F1 2016 How to break bad habits

[Booth.the.doberman]

This doesn't really apply just to F1 2016. For me, it applies to all driving games. I have this bad habit and it's killing me. As I am approaching a corner--especially one after a long straight--I find I have a tendency to start moving the car over to the inside of the track. As a result, I end up either having to over-rotate the steering wheel after passing the apex (which generally results in a spin) or I run wide into the grass at mid-corner. Or I have to slow down and brake so much so I can make the corner that other cars simply pull away from me leaving the corner. I believe I do this because I'm afraid I will miss the corner/turn-in so I start "cheating" in. Also, there's years of real-world street driving where you stay in your lane.

Has anyone else here faced and conquered something like this? A few tips (other than drive/practice more, which ends up enforcing the bad habit rather than correcting it) or tricks?

 

[Colin O Callaghan]

Learn the track mate, watch videos on youtube and turn on the race lines to show correct path till you get really good at a track practising then turn off when you are comfortable and make your own adjustments or change where you think you can gain time... i know its a long process but thats how i got better. for example i spent around 3 months on assetto corsa spa track with ferrari gt2 and never raced anything else nor different cars as they have different lines and speeds and now i have mastered it, i have changed onto f1 2016 now and will start from scratch as this year codies did a great job. Hope this helps.

 

[Danimal5981]

If you're steering too early, it means you're not "watching"... too fixed on corner entry, which is why it would help to focus on the opposite side than the turn-in (if that makes sense). For instance, focus on the 50-100-150m bords before the corner: choose a braking point first and a turn-in point after. But you need to focus on fixed points on/alongside the track, not on your vehicle before turn-in...

 

[Booth.the.doberman]

This brings up a good point about the race line feature that you can turn on. It does little to help you learn the track because you end up focusing on the line and not where you are on the track. Once you turn it off, you probably have no idea where you were braking or starting your turn-in...you did it when the line was yellow or red. Fixating on the corner is the key, I think. I used to ride a motorcycle and that's one place that target fixation becomes more evident. If you see something and you fixate on it, you will run over it no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I think I'm so intent on looking for the corner that I start creeping into it too soon. That also explains why I drive better when I'm trailing another car because I focus on him rather than on the corner. I need blindersAlso, I think I need to get a little more precise about my brake and turn-in marks. Right now, I brake "around the 100 board" and turn in "soon after." I suspect that's a little too loose.

 

[DrDetroit]

Do not focus on what you want to avoid, like a crash or bad line. Instead look where you want to put the vehicle. Seems like a simple statement and concept but it's something that is learned. You have to make a conscious effort and practice to avoid that very bad behavior. It's all too natural to focus on what you want to avoid instead of where you want to be. Typically where you are looking is where the vehicle will go.

I learned this racing downhill MTB for NORBA for many years as semi-pro rider. It was easy and natural to fixate on parts of the trail I wanted to avoid which actually put my bike on that line that I wanted to stay out of. Focusing on that nasty rutted dropoff I wanted to stay out of caused me to hit it or take the bad/dangerous line. Instead it took a conscious effort to focus on the optimal fast (and safe) line I wanted to take and ignore the mess and very dangerous parts. As a natural consequence I took the better line by not focusing on where I didn't want to be. Hope that makes sense.

I disagree about the racing line offering little help because you are focusing on the line. Having the line turned on helps to know and learn what marker to start breaking at and what part of the track to be on for optimal turn-in, where the apex starts, and where to accelerate out of the apex, based on track markers (or trees or the dent in the retaining wall, what have you), not the line per-se. If you simply focus on the line only without taking in the important part of learning what marker to focus on and where to be on the track that the racing line shows you at certain phases of the turn; then yes, it's not very helpful because you are not using that tool correctly.

Anyhow, that's my $0.02 worth.

Good day!
DrDetroit

 

[Giovaneveterano]

This explain a lot of things, have a look mate, it's helpful

 

[JayJayRaceinho]

yeah, learning and knowing the track AND the car is the most important. Some cars need some 'throttle' on the corners, some more, some less. Just have a focused look what the best combo is for the car to drive through a corner and where the point comes, where it either oversteers or understeers. Even though i'm a experienced driver, jumping from one sim to an other after several weeks/months still makes me look like a noob in the first laps driving those 'difficult' cars again ... gt3's are easy f.e.