Written by our member Big B 1970
This is the first full season on the latest game for the Absolute Gaming F1 Championship, and I'm hoping to do OK in Division 2. I was awful on the previous game but for some reason I seem to be handling the F1 23 game a bit better. I may not be putting in fast individual lap times, but I can do reasonable ones consistently, so I'm hoping that translates into some podium finishes. I'm also ranked near the bottom of the drivers table, so that at least will give me some good cars to drive.
Week 1 - Netherlands 
Car: McLaren
Grid Position: 8
Finish on track: 2nd
Div 2 position: 1st 
I got off the start well, stayed on the inside up to the first bend and managed to avoid the carnage that took out Berty44. On such a narrow circuit it proved a good decision to go with the increased downforce to make cornering easier. I got up to 4th early on, well behind Harryn9000 who was leading Div 2, and probably would've won if he hadn't driven head on into the pit wall! I only just avoided his car as I came into the pits myself. I only got to race on the medium tyres for a couple of laps before the rain came down and like everyone else had to go in to change onto intermediates. The grip was still poor so I was driving quite cautiously on the corners. ShaunC92 caught me up in the last quarter of the race and was passing me when he had to switch to the low fuel mix and drop back. Fuel management was a big factor now we've moved up to the 35% race and it caught out a couple of drivers. I passed x Morriis on the final lap as he crawled round running on fumes and TheAshCohen09 was another to run out of petrol at the end. I finished 2nd on track, a long way behind anunnaki5 but that was irrelevant as the Div 2 victory was mine! Its been a long time since I saw myself on the podium at the end of a race, it would be great to do it again this season.
Week 2 - Italy 
Car: McLaren
Grid Position: 15
Finish on track: 8th
Div 2 position: 4th
I felt I had a good qualifying lap, until I saw everyone else's times and realised I was back on row 8 of the grid! That worked in my favour though as the carnage in front of me took out a few drivers. I was myself involved in a 4 car shunt on the first bend, but luckily it was at very low speed and I was at the back of it. After that I could pick my way through the wreckage and round to a very busy pit lane for a new front wing. The emphasis was then on making sure I completed the race as with 10 cars crashing out that meant a decent points haul. I came in just behind payne wales in the other McLaren, giving me 12 points for coming 4th in Division 2, and keeping me top of the table.
Week 3 - Singapore 
Car: Red Bull
Grid Position: 18
Finish on track: 9th
Div 2 position: 4th
It was great to be in the fastest car, but not the best track for it. Singapore is one of my least favourite circuits, so I set my car to maximum downforce in the hope I wouldn't bounce off the walls like I usually do. I set a decent time in qualifying, the only problem was that I'd gone over the very first corner and invalidated my lap time, putting right at the back of the grid. The aim for me in Singapore is always to get round and finish, then see how many points that gets me. There was a lot of traffic in the early stages as drivers got in each others way and I was no better, shunting MJG1878 quite hard as I misjudged the slow speed of the cars cornering in front of me. It did more damage to him than to me, but I still had to pit for a new wing. Thanks to a few slight wall touches throughout the race I had to pit another 3 times, but was able to keep in touch with the other back markers in my Red Bull. Getting lapped twice by the leaders anunnaki5 and RFC Buncey meant I didnt have to endure as many laps, and my cautious driving gained me a finishing place over Red Rhinoceros as I had no penalties. Another 4th place in Division 2, another 12 points and I'm just about hanging on at the top of the leaderboard.
Week 4 - Japan 
Car: McLaren
Grid Position: 10
Finish on track: DNF
Div 2 position: DNF
Not a great qualifying lap but at least it was a clean one. Again stayed out of trouble at the start and was in a decent position in the middle of the field. On lap 3 I got a little too close to Red Rhinoceros going into one of the bends and the little love tap damaged my front wing, so I decided to pit early. As I went to turn into the pit approach lane. Diode X didn't realise what I was doing and attempted an overtake on that side. The resulting smash sent us both into different sides of the pit wall and put us both out of the race.
Week 5 - Qatar 
Car: Red Bull
Grid Position: 7
Finish on track: 7th
Div 2 position: 3rd 
I got to drive the Red Bull again this week, but as Qatar isn't a track I'm overly familiar with (I don't do practise laps like the try-hards 
) and it only having one long straight, I played it cautiously and went for the maximum downforce preset. This helped in my qualifying lap as a lot of drivers invalidated by going off on the corners. It didn't do me a great amount of good in the race however, where everyone got off to a clean start and it settled into a steady race. I was comfortable in 7th for all of the second half of the race, keeping up with Hilly89 in his Mercedes but unable to get close enough to try a pass. I was keeping an eye on the gap, making sure I was within 3 seconds, which would've jumped me above him once penalty times had been added, but the disaster struck on the last lap. I've had my fuel management set to auto, but it didn't stop me running out of petrol about 3 turns from the chequered flag, and as I coasted over the line on fumes, I'd lost time that cost me a place. A solid race in retrospect though, and third place in Div 2 is a great result.
Week 6 - United States 
Car: McLaren
Grid Position: 9
Finish on track: 6th
Div 2 position: 2nd 
After running out of petrol last week, I topped up the tank with an extra 2 laps of fuel this week to avoid it happening again. Position 9 on the grid in a field on 19 was a good return from a qualifying lap where the emphasis was on staying on track. I got a nice clean start while hearing lots of apologies for cars bumping each other behind me, and I was thankful for ghosting being active when Red Rhinoceros and paullowes80 span out in front of me at the end of lap one, putting me up to 4th until the better drivers caught up and went past. I managed to hold off Burga boii for a few laps before I pitted for new tyres, and was pleased to still be in front of him after he'd also boxed (though not for long). This week was all about managing the penalties, with Harryn9000 and payne wales getting the DSQ for racking up too many. I made sure I slowed down for the notorious S bends of turns 6-9 and that helped me only rack up 3 seconds of penalties.
Week 7 - Mexico City 
Car: McLaren
Grid Position: 8
Finish on track: 4th
Div 2 position: 1st
A poor (but clean) qualifying lap meant I had to start in the middle of the grid but luckily avoided and of the bumps of the opening lap, and worked my way up the placings as some in front of me made mistakes that took them off the track. One of my best races of the season, I just concentrated on staying on track and not cocking it up. I finished just behind Red Rhinoceros on the track, but he had a lot more penalties than me so it bumped me up to 4th on track and the winner for Div 2. that put me top of the drivers championship, for now.
The review of the 2nd half of the season will follow.