Ai difficulty

The ai is crazy fast in a straightline on some circuits not all of them for example ive tested miami and singapore miami has the issue while singapore doesnt

If you focus a setup for a single lap and try to squeeze every second possible and then you are forced to keep that unbalanced setup for a full race (that probably destroys the tire), you will get last

you need to make a setup that works for the race and use that in quality and then see if you still get pole easy, but the race will feel easier. 

I have the opposite experience. 

I saw someone saying there is a bug that doesn't allow AI to make mistakes; maybe make them do a perfect lap in quality. I play at lvl75-78, -MY TEAM - new car (the worst car as I refuse three over four chats that give you a free piece). I always qualify between 14-16, and I end up racing (fast-racing, five laps) between 6-12. My position should be between 12-18 (the car after 16 is very similar to mine, and I should be able to go slightly faster. The first six teams have better cars, and the 7th team is my goal.

I drive much more aggressively than they do in races, so I probably gain more than expected (obviously, entering the curve, as exiting and on flat, my car is a brick). Nonetheless, AI drives qualification too perfectly (one shoot), but I suspect it could be used to counterbalance the fact that we can flashback (and create our perfect lap). All in all, F1 drivers drive perfectly and consistently more than ordinary people can, so I see it reflected in qualification with almost perfect laps most of the time.

Things could change when I do a FULL race (because I will make more mistakes, there will be pit-stops, and tired will come more to play! That will probably re-balance my advantage and aggressive driving in a short race)

I have some problems even with the qualification test in Practice. They again have an unreasonable goal. Maybe it is connected? (exactly like in 2023, but I feel they didn't change anything, so the wrong quality-practice time is the same as the previous version)

I went to Track Trial (equal performance) and compared my best lap with the single grand prix qualify (equal performance) and tracked down all pole position times at level 75

- Marked in green the circuit I actually can reasonably do at 75 (keeping constant difficulty)

- the circuits in gray are too easy or too hard (and I should have to change the difficulty and I don't plan to do)

So I ended up making a MY TEAM season of 10 tracks only because I know I have 13 tracks I can confidently have fun at level 75 and will increase it every season by 1 or 2 points (plus my car will hopefully get better too) - Plus I get 3 track to add and change every year to keep stuff fresh

*I added the delta between the real-world record lap and the game pole just for fun; some circuits at 75 AI are much faster than the world record and sometimes much slower ^_^ 

Started a new driver career after patch 1.3, same level as the last 78. But this time I was half a second faster than my teammate. So going to have to up the level, after doing all GP modes again.

Straight line speed for AI is a joke at the moment. I have DRS and full overtake mode on and I am still getting passed by the car behind. 
if I don’t have DRS the AI gains 6-7/10ths of a second. Even in non drs straights they gain time on the straights. It’s ridiculous and I spend the whole race playing defence and conserving ERS for the longest straights to try and have a fighting chance of keeping the spot.