Page 1 of 2; 106 public posts in this discussion.
Looking forward to this. It may prompt the purchase of a G25 wheel and racing seat. Will definately be playing this on my 50" TV via media centre box.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?fmt=22&v=kMQcrw5IXSY"]YouTube - F1 Game 2009 Announced (THE ONLY OFFICIAL CODEMASTERS F1 VIDEO RELEASED)[/ame]
And some of their concept art work...
There's some leaked pictures of the g27 wheel floating around the net. So might want to wait for some more details on that to show up.
Ooo... indeed.
Looking around - appears its fake.
I don't like watchign F1, but I like F1 games. Looking forward to this.
(that preview is shit though :p)
Preview sucks... but out in 2009 for the Wii :)
The 2009 game is being developed by a third party... it looks absolutely awful. It's not actually the same game. Like FIFA 09 on Windows Mobile v FIFA 09 on Xbox 360. :P
How do you know it looks awful, there is no video of actual gameplay for any platform is there?
(I assume there is not as you haven't posted any)
Why would I say it looks awful if I hadn't seen it?
Screenshots here: The Official Formula 1 Website
Quote from rec;367454:
Looking around - appears its fake.
I don't know it was listed as a supported device on a post by codemasters for one of their racing games. Was quickly taken down though.
That's what people have said and screenshots would suggest, but beyond the website that initially reported it and unconfirmed posts in the thread claiming the G27 was once listed, there was no one else who noticed.
The photos of the wheel with lights on it is also sitting in some dodgey living room - a tiny TV is elevated by a large book.
None of it adds up. The assumption has been made it was a hoax put together by the originating website to drive traffic there.
Leaked by logitech
http://i25.tinypic.com/15fn2p0.png
http://i30.tinypic.com/ot3st4.png
http://i27.tinypic.com/2vbpyis.png
http://i30.tinypic.com/6zsxmf.png
http://i30.tinypic.com/dqhkwi.png
Probably meant to be shown off at gamescon along with GT5 this month.
It looks virtually identical. Wonder how they'll up-sell people over the G25.
The very first screenshots of F12010 will be shown in the Official Playstation Magazine which is out March 16th(should appear online a few days earlier)! Conveniently, its the opening round of the F1 season the weekend before.
Ok so info is coming through thick and fast now for the game, devs are anserwing questions over on the forums and they'll be putting up their dev diary's soon aswell. Also on March 17th Codemasters will be having a "Reveal" event over in the UK where some of the forumers have been invited(kents!).
Some major exclusions
Quote:
* Laser Scanned Track Data – Considered early on in the project we assessed for our needs and decided against its inclusion in favour of other features. Our track creation pipeline has been further developed and we’re now capable of producing extremely authentic environments, track surfaces included, without the need for this data.
* Safety Car – A common forum request but investigation proved, surprisingly, that this actually offers very little in terms of enjoyable game experience in comparison to other game elements we’ll reveal later. Once you find out what we spent the time on instead we’re sure you’ll agree that this was the right decision!
* Formation Lap – Currently not part of the plan, for the same reasons as safety car. This is not to say we won’t look to add a little of what the formation lap provides!
* A Feeder Series – We’re at full-stretch creating an engaging Formula One experience. Including a feeder series is not part of the deal we have and code support alone would take too much away from the main game to prove worthwhile in 2010.
* Split Screen – Some of you will have noticed this is not present in any recent Codemasters racing titles. Early on we established the huge amount of resources this feature would consume and, after weighing against our need to move the series in an original direction, made the tough decision that F1 2010 would not be the project to return Split Screen. We have included an interesting local multiplayer mode in its place and an extensive online multiplayer mode.
10/03 - Developer Introduction Post & Update - Codemasters Forums
More Screens
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4422286608_05022d3ef2_o.png
Urgh still with the bloom effect....
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4422286522_219c28954a_o.png
More Info
10/03 - F1 2010 heralds a new generation of high definition FORMULA ONE games - Codemasters Forums
More details: F1 2010 Multiplayer Only Supports Twelve Gamers - Voodoo Extreme
Interesting tid bit from Steve Hood - Cheif Game Designer for F1 2010
Quote:
Both console versions will be the same. It's easier to write for the 360, that is usually why its slightly ahead of the curve in game development - especially if you're also having to write for the PC. The PS3 can do a few things the 360 cannot and vice-versa.
It goes up and down during the creation of the game, one week the PS3 version might be slightly behind, another the 360. Recently I think the PS3 version was able to handle more cars, but the 360 version more stable so we went with that version for the reveal event.
PC supports head-tracking. Hopefully it also supports 24 cars...
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2kPtRk4Ioc]
Wow, how realistic does all that look! The spray looks the biz and when he came out of the sand trap it took ages for the tyres to clear up !
And that's virtually alpha stage - some core concepts thrown into their engine (same as used for DiRT/GRID). Could be great. Fingers crossed.
not bad... might have to obtain this one...
I particularly like the excuse for cutting corners... "The brakes don't work properly in pre-alpha" AS IF!
Handling
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03qQ_udorYw]
Can't wait. Great backing track.
Screens from the latest Dev Diary
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen1.png]
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen2.png]
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen6.png]
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen16.png]
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen20.png]
[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x312/kokiko22/D2Screen9.png]
With the exception of the driver view one, they all seem too dark to me.
Q&A for the second dev Dairy
Quote:
How far ahead of this vid are you?? Because if it looks like this now well I think my head will fly off when I play the game!!
It’s always tricky to put an exact timeframe on this, as some of the footage clips are older than others, but it’s safe to say that we’re at least 3 – 4 weeks ahead of what your seeing each time. As T4RG4 has said before, we’d love to wait until we’ve finished the game to create this type of thing, but I think most people would have given up on us by then!! We’re so protective of showing off work in progress, as it’s hard to communicate the issues and glitches that we’re aware are in there, or let everyone know how complete a particular feature is. The truth is in game development that the majority of the visual gains come right at the end. All the work beforehand is focused on getting the tools and under the hood systems in place. Even over a period of one week at the back end of the project the game takes massive strides forward.
Does the AI ever get those twitchy moments as we saw in the red bull at 1:14?
AI is one of the hardest areas to get right in a racing game. Think about all the great handling games there are out there and then think about which ones have truly great AI. We’re putting a lot of development focus into getting our AI right, in terms of them lapping very close to the real track records, in terms of them having racing instincts to block or defend their position, or choosing the right time to attack, as well as them having similar characteristics to their real life counterparts. The specific twitchiness mentioned has come about through a combination of this work as well as the extensive car handling work we’ve done on this project. We cannot understate the value that Anthony Davidson has brought here. He has been a regular visitor to the studio, sitting down and working “hands on” with the car handling team, with more visits pencilled in for the near future. This work will also continue into F1 2011, so it hasn’t just been purely an exercise in PR. One of the things Anthony is keen to get across in the game is how twitchy and nervous F1 cars are, so again we’ve focused a lot on this and you’re beginning to see the results in these videos. These areas are already looking good, but beyond this project we will continue to improve and develop them further for F1 2011, and beyond...
Are you still thinking about changing the colour balance, it seems this is the only thing people are really negative about.
One of the last things that we do is ‘fine tune’ the way that the post and the lighting work together. This is something that is still very much ‘live’ and doesn’t really start until after Alpha. We’ve certainly toyed with different effects; because of the relatively contracted production time and resourcing a lot of this growing up has been aired in public. That’s a good thing though because it’s allowed us to gauge the sentiments of both the hardcore F1 fan and the broader audience we’re hoping F2010 will attract. As we close out the project we’ll now be able to combine that feedback with the vision we have for the game backed by the experiences learnt on Dirt2 and Grid before it. The Art Director has been passed all the feedback on the forum so far and will take this onboard during this final phase of the games development.
Will setups from offline be usable online? And will we be able to trade/swap setups with friends online?
Yes, you can use your offline setups online, and in fact we’ve actually not included an online practice mode due to this very reason. We fully expect players to spend hours perfecting their setups offline before unleashing them to the world! There isn’t an in-game system whereby car setups are traded or swapped online, but the screens are fairly simple to use so this could easily be done on the forums.
As the AI gets better due to ramping up the difficulty level, do they make less stupid mistakes?
The mistakes are ramped up to full at the moment for play testing purposes. We cannot take our eyes of the ball in terms of finishing this game so we’ve had to work the videos around this as best as possible. We’re massive F1 fans ourselves and we know that F1 drivers aren’t often pressurised into mistakes. Once the AI work has been finished, which continues right the way up until Beta, then this is just a case of number balancing.
I know this is off topic but can you give us any teasers of stuff the race engineer says to you, things that are really authentic.
“We've fitted a set of scrubbed tyre's you should be able to push a little earlier once they're up to temperature.”
“Lap times are dropping, looks like track conditions are starting to improve.”
“You're losing a lot of time through sector 1.”
“It looks like we might see some light rain this session, just be aware of the conditions and try to pick the best moment to put a lap in.”
“Your brakes are in the optimum temperature zone.”
“The weather situation seems to be improving slightly, we could take a chance and switch you to inters if you want.”
“Alonso's out-pacing us, we need to put in some quick laps.”
“Looks like one of the McLarens is about to pit, their crew are getting ready.”
“Waved yellows in sector 3. Yellow flag conditions apply, watch out for debris.”
“Drive through penalty, drive through penalty for overtaking under yellow flag conditions.”
“You're way out in front, time to think about conserving the engine.”
“The track seems to be drying out, look for the drying line.”
“Great job! G-r-e-a-t job! What a win! Congratulations, 25 points!”
Are we going to see official team gear such as flags during races and around the paddock, for example caps on fans?
We’re certainly aiming to get as much of this in as we possibly can. We don’t want to go into too many specifics about the licence on these forums, but suffice to say that these additional bits all need individual clearance from FOM and all the teams, then we obviously need the photo reference, to create the assets, and finally get it all signed off. We also have to include a fair mixture of assets so as to not be seen to favour a particular team. We’re pretty confident that you’ll be impressed with the level of atmosphere we have in-game already. Hopefully there’s much more to come as well, whether that’s in this title or the next.
Will the TV view cam be customisable, or is it still subject to change?
It’s still very much subject to change. We haven’t spent too much time tweaking or adjusting the camera positions yet as we want to wait for the 2010 cars to be implemented before we do so. We’ve read a number of posts on the forum about the TV view not being like the actual TV, but we certainly wouldn’t want to offset the view to one side of the car as it is in real life. Also with the higher real life view there is less focus on up coming apexes of corners, especially on tracks with large amount of undulations such as Spa. We have discussed including an option where players can tweak particular camera views, but this is very much on the wish list so there’s no guarantees at this stage as to whether this will make it in the game this time.
At the end of the video we see some on board with wet weather. The car seems very predictable and not particularly twitchy to me, to the point where it could be completely dry. Is predictable and 'easy' driving in the wet what you're going for or will it be easy to get some unwanted wheel spin and spin out.
Wet conditions are definitely not going to be the same as in the dry. Again, most of these specific values are dialled down when producing videos like these so that we can capture the footage in a relatively short timeframe. When the effects are ramped up the AI aren’t fully trained to deal with those conditions at the moment, but this is something that will come in the coming weeks. We’ve recently trialled some values in ‘intermediate conditions’ where we had to adopt our driving style quite dramatically. At the end of the day we’ve invested so much of our time and effort on the weather system we don’t want it to be all visuals and no substance, so you can be assured that it will be much easier to wheel spin or slide a car in the wet than in the dry.
Are all the steering wheels the same on each car or did you get data from the teams to replicate the real ones?
We‘ve taken a design call, with the agreement of FOM and the teams, to compromise on a mixture of the two. We want them as real as possible, but we want them fully animating as well. Therefore all the wheels are based on a generic button layout configuration, which has then been adapted per team so that you will see the hands shifting the paddles for gear changes, or button adjustments on the wheel if you’re tuning wing positions, or engine revs, etc.
Ok, this might be a stupid question, but once your car is parked in the pit-garage (for example during qualifying and the engineers/mechanics are walking around you and put your pit monitor in front of you), does it automatically switch to the t-cam view or can you view this from the cockpitview as well?
We’re looking at locking you into the cockpit camera at all times when you are in the garage. As part of the drive out / push back in sequence the camera position will then transition to your favoured camera position.
__________________
Ian 'Helios' Webster
Community Manager
Must. Play.
Here's the extended developer diary on handling btw:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVYLCfrolZc]
Next dev diary out, on weather:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxlYcM0G1h0]
Looks pretty, very pretty didn't really find out anyhting I didn't already know. Same deal as the previous diary they'll release an extended one and there will be a Q & A for it aswell.
Design & mechanics interview:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNg52-8ACHA]
At 8 minutes 50 seconds InsideSimRacing has a hands-on-preview of F1 2010:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4eYfewtkuk]
Just a note: keep watching after the interview for the hands-on impressions.
Assists turned off around 1:30
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to_IclklR2A]
Best footage from E3 yet
http://video.golem.de/games/3345/f1-2010-eindruecke-von-der-e3-2010.html
AWESOME!!!!!!!!! this is a definate buy... any word on release date yet!?
Late September.
F1 2010 interview
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbmX8xFz0_U]
Another extended developer interview:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV2M4bVJjV8]
Final developer diary:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-ro73_zrn0]
F1 2010 @ Gamescom.
Lotus Monaco:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbrLQMYbqfc]
Ferrari Montreal
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEUEGEjJVI4]
God that first one was painful to watch.
Looks so good. This game is going to devour my life.
A look at the crash physics:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvO26jZaYHU]
Another crash vid.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vNkyRZD4iQ&feature=player_embedded]
So are they going to make the from start realistic?
You know... from the start or race take off?
The short answer is yes, depending on what you mean by realistic.
Quote from Deus Ex;388220:
So are they going to make the from start realistic?
You know... from the start or race take off?
Well yes and no, you can't jump the start, which would have been awesome. However starting isn't just matter of mashing the throttle then taking off, you will need to apply the right amount of revs and feed the throttle in to get a good start. This is a massive step up from the previous official F1 game F1:CE, but probably has been the norm in any PC sim for ages.
A few other things to note that the simmers will be dissapointed with are:
No safety car
No cool down lap
No formation lap
Limited control in pits, you can apply limiter, accelerate and break but you can't actually steer the car (to prevent noobs mowing down the pit crews I assume)
Tyre puncture, cool effect but not realistic at all. The tyre should shred at those speeds.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ded_95ZKJdY]
Korean Circuit
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MrMlxK2sw&feature=related]
So you can hit the wall at 125kph and not have the suspension in any way get damaged.... that too is crap.
Also every video I've seen is for a 3 lap race... surely there will be longer races.
They just have it set to 3 laps for all the shows and demonstrations they've been doing with it.
As for the damage models - I'm happy enough. It's still better than any F1 game previously, and they've improve it with future iterations.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVX5H2DLSAI]
In some dissapointing news, Abu Dhabi will not feature dynamic lighting, it will stay at dusk for the whole race. Still looks fing great though.
Pre-ordered on PS3 and pre-ordered on Steam.
Pumped.
Need to pre-order for anyone else?
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZeGbQ0fojo&hd=1]
Quote from ResLo;389148:
Need to pre-order for anyone else?
Already done, at the same time. ;)
You're a champ, I only got the notification late today.... sweet. I'm so gonna lose days ney weeks of my life to this game.
So reslo and rec how about you pool your money and buy my a gaming pc so i can race you guys eh eh???
You'll join the big leagues someday, kiddo. :P
Getting great review, btw. 86/100 Metacritic average across both console platforms.
F1 2010 for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic
F1 2010 for PlayStation 3 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic
Quote from Formula1;389159:
So reslo and rec how about you pool your money and buy my a gaming pc so i can race you guys eh eh???
How about you stop wasting time and cash on phony consoles !!
Oh you guys....
NEWS JUST AT HAND!
There is a pitlane bug across all platforms where you are held for an unrealistic amount of time in the pit box. Reports suggest you can fall down through the whole field depending on how many cars pit at the same time. CM are aware of the problem(via twitter) and I think they are working on a patch.
Bloody better be! and can they also please update the rules to allow Hulkenburg like chicane bypasses, that would be super.
Crashtastic
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3OWljOroD4]
One day a racing game will actually get open-wheel crashes right. One day. :)
I spent about 5 hours playing the PS3 version last night.
Cons:
- Low resolution textures and choppy mirror views make for poor visuals.
- The frame rates are too mixed and often too low. Not happy.
- The inability to set wheel lock angle shits me, as it's too easy to keep turning past the active degree range.
- Shitty VoIP quality, but this isn't unusual and just like every other console game I've played.
- Unlike GT5 which is just 2 months away, there is no PlayStation Eye head-tracking. Disappointing.
- Lack of spectator mode in multiplayer. When you crash out, you get to look at... nothing.
- Lastly, there's no commentary, which is kind of a big deal from the perspective of atmosphere.
Pros:
- Quality of control with my Logitech wheel is great right out-of-box.
- The car feel is outstanding. Not quite sim, but a perfect balance between fun and realism.
- Sense of speed is excellent.
- F1 authenticity throughout creates a really legitimate experience.
- Depth of the single player career is impressive.
- The wet weather effects will blow your mind.
- The online experience appears lag-free, with no stuttery cars on track.
In short: an amazing game, probably the best F1 game I've ever played. But, bring on the Steam unlock for the PC version tomorrow morning which is sure to be a big improvement.
I'll publish a full game review once I've sunk some serious time into the PC release.
I'll be interested to see what the differences are between the PS3 and PC. I'm hoping the graphics improves. As for no spectator mode.... shitty stuff up there CM.
Graphics are incredible compared to PS3. So happy. :)
Plus I've set up a defined wheel lock in the Logitech profiler, and I have Mumble for comms. Excellent.
Another complaint; why no official F1 HUD? I want the same stuff I see on TV.
Quote from Formula1;389205:
Oh you guys....
NEWS JUST AT HAND!
There is a pitlane bug across all platforms where you are held for an unrealistic amount of time in the pit box. Reports suggest you can fall down through the whole field depending on how many cars pit at the same time. CM are aware of the problem(via twitter) and I think they are working on a patch.
Short term fix - Pit one lap earlier or later then requested.
First impressions
I love it. Graphics look very good and the feel of the game right out of the box is fantastic. Its a beautiful balance of SIM and Racer. I've only played it for about 3 hours now and only on three tracks. Took me a while to figure our where to go to start my own career but should have guessed from the very Dirt 2 like GUI.
The tracks look amazing and the whole feel you get in career mode is great. I love the way you can choose a quick car setup with the Engineer or tweak the car yourself. I'm still not sure what the in race changes do to the wing engine and tyres. Are they requests to your team for the next pit stop? I must read the manual a bit.
The only thing in the game that has annoyed me is the ghost car in the time trials.... can this be turned off?
The wheel lock hasn't annoyed me too much yet but I will definitely have to set it up when I could be bothered to do so.
Review up: http://gamers-underground.com/content/757-review-f1-2010.html
Game has taken #1 spot on the UK charts, ahead of even Halo: Reach.
1. F1 2010
2. HALO: REACH
3. DEAD RISING 2
4. CIVILIZATION V
5. SPORTS CHAMPIONS
Total sales? If not that chart means nothing given Halo has been on sale for weeks.
Just week by week sales. But it's still ahead of Dead Rising 2 and Civ 5 which is impressive enough.
F1 2010 patch on the way:
Quote:
Hi everyone.
We can confirm that we intend to create and release a patch for F1 2010.
This thread will be updated with information as we move through development, testing and release. It will take some time, and sometimes there will even be no news while work is going on, but we'll do our best to keep you as updated as we can. We do appreciate your patience - and your feedback to date.
Current Status:
The development team is currently investigating, going through feedback, and looking at reported issues.
Caldera.
[All] F1 2010 Patch News - Codemasters Forums
Hope they give the option to remove all ghosts if you want.
Absolutely.
I also wish there was a way just to watch a ghost... but that would require spectator mode which isn't available. The ability to trade setups would also be nice.
Review by actual racers:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPDYa2QDxwo]
Hm, these guys clearly haven't spent enough time with it. They didn't even spot the advanced setup options.
Quote from rec;389597:
I also wish there was a way just to watch a ghost... but that would require spectator mode which isn't available. The ability to trade setups would also be nice.
wouldnt a standard reply function be enough for that?
Few laps in the wet at Melbourne with Corco, Mafiaso and Ahmad (just a record/upload test for the tournament stuff). Change to 480p:
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctp0j2Mujcg&hd=1]
So for those of you who've had hands on with this game - is it aimed for the simmers or is it more toward the arcade crowd?
Nice vid too rec - was doing really well til that blowout (I'm assuming the black tyre means a blowout).
you've seen the shit they've talked about adujsting spoiler height etc... how could that even remotely be for arcade players? :P
I'm not into full on SIM's. This game has a nice balance. You can choose from six (I think) stock setups ranging from full wet to full dry and there are good standard options in between. If you're into changing every little thing you can, but there is no need to unless you want the best possible Time Trial time. For races the stock setups will do fine given you have more issues to deal with such as tyre wear fuel loads etc all making the car feel different (slightly) each lap.
Its a good balance between arcade and SIM imo.
oh and Aegis - stfu.
It's not a sim, but there are some sim-like car and handling mechanics that create a good balance between jump-in-and-play fun, while still not feeling arcadey. As long as you have all assists off. With assists it's just another throw away racer.
I'd highly recommend the game to just about anyone who loves the thrill of a good race. The sensation of speed is great, the graphics are even better, and it's Formula-freaking-One maen!
PS. if you want some hardcore simulation action, check out my iRacing thread: http://gamers-underground.com/racing-flight/33981-iracing-introduce-formula-1-car%3B-williams-fw31.html
Easily the best sim I've ever played, and now I'm even thinking "why would I buy Gran Turismo 5?" - I just won't have time for it. iRacing is my equivelant of an MMO. :P
I bought the game about 20mins ago and downloading it now.
I loved F1 on the PS3 and generally F1 racing games in general.
Cant wait to give it a shot :)
You wont be dissappointed.... unless you want to play with us, we're all on PC not PS3.
He said be bought it and is downloading it. Can't do that on PS3! :D
Lucky for him then.
Get praccing on Sakhir Lenko in case one of our racers fails to turn up tonight. > http://gamers-underground.com/tournaments-ladders/33931-gu-tuesday-night-racing-announced.html
Lucky for him then.
Get praccing on Sakhir Lenko in case one of our racers fails to turn up tonight. > http://gamers-underground.com/tournaments-ladders/33931-gu-tuesday-night-racing-announced.html
Just finished DL'ing - firing it up now for some Sakhir practice :D
aww dont be nasty to him, lenko's gonna be sitting by his steam alerts panel waiting to get a go with all the cool kids now ;P
Well after an hour or two of play; I've started to get the hang of the vehicle with the comp. settings.
Melbourne best lap so far - 01:36.655.
I reckon that isn't too bad considering. Kuala Lumpur is proving to be a MASSIVE pain in my ass though :p
So i was racing and pitted in. The crew/marshals didn't let me out until the entire field had passed me (pit lane was clear).
Restarted the race and it did it again...and again.
Seems to be a known bug and it's effing annoying :/
Career is full of bugs. Multiplayer's where it's at! :)
Yeah im just getting some skills before I annoy ppl in multi :p
Get out of career if you want to get used to the cars we drive in the Tuesday comp. Career puts you in '2010' versions of the cars, so Red Bull cars are much much quicker than Lotus or Virgin etc.
Its better to practice in Time Trials to get used to the driving lines and speeds etc oyu can take into corners. Driving with other cars can come when you know the track better.
Reslo can probably give you some tips on how to get 20 seconds worth of time penalties as well as a drive through penalty.
:P
Read the manual a bit and I think it was for crossing the white lines after my pit stop... then in serving my drive through I sped in the pits and got +20 secs.
Bring on Melbourne and redemption.