Background
Assuming you've installed and set up telemetry for F1 2011, you're probably wanting to know how to interpret the data it produces.
The guys at lapfaster.com have written a fantastic ebook on this topic and while it's not tailored specifically for the telemetry used by F1 2011, all the principles and theories it teaches apply.
Download Here
Using telemetry to get faster
Now you've captured a few laps using F1Speed, it's time to apply the knowledge you absorbed from reading the lapfaster.com guide to F1PerfView. First load two laps into F1PerfView (click the link at the top of this article to see how).
The single most important graph is Time Difference. This graph shows you where one lap is losing time relative to the other. Quickly observe the graph and pick the place where it rises the fastest. This is where you're losing the most time and is the best place to make your initial changes.
I've circled in yellow my two big slow points. The light blue lap is 1:25.919 and the red lap is the slower, 1:27.604
To more easily see what's going on at that point in time, I'm going to zoom in on my first slow point. To do this, I hold my left mouse button down and drag it so I've selected everything within the first yellow circle, then I hit the Enter key (or right click and select Zoom Selection). Make sure to select enough to capture the full corner, just before you start braking all the way to after you've hit your track out.
From the above you can see the following in relation to the faster lap:
- I braked earlier and less heavy (Braking over distance).
- I got off the throttle earlier, inline with my braking earlier. I got on the throttle earlier.
- My exit speed was higher as result of getting on the throttle earlier.
Based on those quick observations I can see the only reason my time was faster in that corner was because I got on the throttle earlier, if you look at the Time delta again you can see I was acually losing time to my slower lap until that point. Zooming in on that sector make it more apparent.
My speed over distance (bottom right) and throttle over distance (top right) show my speed was consistently higher through that part of the lap. Once the corner was over the time difference didn't change again.
Tip: You can use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out on the grids. They synchronise zoom level. If you also show the Track View you can see where on the track your current data relates. You can also see the different lines you took.
Application
You may want to investigate other graphs to try and determine why your speeds are slower, but for now it's probably best to just hit the track and try applying the brake and throttle at different points, as indicated by the graph.
Fire up F1 2011 again and take to the track, capturing more data for analysis to see if it made a difference. This is where F1Speed really comes into it's own. Without having to switch back to F1PerfView you can use the time delta bar to see if your changes in driving style have impacted on lap time in the manner you expect.