Hot Lap & Race

Hot Lap mode

You practise alone against the ghost: the real 2024 pole lap, replayed as a translucent car on the same clock as your lap. It's the fastest way to learn a circuit. Follow it to see the braking points and the line, then try to beat it.

• You start on the grid, just behind the start/finish line. The timer starts when you cross the line.
• A lap is invalid if all four wheels go past the white line at the track edge, if you press Reset, if you enter the pit lane, or if you drive the wrong way. Invalid laps don't count towards your best time.
• Your engineer gives you your split to the pole lap after sectors 1 and 2, and your lap time at the line.
• You can pit any time to try a different compound (see Pit stops). The lap you pit on is invalidated.
• You can turn the ghost off in Controls, Sound & Assists.

Race setup

Choose Race on the main menu:

Every race gets a new random line-up, with different skills and strategies. Restart session from the pause menu keeps the same line-up, which is handy for trying the same race again with a different strategy.

The start

It's a standing start from the grid. Five red lights come on one at a time, one per second. After a short random pause they all go out, and that's your signal. The car is held on the brakes until then, so you can't jump the start.

• Floor the throttle at lights out. Keep traction control on for your first few starts, or the rears will just spin.
• Turn 1 is crowded. Brake a little early rather than late: you'll lose less by being cautious than by spinning into the pack.
• Your engineer tells you how many places you gained or lost.

AI opponents

The AI cars are the other cars in your collection.

• Racecraft. Each car has its own line, keeps a safe gap behind others, and overtakes where there's room. They won't start a move into a braking zone, and they leave you a car's width when you're alongside.
• Strategy. Each car makes one pit stop, driving into its own garage box and changing to a different compound.
• Contact. There's no damage. Contact pushes cars apart and can spin them, including you.

The strategy car (0 opponents)

With no AI cars, you race the strategy car. It's a ghost that drives the pole lap, slowed down by the AI level: +12% on Rookie, +6% on Club, or +1.5% on Pro. Its tyres wear like yours. It starts on Mediums, changes to Hards at half distance, and loses the real pit-lane time for that circuit. Beat its total race time to win.

Because it's a ghost, there's nothing to overtake. It's a pure time trial over race distance, which makes it a good way to practise consistency and strategy.

Rules & penalties

Penalties are added to your race time for the final classification. The race panel keeps a running count.

Team radio

Your race engineer calls out:

• the start: places gained or lost
• the gap to the car ahead each lap ("you're catching")
• places gained and lost, and cars within a second of you
• the pit window, "box this lap" if you still need your second compound near the end, and "tyres are finished" when wear passes 75%
• tyres that are running cold or overheating
• penalties and track-limits warnings
• the last lap (who to attack or defend against) and the result

Set Team radio to Essential to hear only strategy, penalties and the finish, or to Off.

Results

After the chequered flag you see the full classification: times, gaps, lapped cars, pit stops and your penalties. Below it are your own lap times, with the compound and your pit laps, and your fastest lap marked with *. Choose Race again for a new line-up, or Main menu.

How to win a race

1. Start where you can win. Start at the back against Club AI to learn racing. Pole against Pro is the real test.
2. Always use two compounds. Forgetting to change compound costs 30 seconds, which is almost always the race. If the engineer says "box this lap", do it.
3. Pick a strategy before the start. Every AI car stops once, so you will too:

   Start on	Change to	When	Character
   M Medium	H Hard	Around half distance	Safe, and the default
   S Soft	M or H	Early (about the first third)	Gains places at the start. The second stint has to be long.
   H Hard	M Medium	Late	Slow first laps, but fast at the end when everyone else's tyres are old

   Think about tyre life in kilometres, not laps. See tyre life by circuit.
4. Keep it clean. You get three track-limits warnings free, and after that every offence costs 5 s. Slow down before the pit-lane line. A spin or a trip through the gravel costs far more than lifting a little.
5. Look after your tyres. Red temperatures mean you're sliding too much, so smooth your inputs and they'll cool down. A stint that goes over the wear cliff can lose several seconds a lap.
6. Use the pit stops tactically. If you're stuck behind a car, pitting a lap earlier (the undercut) or later can get you out in clear air.

Overtaking the AI

• The AI brakes at its own braking points and won't start a move into a braking zone. If you get alongside before the braking zone, they'll leave you room.
• The best places to pass are long straights into heavy braking: Monza's first chicane, Les Combes at Spa, and the Hairpin at Suzuka. See the Circuits page for each track.
• A good exit onto a straight is worth more than a late lunge. Get the car straight and on full throttle early. There's no slipstream in this game, so you have to make the pass with a better exit, not a tow.
• Contact can spin you as easily as them. There's no damage, but a spin costs you the race.
• Defending: stay on your line. The AI won't dive-bomb you, so there's no need to weave.