Randomness?

Just posting this here after a lengthy conversation after our race, regarding the unpredictability of some races.

In RaceID 82911 I just can't explain the difference between my drivers 18432 and 7223. Both drivers had:
- perfect setups 
- 100% health
- minimal weight
- 25 years of age
- the same strategy

Driver 7223 is equal or better on all attributes, and 7223 had a fresh engine compared to an 89% engine of 18432
Yet: 18432 outqualified 7223 and 18432 was faster throughout the whole race.

This doesn't seem to make sense at all.. can anyone explain this difference? From other managers in the league - who have collected data - I understand this is just one example of many seemingly random events/results. I understood it can't be a matter of favorite tracks for drivers.. Is there a random factor? Can this be decreased in order to make this randomness less noteable?

And some talks about clogs and tulips.

Rene and I were talking and noticed that there might be a certain randomness by the mark of a certain variable that multiplies or demultiplies each driver's performance each race. I have my drivers long enough and noted down their performances over the seasons. I chosen them with certain attributes (similar) in mind, trained the same way, now they are quite similar in attributes, cars they drive are identical, strategies identical. Yet, sometimes one driver is faster, sometimes the other one. It's not over the same circuits, so track preference is out of question. Sometimes there are even 20 seconds apart in a race.

Now, a certain unpredictability is welcomed, would be boring and annoying if each race would be decided by how good drivers and cars are, but I wonder if there is such a variable.

And oh, I wouldn't call this a bug. It could be a feature. :)

I did consider posting it under Gameplay assistance, but in my opinion the outcome of this can only be something that needs fixing. Either there isn't a random factor and something unknown is creating randomness in our races, or there is a random factor and it needs do be decreased (again, in my opinion)

I've always thought it was more to do with "dirty air" than anything. I've basically found whichever driver of mine gets out front is the one that always goes faster. Even if one driver is noticably slower in the first stint, if I kers them in front of my other driver after the first pit stop they always pull away even though they were slower throughout the entire first stint. I've always thought it made no sense but that's what I've noticed any way.

Sounds valid for the race (and I think if that's true, the dirty air factor might need some tweakin, though the qualifying laptime difference of almost .4s isn't explained by that.

I looked through the logs and found something:

1. The driver 7223 had the best setup he could have.
2. The driver 18432 didn't had the best setup he could have. It was very close but not exactly hidden.
3. We don't log the qualification but there is a chance of making mistakes so probably your driver made one which would explain the 0.4 seconds difference.

and of course If you are stucked behind someone you won't drive as fast as you could.
There are probably some other facts which need to be considered but not mentioned here.

You mean filtering ? Here, problem solved.

If point 1 and 2 are true, then that only stresses my point.. ?
If a mistake in qualifying explains all of this, then ok.. but it looks to me like there's more going on..

@Alin, lol :D

I've complained about qualifying in the past but as it's been said, mistakes can be made apparently. I made a thread asking what was going on last month some time after one of my drivers was p18 in qualifying at Abu Dhabi with a 100% car (and way off the pace), where as P1 was the same level driver, 0.8 seconds faster and only running a 65-75% car.

Here you go. Todays race for me is a great example.

Belgium, dry, 13 degrees.

P1 = 100% car. Level 9 (16 talent) driver. 4/5 push level. 1.49.786
P10 (my driver) = 95-99% car. Level 12 (17 talent) driver. 5/5 push level. 1.50.523

So try and explain that. Much higher level, much better driver, car is bugger all worse, and using 1 push level higher. 0.75 seconds slower. Both on same tyres and same strategy. My driver just had to have made many mistakes or something.

FYI my driver is the driver on p1. I purposely set him to 4/5 hoping he would qualify worse than my other driver (yet somehow he manages to get pole?) because he is always slower throughout a race....... what gives? lol

The difference in push levels here makes me think this is another (very interesting - lol) "problem"

Yeah I was blown away tbh.

I purposely set my driver Gabris to 4/5 because he is consistently slower than my other driver Diaz, so I figured I would try and get him out of the way right from the beginning so he isn't holding Diaz up. Then he qualifies on pole with 4/5 push?

http://igpmanager.com/play/?url=race-result/83217

He was only 0.49 seconds off the qualifying record aswell.

I mean compare that grid - Gabris vs Ortega for instance. Ortega is running a 95-99% car and he is 3 levels higher, with more talent and he was on 5/5 push. Granted there is every possibility that he made mistakes on his qualifying lap I'm still not entirely sure how I got pole with a lower push level, unless every other person on the grid made mistakes.

I'm wondering if it's possible that 4/5 can often be quicker than 5/5 for qualifying. I only come to this conclusion because a few seasons ago before the live timing controls came on board there was a guy in our league who would consistently qualify pole 80% of the time using only 4/5 push when almost everyone else was on 5/5, and most other variables were the same. The only way I can see this making sense in my head is the fact that since the driver isn't pushing it to the absolute limit, there is every possibility that they will make less mistakes on their Q lap? Or is this not possible? Just food for thought any way..

The "push to the limit" option actually does make sense. Driver is prone to more mistakes.