bite you in the ass later.

Avoid using more than 1 engineer : less days in design -> less expertise gain.
Also : don't upgrade MFN and Wind Tunnel past lvl 1, it's worthless, especially once you get higher on the grid.

Frontier apologist ?

Nah the game is bugged af and AI somehow forgot how to play it between '23 and '24.
I don't see how giving tips and explaining how to play makes me a Frontier apologist though.

[LEGO Meerjungfraumann]

How I did it was focus on designing front and rear wings as well as the underfloor (to have good values in all 3 types of cornering)

Use the pre-season month to design parts too. Once research unlocks: Depending on how major the new regulations are, have 2-3 research going at the same time during ATR (keeping at least 1 design devlopment going as you need to still keep up with the rest.)

Example: For me, 2026 was a major overhaul so I did 1 design and 3 research for every ATR period from april 2025 to the end of the season. Went from 7th in 2025 to winning both titles in 2026 (since my car was 1st in cornering for nearly all races in the season.)

[udtojan95]

Originally posted by author:

Also : don't upgrade MFN and Wind Tunnel past lvl 1, it's worthless, especially once you get higher on the grid.

Thats not correct. It might be correct at the beginning. But if you reached maximum expertise, it can make sense to build new CDF and Windtunnel to get more maximum expertise.

[High Ground]

Originally posted by udtojan95:

Originally posted by author:

Also : don't upgrade MFN and Wind Tunnel past lvl 1, it's worthless, especially once you get higher on the grid.

Thats not correct. It might be correct at the beginning. But if you reached maximum expertise, it can make sense to build new CDF and Windtunnel to get more maximum expertise.

The regulation hits and cost cap should relatively prevent you from hitting that, you're better off spending your cost cap somewhere else usually (that was what was calculated as best performance compared to other facilities).
Remember that if you're max expertise, you're probably high on the grid with low hours, so the even is even lower.