Can we talk FIA qualifying

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Sean Renon

Sean Renon

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What is it with people during the live qualifying laps, we're all here for one purpose - and that's to set the fastest lap we can in the 10 minutes we have.
Realistically this allows for 2-3 flying laps depending on your strategy, for the shorter tracks maybe a bit more.

Yet people are just downright inconsiderate, and I fail to understand why.

Last night during the manufacturer race I had 1 good lap set already that I was happy with (1.28.077), so I pitted to get fresh tires but keep my fuel low and was setting up for my flying lap when two boneheads about 2.5 seconds up the road decided to get into a fist fight on the last turn.
One of them pits, the other continues on a lap (however he is going VERY slow now).

I make up the ground on him quickly, and as we're coming up to the start/finish line I'm flashing my blinkers like crazy to let him know I'm coming through on a hot lap, he moves to the side as if to let me past - then swerves back in front of me and slams on the brakes.
Like, I'm already P1 - I didn't do anything to you, this is supposedly in the top sportsmanship lobby yet we still get clowns like this that deliberately ruin other people's laps.

I just don't understand people.
 
Agreed.... so frustrating. I had some guy sideswipe me as I overtook him when qualifying once :banghead: also, plenty of blocking.
 
If you want to do qualifying wait for everybody else to leave the pits and start last or second last. I know this will eat up time but its better than getting rammed or sideswiped by people who think its a race.
 
SestoScudo
If you want to do qualifying wait for everybody else to leave the pits and start last or second last. I know this will eat up time but its better than getting rammed or sideswiped by people who think its a race.
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The OP was talking about an incident near the end of qualifying, after already doing a lap at the start.

And anyway, that still doesn't actually solve the cause of the issue does it. It just hides it. Plus, what if everyone thinks 'oh let's go out a little bit later', then you'll have the exact same problem of unsportsmanlike drivers blocking in qualifying.
 
Had this a couple of evenings ago on Lago Maggiore. I got rammed off the road twice, and a penalty for cutting a corner whilst avoiding two other cars that were fighting in front of me. Ended up only getting 1 'clean' lap some 7 seconds off the pace and qualifying 17th as a result.

Mainly just kids that see it as more online track time and don't give a toss about others.

That said I've had a number of occasions where the person who's set the fastest lap then cruises around for a bit and gets in the way of others still trying to better their times.
 
SestoScudo
If you want to do qualifying wait for everybody else to leave the pits and start last or second last. I know this will eat up time but its better than getting rammed or sideswiped by people who think its a race.
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The problem is that by lap 2 or 3 it all spreads out or bunches again anyway. Also, quite a lot of people do this, so same problem applies...
 
I think it boils down to it being:
  • Unmarshalled virtual racing
  • Open to anyone with a PS4 and a copy of GTS
  • Without real people watching the racing (with live replays to look at, with the ability to take action against people in a race as it happens)

People are just going to take the piss. I don't foresee the penalty system getting anywhere near clever enough to stop this and take the place of human beings (AI anyone?)

Private user made championships are where the more serious fun is at I think. I've not done much Sport mode really, randomers don't tend to race clean.
 
Once again there is the exploit of BB Raceway where drivers rub the warm into Turn 1 so they can brake later. Well Done for making such an exploit possible PD !!
 
i say we need 15 to 20 mins depend km and size of the track, and once you enter the race in free practices you should have tire ware and fuel to test cars and strategy. also we should be allowed to run soft and super soft tires in qualifying
 
Sometimes it can be difficult on the tracks with big slipstream, I am thinking of places like the ovals for instance.

Last time I tried one of them, I had a guy perfectly in my slip stream coming out of the sharp corner on blue moon. I could see him catching me very quickly and even though I was on a decent lap myself I gave him space inside me and he ended up getting pole. If I had taking my line I would have completely blocked him, but I would have qualified a couple of places ahead of where I did. And I couldn't use his slipstream back as there was no time left for a full lap.

Not sure what the etiquette is in that situation because he was only that fast because of the great tow I gave him, think he was about 8th before that lap.
 
SestoScudo
If you want to do qualifying wait for everybody else to leave the pits and start last or second last. I know this will eat up time but its better than getting rammed or sideswiped by people who think its a race.
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Its better to do this, at least getting 1 decent lap in.
 
Crazybutt198
Its better to do this, at least getting 1 decent lap in.
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My first lap was fine, I actually was first out of pits (I was one of the higher ranked in the lobbies), and ended up deciding to pit again on my out lap - so my first flying lap was about 3 minutes into qualifying and it was totally clean (I looked for space before I got up to speed).

It was my last flying lap that was dumb, and it was dumb because of 1 driver doing dumb things.
 
Sean Renon
My first lap was fine, I actually was first out of pits (I was one of the higher ranked in the lobbies), and ended up deciding to pit again on my out lap - so my first flying lap was about 3 minutes into qualifying and it was totally clean (I looked for space before I got up to speed).

It was my last flying lap that was dumb, and it was dumb because of 1 driver doing dumb things.
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That is a right pain in the arse. As much as it is annoying. IMO you have to take everybody as face value, that someone may be looking at doing something stupid (even though most are legit, theres gotta be a least one bad egg).
 
I used to be a driver that dropped to the rear to try and get a clear flyer. I've gone away from that, though. I just lose too much time waiting while everyone else is trying to space themselves on the track for their run. That and even with a big gap, I had too many cases where I caught up to people anyways because of pace, an accident or whatever other reason.

Now I just go the first chance I get and depending on my first flyer, either try a second one or pit to take advantage of a lighter fuel load.
 
Sean Renon
What is it with people during the live qualifying laps, we're all here for one purpose - and that's to set the fastest lap we can in the 10 minutes we have.
Realistically this allows for 2-3 flying laps depending on your strategy, for the shorter tracks maybe a bit more.

Yet people are just downright inconsiderate, and I fail to understand why.

Last night during the manufacturer race I had 1 good lap set already that I was happy with (1.28.077), so I pitted to get fresh tires but keep my fuel low and was setting up for my flying lap when two boneheads about 2.5 seconds up the road decided to get into a fist fight on the last turn.
One of them pits, the other continues on a lap (however he is going VERY slow now).

I make up the ground on him quickly, and as we're coming up to the start/finish line I'm flashing my blinkers like crazy to let him know I'm coming through on a hot lap, he moves to the side as if to let me past - then swerves back in front of me and slams on the brakes.
Like, I'm already P1 - I didn't do anything to you, this is supposedly in the top sportsmanship lobby yet we still get clowns like this that deliberately ruin other people's laps.

I just don't understand people.
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I had the same problem in both FIA races last night. I hope I didnt get in your way, when Im not on a flyer I try to keep an eye out behind me. I wish they would show car gap instead of time gap on the leader board during qualy. Ive only done a handful of FIA races but every one so far they treat qualy like a race, guys will try to fight for position after they have just spun, do they not understand what is going on during qualy??? They really need a short tutorial that explains how qualy works right before the start of qualy.
 
I don’t play FIA that much, but I gotta say, I’m super aggressive in qualy.
It has less consequences than in the race. Do another lap!
Sometimes I close my gap to the driver in front, and I’ll try to overtake them. It’s qualy, I can’t lose time. I have as much right of trying to overtake them as they have of defending their position. Sometimes, things go wrong. Last Gr.4 at Lago Maggiore, I had to try an overtake in the right turn at the S, because the guy was slow entering the S. As I was overtaking him, he lost control and came back almost T-Boning my car and sent my flying into the wall.

I guess I could try not overtaking people in qualy...
 
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Nando deBem
I don’t play FIA that much, but I gotta say, I’m super aggressive in qualy.
It has less consequences than in the race. Do another lap!
Sometimes I close my gap to the driver in front, and I’ll try to overtake them. It’s qualy, I can’t lose time. I have as much right of trying to overtake them as they have of defending their position. Sometimes, things go wrong. Last Gr.4 at Lago Maggiore, I had to try an overtake in the right turn at the S, because the guy was slow entering the S. As I was overtaking him, he lost control and came back almost T-Boning my car and sent my flying into the wall.

I guess I could try not overtaking people in qualy...
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Just overtake safely, and I'd say someone in front has no right what so ever to defend their position. They have every right to stick to the racing line but putting the car on the inside to block someone passing in quali is a huge no no.
 
Nando deBem
I don’t play FIA that much, but I gotta say, I’m super aggressive in qualy.
It has less consequences than in the race. Do another lap!
Sometimes I close my gap to the driver in front, and I’ll try to overtake them. It’s qualy, I can’t lose time. I have as much right of trying to overtake them as they have of defending their position. Sometimes, things go wrong. Last Gr.4 at Lago Maggiore, I had to try an overtake in the right turn at the S, because the guy was slow entering the S. As I was overtaking him, he lost control and came back almost T-Boning my car and sent my flying into the wall.

I guess I could try not overtaking people in qualy...
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I'm not saying do not be aggressive but when you are not on a flyer get out of the fricken way. Depending on how many laps got screwed up you may not have another lap. I have given guys a few corners head start, next thing you know you are beating on their rear bumper, they are not going to be putting in a good lap anyway
 
OutlawQuadrnt
I used to be a driver that dropped to the rear to try and get a clear flyer. I've gone away from that, though. I just lose too much time waiting while everyone else is trying to space themselves on the track for their run. That and even with a big gap, I had too many cases where I caught up to people anyways because of pace, an accident or whatever other reason.

Now I just go the first chance I get and depending on my first flyer, either try a second one or pit to take advantage of a lighter fuel load.
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I'm genuinely intrigued.... Do we know for sure that lighter fuel load is taken into account on this game?
 
banckzy
I'm genuinely intrigued.... Do we know for sure that lighter fuel load is taken into account on this game?
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While I don't have any stats to back it up - I can for sure say that my car feels quicker on both the straights, and it's not as bogged down in the corners with less fuel.
Generally speaking my 2nd flying lap after I pit and take new tires but no fuel feels faster than my first, just like I tend to put my fastest lap of the race down on my first full lap after pitting.
 
banckzy
I'm genuinely intrigued.... Do we know for sure that lighter fuel load is taken into account on this game?
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Absolutely, top 24 has 15 minute qualifying so you run even lighter on the last lap compared to normal and it's always the fastest. In Nations last week I went from 1:07.4 at the beginning down to 1:06.7 at the end of the session, Italian guy kept resetting to the pits (fuel resets as well) and was stuck doing low 07s throughout.

The first laps of qualifying even in top lobbies are always 2 seconds or so off leaderboard times, it's only on the last lap people get close to their practice times.
 
So what is the best strategy when lap times are over 2 minutes(like at maggiore tonight)?

I would be guessing

out lap - pit - out lap - flying lap - flying lap
 
DaigoD
So what is the best strategy when lap times are over 2 minutes(like at maggiore tonight)?

I would be guessing

out lap - pit - out lap - flying lap - flying lap
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Pretty much but you won't have time to complete that final flying lap. You will have time to find space before the flying lap and people are unlikely to come out the pits that late in the session.
 
mthomas_95
Pretty much but you won't have time to complete that final flying lap. You will have time to find space before the flying lap and people are unlikely to come out the pits that late in the session.
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Why not?

out lap 2:10
pit stop 0:15
out lap 2:10
flying lap : 2:05
flying lap : 2:05

overall time needed: 08:45

Should be a big enough time buffer to find some space for the flying laps. Apologies if I misunderstood you.
 
I think I misunderstood you as I thought that pit was a separate inlap :lol:

Outlap - Inlap - Pit - Outlap - Flyer is fastest but higher risk as you only give yourself one chance to nail it, the 2 flyers strategy is about a tenth slower but safer in top split.
 
mthomas_95
I think I misunderstood you as I thought that pit was a separate inlap :lol:

Outlap - Inlap - Pit - Outlap - Flyer is fastest but higher risk as you only give yourself one chance to nail it, the 2 flyers strategy is about a tenth slower but safer in top split.
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No worries:lol:

Yeah, I’m not risking that. I will go for two flying laps. Thanks
 
DaigoD
No worries:lol:

Yeah, I’m not risking that. I will go for two flying laps. Thanks
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In the few FIA races I ran it was always tough qualifying because people treat it like a race and fight for position, they must be completely unaware that it does not matter if you are behind or ahead of someone on track. It may be because I am DR B. There are always accidents too so it's tough to get a solo lap in. If only they understood that they are racing the clock and not position on track in qualifying. Maybe PD should put instructions on screen. :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
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