The newly released F1 2020 is greater than any other F1 game on the market and will get even better with post-launch updates. Due to the current pandemic, COVID-19, the F1 world has changed drastically. Right before launch date of F1 2020, July 10, new liveries and designs were changed, but that does not change the fun and the intense battling on the tracks. Codemasters have, successfully, delivered another great F1 game for us fans!
For newcomers or for players who, generally, want to improve their skills on the tracks and set a quicker lap time, there is some advice that you should bear in mind while racing. Even professional sim-racers or real-world racing drivers make mistakes repeatedly. It usually comes down to controlling the car or a battling against a tough rival. It surely is difficult to be aware of everything surrounding the car while racing +300 km/h. Here are some useful tips for those who want to improve their racing skills.
1. BEWARE OF THE FIRST CORNER AT START
Whether you play solo or multiplayer, the start is the highest risk for collision, and, in the worst cases, even unavoidable collision will occur. You have to keep in mind that there are mostly likely players ahead, behind and next to you who aren’t always aware of all vehicles either. Even AI will make mistakes and crash into opponents.
The best way to avoid such frustrating mistakes is to ease off the gas and do not give full throttle at the start. Leave space to the driver in front of you, though not enough space to make an opponent slip in between you and the car in front! You want to make a safe start without losing positions; therefore, keep up with the pace, but always be ready on the brakes! A human’s reaction time isn’t perfect, and for that reason, you won’t instantly react when the car ahead starts breaking.
2. PRACTICE AT LOW SPEED
It may sound boring, but the best way to practice racing lines is to keep the speed down before you start pushing the car, because the faster you go, the harder to control the car. If you look at the picture below, you can see that the car doesn’t follow the black line on the track (that’s been left from tires). Those could help you find the racing lines without using any assists. As a beginner, it’s not easy finding the perfect racing lines and know how hard you can push a car. That’s why you should start slow and push it slightly harder for every lap you start!
Proper racing lines
3. BE SMOOTH ON THE CONTROLLER/WHEEL
If you really want to climb and reach high on the leaderboards, you must be smooth with steering. It’s the key to a successful result because twitches and harsh turns will cause the car to slow down. You lose speed the more you steer, which leads to additional time on your laps. That’s a way to improve your qualifying sessions; however, it’ll take time to learn. People with more experience on a controller will find it easier, while people without experience will need more practice! For wheel users, it’s certainly easier and requires less practice because they have much a larger steering ratio.
4. MEMORISE THE BRAKING POINT FOR EACH CORNER
From my own experience, players tend to brake too late in corners and cause a collusion, which is, again, frustrating. Braking early isn’t a good habit either, although it’s better than braking too late. That’s why you should practice on finding the perfect braking point for every corner. As you can see below, you can use certain objects outside the track as a braking point. In that way, you can easily remember where exactly to brake. If you can’t use any objects outside the track, you may also use lines on the track, the apex or practically anything that you will remember!
Finding the right braking point
5. DRIVING ASSISTS
In case you aren’t able to completely operate your F1 car, then I have some good news for you. Compared to F1 2020‘s predecessor, F1 2019, Codemasters have now introduced some new handling changes (mostly for control users), making it easier to steer the car and understand the car’s behavior. Before you start going hardcore and turn off all assists, you may want to learn taking corners first. F1 2020 allows you to turn on/off whichever assist you want and they even have recommended assists!
Assists list for F1 2020 game
F1 2020 is fairly easy to master, but rather difficult to reach the same level as the Esport drivers. Realistically, It would require weeks (if not months) of practicing, but practice makes perfect!
Gian
I am new to F1 games (or any racing games in general) and I absolutely love F1 2020. I have been playing for about 2 weeks now and just got rid of my last assist which is in my personal opinion the hardest thing to get rid of: the racing line. Driving without a racing line is extremely difficult and the only way to get better at it is to basically practice until you memorize the track. Using fixed points of reference around the track to time your braking and corner exits is a great tip to get better. A quick glance at the mini map to spot turns also helps if you don’t know the track very well just yet. If you’re a newcomer, it may feel like a lot of work at the beginning since there is a lot of multitasking going on while driving but keep going and you’ll start to have a lot of fun in no time.