F1® 24 [Megathread] Handling Feedback after patch 1.3

Handling feels a lot like before patch which is good because it was quite fine before and is maybe even better now. You feel what the car does and can react to it.  TC is perfect too. Without it is the same like before and with Medium TC it is a bit harder than before which was way too easy. 

I played the update on the PS5 this am, haven't tried on the 5h EA play demo (PC) yet.

I use all assists for Monaco playing with a controller. Last night's time was 1:14.007. After the update, I was 1:14.086. Same setup. All assists are on, but there is no real noticeable difference in the handling.

I use ABS and auto, everything else is off for most tracks. My run on Silverstone was interesting, to say the least. I had a few wildly-point setups with 50 points in the front wing and 40 in the rear wing (35 as well), most extremely point cars are not drivable now similar to driving on ice.  Coming out of T3 and heading into T4 (the loop) using my extremely pointy car setups would cause sliding as if I were on ice.  Turn 7 (Luddfield) is similar.  My 50 points in the front wing and 43 in the rear wing setup seemed to be the most accurate. Zero slide. The 43 points in the rear wing got me a similar time to some of my extreme setups.  The update seems ok to me.   My extreme setups took advantage of the large amount of front grip.

I'll preface my feedback by saying I race on a wheel with zero assists and I've been playing F1 games since F1 2020.

To me this handling update took everything that was good about the pre-patch handling and got rid of it. 

The braking requires zero skill now, you can stand on the brakes and the fronts don't lock. Prior to the patch the braking was honestly perfect, it required skill and felt nearly identical to braking for GTP cars in iRacing where you had to be afraid of the brakes which is EXACTLY how it is in real life. You can also slide the rear in corners to gain time again like you could in F1 23 but you couldn't do that prior to this patch. 

I no longer feel like I get any feedback about what the car is doing in the corners. All of the updates for the suspension model that were present and I could feel prior to the patch I can no longer feel at all. The amount of speed the car is carrying doesn't feel like it affects the downforce level anymore. There's chronic understeer everywhere, I could honestly go on forever. It feels like you guys threw the baby out with the bathwater here. This is so much worse than it was prior to the patch. There were a few minor issues you all needed to address and it's like you just threw out everything.

Playing on a controller and here are my thoughts and feedback after the changes to the handling (never tried it pre patch).

Positives, for controller players who use the full TC it is a night and day improvement over F123. No more loose rear end exiting slow corners. Thank you for resolving this.

Negatives, or should I say constructive criticism.

The front end is way too pointy. I initially thought there was too much downforce, but I think the overly sharp steering inputs make it feel that way.

With F1 23 the front end was nice and responsive without the pointiness and it was so well programmed you could actually get great feedback from the car into corners.

The F124 current handling model feels like I'm playing Mario Kart at times. 

The car also feels very floaty and the steering is not linear smooth in anyway. The steering is still inconsistent and the correlation between the inputs I'm applying and the car behaviour are a bit out of sync.

I'm sure the new patch has improved lots of aspects of the handling which is a good positive. However I'm absolutely sure it can be improved further. In fact I think it's a must.

@IanM282 I feel exactly the same, way too much grip. Maybe we should drive with Medium TC? Do you tested it?

Some info about me:

Casual player, have been playing f1 games for a while but never alot, like maybe couple of days of a game at times etc... I only started playing alot of f1 with f1 22, and even now its not that much.

I drive without assists, manual gears everything, I only use ABS on.

My time trial times in f1 23 were about 1.1 seconds to 1.8 seconds slower than the top times, so im no pro, im not very slow but im not really good either.

For me personally I didn't like the handling so much when f1 24 released, alltho I saw huge potential, but some things annoyed me.

With this new patch these things are completely gone and I have to say I LOVE the new handling, way better than before and way better than f1 23.

I also see why some "pro" and "very good" drivers here want this to be more of a sim, or want less grip etc... but that applies maybe to 2% of the population of f1 games, I don't agree they should do it just because such a low number of players want to make it harder to drive.

Maybe they should add "sim mode" where its easier to spin and harder to drive for you guys lol.

I personally like the new handling alot and even my two friends who quit f1 22 because it was too hard and easy to spin and then played a bit f1 23 but still found it a bit too easy to spin at times, have tried it and are really impressed so far and will probably play it alot this year because of this.

I can understand why really great and pro players want it to be harder and punish ur mistakes more, thats why I suggest they can add a "sim mode" where these things are harder and its easier to spin and stuff... and everyone will be happy.

@roberto9663No I haven't tested medium TC as yet. I was mainly referring to too much grip from the front end. For me it initially felt like too much grip and front end downforce. However after more extensive testing I'm now not so sure?

I think because the steering inputs are completely out of sync to what the car is doing and turn in was so sharp and responsive, I felt like there was too much downforce. But I've now discovered a load of understeer mid corner, so not so sure now.

The steering definitely requires some rebalancing.

Full TC for me is now perfect on controller and back to how it was in 22 and 21.

Braking is my only issue, car wants to lock up and spin in every brake zone even with minimal brake pressure applied. Only thing that works for me is applying low ABS assist, and that feels unnatural 

@Meza994Actually yes you are absolutely correct. I've only started playing the game a few hours ago so still trying to understand the handling in more detail.

I think the really sharp turn in can faulsley make you think you have too much downforce, but having tested it further there is a lot of understeer that soon follows after the initial sharp turn in.

Definitely needs more work, doesn't it.