throttle (the very minimum) but you are still keeping the revs up throughout the whole lap and that's probably why the drivers who use this approach are so fast.


9.4. Hitting The Apex;

An important bit of advice to begin with - try not to make sudden or aggressive movements of the steering wheel or throttle pedal while driving through the apex as this can really unsettle the cars overall balance; when you take into account the fact that you are often driving over a curb at this point in the corner an imbalanced car is the last thing you need.
You shouldn't really have to adjust your driving line through the apex if you choose a good turn-in point and remember that any mid-corner adjustments you do need to make can hurt your acceleration.
Carrying as much speed as you can through the apex you should then focus on accelerating as soon as possible - you will already be using quite a bit of throttle at the apex and this RPM will help the car increase it's speed more quickly, but you don't want to use so much throttle that you cause the car to run wide or spin (depending on the setup).

I've talked a lot about how you have to be smooth with the throttle throughout the corner and even if you think you are carrying too much speed into the apex it's normally better if you don't lift off the accelerator completely as this will cause the weight to shift forward (similar to braking but less extreme) and it can create an understeer effect because of the extra weight the front wheels are trying to hold along your racing line. As a result it's often better to stay on the throttle even when you think you are carrying too much speed and instead try to use a slight lift (smooth and gradual) as you approach the apex rather than fully lifting off.

You should try to return your steering wheel to the centre position as soon as possible when you hit the apex and start to exit the corner - this will make oversteer and spins less likely as there is less chance of the car becoming unstable under acceleration if the front wheels are pointing straight. It's difficult to get used to this technique but it's definitely worth keeping in mind on the exit; and if you took a good line through the corner you should be able to centre the steering wheel very early.
Try to be very smooth with the accelerator as you apply more and more power on the exit as this will help stability - if you just straighten the wheels up and apply full throttle instanlty as you exit a slow turn you will nearly always cause the car to spin - the rear wheels simply don't have the grip to cope with the power applied to them. It's difficult as you want to reach full throttle as soon as possible but you don't want to be too aggressive as this will greatly increase the chances of spinning or at least having a bit of oversteer which will cost you time.


9.5. Corner Exit;

The aim is obvious - to have full throttle applied as early as possible when you pass the apex and start exiting the corner, but this is rarely as simple as it sounds. Of course if you follow the advice from earlier in the guide you will already be carrying speed through the corner from turn-in and up to the apex by holding a small amount of throttle constantly; so you will already have a good speed and rpm level ready to start accelerating on the exit.
If you are learning to drive without Traction Control it's quite common to spin on the exit of a corner regularly - you use too much of the accelerator too soon and the rear tyres don't have the grip level to deal with it - the wheels start to spin and the car follows shortly after. This can be very frustrating and is often the reason why people start using Traction Control in the first place.
It does take a lot of practice to be able to drive quickly and effectively without Traction Control but it is certainly possible and I believe anyone can do it, even those who claim to be "heavy footed".
So how does it work? As you exit the corner how do you know when the car is about to spin or when you are using an amount of throttle that you shouldn't go beyond if you want to keep the car facing in the right direction? Well, it's very hard to explain. Driving a computer racing simulation you simply don't have the benefits of feeling a real car around you, you can't physically 'feel' the tyres losing grip and don't have the same feedback from the car and it's behaviour on the circuit; so somehow you have to judge the grip level of the car through audio and visual references. I'm not 100% sure how it works but at the same time I nearly always know if the car is close to spinning or if I have pushed too hard on the exit and it is about to lose traction. Maybe it's the sound of the tyres (which I have turned up quite loud in the 'Sound Effects' options) or maybe there are visual references in the game that were programmed to give people time to react - perhaps you see the oversteer effect starting for a split second and you know whether or not to lift slightly from the throttle (or at least not to push the pedal any further down).
It's a strange sensation to explain and a difficult one to teach but I think as a driver in real life you instinctively know what the car is doing and when you have pushed it too far. I think a very good setup is a useful addition when driving without Traction Control in a computer simulation because you want plenty of rear traction - maybe a setup with plenty of this available can almost give you a warning (and time to react) if the car is close to it's limit.
A good car always helps of course; unfortunately in the case of rear wheel traction I think the 2002 Ferrari is not the best. It has very good entry and mid corner grip, great acceleration and top speed, and plenty of general high speed grip, but I think when it comes to corner exit the Ferrari seems to have a lot of "snap oversteer" unless you drive it very carefully. Some of the other cars such as the Jordan and Minardi are a lot easier and maybe they are better for people who are new to the game or people who have recently decided to turn Traction Control off for good. Come to think of it the Ferrari's haven't been great at getting off the grid from a standstill for quite a few seasons now (even with traction control) so maybe they really haven't got very good traction from the rear wheels and the game is simply reflecting this.

Another useful technique on the exit of a corner is to short shift; in other words if you exit a tight turn in 2nd gear you can shift up to 3rd before the orange or red RPM lights actually appear. This doesn't seem to have a great effect on acceleration and it also means there is less chance of spinning because you never reach maximum revs on the exit of a turn - the car is much more likely to spin if you use maximum revs in an extreme situation (such as the corner exit with high g-force), so shifting up early will drop the revs back down and you should then be able to use a bit more throttle as you finish exiting the turn. I use this technique quite a lot towards the end of a race when the tyres have decided they'd rather not stick to the road anymore - it can be very helpful.

Once you have mastered the concept of perfect turn-in, apex and exit speed you should feel as though you have a flow and rhythm through the corners (and throughout each lap as a whole). I know slowing down, changing direction and speeding up is a standard part of every corner but even this should feel fast and fluid. If you are often hesitant with the pedals or steering motions (or the corners have a very 'stop-start' feel) you are probably losing time; you might even find there are places during a lap when you aren't pressing either pedal at all - this is not a good thing.


9.6. Throttle Control - Finding The Limit;

Following on from the corner exit techniques I think it is important to have a closer look at how Formula One cars react when you are close to the limit; under acceleration from low speeds.
You might have noticed that some of the best real life F1 drivers often make little mistakes or spin in a practice session but they rarely do it in a race - this is because they are finding the limit of the car and it's grip levels during a session where perfect driving isn't so important. So it's a very useful way of learning what your car is capable of on each circuit and a similar approach should be tried when driving simulations.
I sometimes try pushing the car too far on purpose; knowing it will almost certainly result in a mistake but at the same time I am gaining useful knowledge of the grip and areodynamic limits - in a race I will rarely make the same errors. The car regularly spins when you don't want it to so why not get your own back? Drive the car to it's limits and force it to spin the wheels for a change - if you never try exploring the limits you'll never know how fast the car can actually go.

A few years ago I downloaded an onboard lap of Ayrton Senna at Monaco; I think it was a pole position lap from the early 90's. It was a very impressive lap (as you would expect) but the biggest standout for me was the opposite lock he used on the exit of the very tight Grand Hotel haipin - he obviously tried to accelerate too fast too early but when the car started to oversteer he kept the throttle down and just