Just run a qualifying session at Bahrain in a Williams with difficulty maxed at legend and all aids off. Ran 14th after messing up so many hot laps that I had to take it a bit easier in order to get off the back of the grid. It's hard, the AI are very quick at this level, although I only just outqualified Barrichello. Will do the race tomorrow (100% distance), although I'm a little concerned about supposed issues regarding AI fuel levels, and the several pit bugs that blight the game such as the release time and the fact the pit limiter simply doesnt fucking work in manual mode.
I did a test race in a Mercedes at Bahrain set at 20% full difficulty. Started 5th and raced competitively with Rosberg and the front guys until my stop on lap 4 out of 10. Rosberg pitted before me, and I mucked my stop up by hitting my front jack man and knocking him down. Fun, but it ruined my race coz he had to haul himself back onto his feet and I rejoined down the order in 13th. I made up a few places when some others pitted and ended up behind Hamilton. Couldnt pass him despite how bloody slow he was in the really slow twisty esses. It was fun, and I ended up 10th, although I found it a bit suspect how Bruno Senna could somehow snatch 6th. Did he even pit?? No sign of the puncture bug which was good.
I agree with MadCat's comments regarding the driving aspect. The spins are so canned it'd be hilarious if it werent so damn annoying. I'm used to being able to balance a car right on the limit of adhesion, or even a little over in other games such as GTR Evo but in this I have no chance. If it decides to spin for whatever arbitrary reason, I cant do anything to stop it. On the rare occasion I avoid a spin I'm left wondering was that me or the game? I just dont feel as if I have full control, that the game is partly driving the car as well. Remember how GP4 blatently dictated what line you'd drive through a corner? This is similar but on a deeper level. It's not as obvious as GP4 but it's there.
I just dont understand how guys like Ant Davidson and the devs were able to test the game and run extensive races without picking up a few of these issues. I know they rushed through a major physics update at the last minute, maybe that had some bearing on the number of bugs we're seeing? I mean, it's fun when everything is working together as it should but there's just too many issues for it to really shine properly. Hopefully Codies will address the major issues in a patch.