F1 2006: The Career of Hedger

[hedger_14]

I have got really interested in Formula 1 once again so I decided to do a story from it. F1 2006 is the latest game I've got so the teams will be outdated but oh well, hope everyone enjoys it the same amount.


I had just finished another Test session with MF1 Racing. My agent had set me up with a test session with them a few months ago which I impressed the management at MF1 Racing. I didn't get a job as first or second driver though which disappointed me deeply but I got a job as Test driver. Helping with the MF1 Racing Team was pleasing enough but I was hoping to get a job as second driver soon. It was the day of my review and I had taken part in about 10 tests, most of which were successful.

I was nervous as I awaited my decision in the office. I thought to myself, "I failed a few tests, maybe they want me to stay as Test driver for longer" but some positive thoughts were also coming. At last, the decision came. "You have been impressive in your Test sessions so far. You have failed a few which wasn't too good but you've tried hard and we have decided to give you a spot as second driver. We still haven't got any points so we need to try something new. Hopefully you can succeed". "Thanks", I replied and I was so happy. A dream come true. I would finally be able to compete at the top level.

Already 6 races gone so far in the season but I wouldn't let that worry me. The standings were:

(Only drivers and constructors with points are shown)


Driver Table:

1. M. Schumacher - Ferrari - 36 points
2. F. Alonso - Renault - 32 points
3. G. Fisichella - Renault - 27 points
4. R. Barrichello - Honda - 23 points
5. K. Raikkonen - McLaren - 23 points
6. F. Massa - Ferrari - 20 points
7. J. Button - Honda - 20 points
8. J. Montoya - McLaren - 14 points
9. R. Schumacher - Toyota - 10 points
10. M. Webber - Williams - 8 points
11. M. Rosberg - Williams - 8 points
12. D. Coulthard - Red Bull - 8 points
13. N. Heidfield - BMW Sauber - 3 points
14. J. Trulli - Toyota - 1 point


Constructor Table:

1. Renault - 59 points
2. Ferrari - 56 points
3. Honda - 43 points
4. McLaren - 37 points
5. Williams - 17 points
6. Toyota - 11 points
7. Red Bull - 8 points
8. BMW Sauber - 3 points

 

[harrisb]

hmm, what game are you playing, F1 06, or F1 Championship edition, both are based on the '06 season, but CE is on the Ps3.

anyway, good start, maybe one day you'll be driving for renault, they were fast in '06.

 

[hedger_14]

Yeah, they were so much better when they had both Alonso and Fisichella on the team. And I'm just using F106 on the PS2.

 

[hedger_14]

Ability Test Session​

I had one more test session before my first race but it was an ability test session rather than the ones I had done previously. I had to beat my partner's best lap time. I was going to have to beat Albers best lap time.

I took it easy on my flying lap making sure I didn't crash. I did really well through the first sector and again well through the second. Albers got a time of 1:29:035 on his first lap while I clocked up 1:26:862 on my first lap. I got everything right on my second lap which pleased me as I managed a superb time of 1:24:938. My third lap wasn't very good as I could only get a time of 1:30:263 on my last lap. Albers couldn't beat his first lap time so I beat him comfortably. I got out of my car. He told me I did really well. My spot was safe for now. Now for my first grand prix at Monaco.

 

[hedger_14]

Grand Prix de Monaco​

Qualifying:

In my first qualifying session, I was nervous. My first lap wasn?t too good, recording a time of 1:32:154. My next lap was better getting a time of 1:26:435 but I was only in 20th place. I was starting to get the rhythm and then recorded times of 1:24:201 and 1:22:978 respectively and I was in 12th. My last lap in my first session was just under 1 minute, 24 seconds. My second qualifying test session was more consistent with times of around 1:26. My only time that was not between 1:25:00 and 1:27:00 was my best time of 1:23:118 to get 13th spot. I was knocked out though. Fisichella got top spot on the grid. The whole grid was as follows:


The Grid:

1. Fisichella - 1:21:439
2. Barrichello - 1:21:619
3. Montoya - 1:21:859
4. Webber - 1:21:859
5. M. Schumacher - 1:22:219
6. Raikkonen - 1:22:259
7. Alonso - 1:22:359
8. Massa - 1:23:078
9. Trulli - 1:23:098
10. R. Schumacher - 1:23:618
---------------------------------------------------------
11. Coulthard - 1:22:639
12. Button - 1:22:839
13. Hedger - 1:23:118
14. Rosberg - 1:23:578
15. Klien - 1:23:598
16. Heidfield - 1:24:278
---------------------------------------------------------
17. Villeneuve - 1:23:978
18. Speed - 1:24:038
19. Liuzzi - 1:24:558
20. Monteiro - 1:25:307
21. Ide - 1:25:657
22. Sato - 1:26:577


The Race:

After starting in 13th place, I quickly dropped one place into 14th. I kept on trying to take back the lead but I had a small incident with Klien which damaged my right tyre. I took back 13th place on the third lap but in my fourth lap, Klien clipped my back side which forced me into 14th again. I fell further and further behind Klien and the gap was soon up to twenty seconds. I was still a fair way ahead of Speed though. I wondered who was in first but I knew I shouldn?t worry about that. I kept getting further behind Klien and my tyres were too hard to compete with. I asked for a pit stop 7 laps in and they called me in. I nearly missed the pit but I quickly turned into it. The pit stop took 9:22 seconds. I had now fallen back to 18th place. I had moved back into 17th place after ten laps. I had damaged the car again though. I was up again into 14th position after fifteen laps but was still well behind Barrichello who was in 13th. I was 30 seconds behind Klien who had fallen behind Barrichello after 20 laps. I was forced to pit after crashing heavily after 22 laps but luckily, I didn?t lose any places during the stop. I was having a shocking race as I crashed again and was forced to pit. Luckily, I hadn?t had to retire though. 25 laps gone and I was in 18th. I moved up into 15th place by the end of 30 laps. 35 laps gone and 43 to go and I had moved into 14th. I was still way behind Klien, an 80 second deficit. If I took over Klien by the end of the race, I would be happy. I damaged the front of the car and had to pit. 41/78 laps gone and I had to pit 4 times. I crashed while entering the pits and had to retire. I swore at myself and I was so annoyed. It hurt me to find out that I had to retire from my first race. Alonso won the race with Montoya coming second and Fisichella rounding off the top 3. Hopefully I would do better in my next race.

 

[harrisb]

good write up brendon, make sure you don't crash into the pitlane in the next race. The results will come, i think you need more space from reading your write up as you said about colliding with klien. So you should do a bit better in the next few races.

 

[hedger_14]

I will try not to. The pit lane at Monte Carlo is harder than most tracks to enter.

 

[hedger_14]

Sneak Preview​

On the next update, it's an exciting race at the British Grand Prix where slippery conditions cause a few retirements as well as Schumacher retiring on the first lap and Fisichella going later on (not saying whose faults they were) and I have not crashed into the pits this time round but did I finish the race, did I miraculously win it, you'll have to wait to find out.

(Update coming tomorrow)

 

[harrisb]

i don't think you'll win it in a midland, but...

and also, kudos to you for racing the 100% distance, i've only done that once, i usually set it to 50%

 

[hedger_14]

Yeah. I decided to do 100% to make this story more realistic. I'll mostly be doing this on weekends or in the holidays. I didn't have any homework yesterday so I managed to fit in a race.

 

[hedger_14]

British Grand Prix​

After being forced to retire on my debut race, I was hoping it would not be the same during the British Grand Prix. I would have to say it was an easier track according to my practice sessions. I recorded the 17th best time in my first practice session with a time of 1:32:814 and 15th best time in my second practice session with a time of 1:32:124 and didn’t have a fantastic third practice session though recording times around the 1:33:00 mark. So it was Saturday afternoon and qualifying was about to start. I was hoping for a position like last race for my qualifying. I had a great firs qualifying session posting a few times in the 1:32 area before posting an excellent time of 1:30:915. I couldn’t best it and although it was the 5th best time when I had finished the lap, by the end of the session, it was the 9th best time but I was through to the next session of qualifying. My partner Monteiro finished 20th in qualifying.

My first lap of qualifying in the second session was really poor with a time of just above 1:36. I had to go better in my next few laps. My next lap was way better posting a time of 1:32:534. I was only in 13th though so if I didn’t post some better laps, I would be out in QS2. Yes, I got into 9th with a time of 1:31:474, but still behind my best from the previous qualifying session. I didn’t go any better in my final 2 qualifying laps before coming in and I had finished in 12th place which was a bit disappointing but I knew it was only the race that mattered. Button got pole position with a good time of just under 1:30:515.


The Grid:

1. Button - 1:29:515
2. Alonso - 1:29:815
3. Raikkonen - 1:30:575
4. Trulli - 1:30:595
5. Fisichella - 1:30:735
6. Montoya - 1:30:755
7. Barrichello - 1:30:835
8. Webber - 1:30:934
9. Rosberg - 1:31:874
10. Massa - 1:32:834
-----------------------------------------------------
11. R. Schumacher - 1:31:374
12. Hedger - 1:31:474
13. M. Schumacher - 1:31:994
14. Coulthard - 1:32:154
15. Klien - 1:32:574
16. Liuzzi - 1:32:914
-----------------------------------------------------
17. Villeneuve - 1:32:714
18. Heidfield - 1:32:794
19. Speed - 1:33:753
20. Monteiro - 1:34:573
21. Ide - 1:34:972
22. Sato - 1:35:612


The Race:

Starting between the two Schumacher’s, I was in for a good race. I had a feeling that I would finish the race today. I had practiced getting into the pits during one of my practice runs and it was easier than Monte Carlo. So we were all in position to start the race. Who would win this one? A hectic start to the race, drivers trying to move up through the pack. I lost a few places early on but regained them and had found myself back in 12th just after the first lap. It was disaster on my second lap though as I hadn’t noticed Michael Schumacher breaking so hard and sharply as I smashed my front wing on the back of his car and I had to make a pit stop. I was wondering how his car would be now. I was in 21st after the pit stop. I had now found out that Michael Schumacher had to retire. I felt guilty for that but I knew I shouldn’t worry about that now.

I was 20 seconds behind but setting the fastest lap time of the race of just under 1:31:00 got me to within 13 seconds. I knew I had to keep on going if I was to finish in a good position. The gap was down to 5 seconds after 5 laps so I was gaining progress. Some good overtaking moves took me up into 18th place and closing in on Speed after 10 laps. I wanted to continue moving upwards. I was moving up and due to some drivers making pit stops; I was now in 11th place. I had taken over Klien just before the end of 19 laps and at the end of my 20th lap, I had moved up into 7th due to Fisichella and Barrichello pitting. Montoya and Webber made pit stops which moved me up into 4th position. I knew I would have to pit soon but I didn’t worry about that. I would probably only drop down to around 10th at worst anyway. Just as I was catching Raikkonen, the rain started coming down. 26 laps were gone now and I decided to make a pit stop. The pit stop was quick and I was quickly out. I had fallen back into 8th now.

The track was slippery and it was hard to grip and I was losing time over Raikkonen. I lost control of the car just after we had reached the halfway mark of the race and I lost valuable time. I had lost 2 spots, Trulli and Barrichello taking over me. I kept falling behind as Fisichella took over me. I had so much trouble seeing through the water being washed up and I smashed into Fisichella forcing him to spin out and no doubtfully, he had to retire but I had to pit. I was in 13th place which was annoying. With 22 laps out of the total 60 left in the race, Schumacher went off the track which caused me to cruise past him and up into 11th and now behind Rosberg. I spun out but luckily, I didn’t lose any places. Due to Massa and Rosberg making stops in the pits, I had moved up again into the top 10. Coulthard then pitted and I was in 8th. 15 laps to go and it was going to be tough to hold onto a top 10 position. I was getting further away from Massa though now with 10 laps to go. I probably wasn’t going to catch Webber but I was really happy with my current position. Webber somehow lost his position to me. He must have pitted, I thought so I was in 7th now. What a great performance from myself. 5 laps to go and I was still in 7th. I was going to be careful making sure I didn’t spin out now that 6th place was well out of my reach.

Jensen Button won the race comfortably with Raikkonen finishing second with Fernando Alonso rounding off the top 3. Trulli finished 4th, Montoya grabbed a top 5 position finishing in a reasonable 5th place, Barrichello got 6th, I had finished in 7th, Mark Webber got the final point, finishing 8th place. Coulthard just missed out on points, finishing 9th, as did Rosberg who finished 10th. Klien took 11th spot, Liuzzi 12th, Villeneuve 13th, Heidfield 14th, Speed in 15th, my partner Monteiro finishing in 16th, Sato taking 17th, and Ide was the lowest placed driver who didn’t retire in 18th. Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella and R. Schumacher were all the drivers who retired. I was really happy with my result picking up 2 points and I would want to continue racing well throughout the season.

 

[hedger_14]

Grand Prix du Canada​

I was looking forward to the Grand Prix in Montreal and now the day had come. I had got some good practice session runs including the 14th top time in Friday?s 2nd Practice Session. But it was time for qualifying now and a time of 1:21:500 would be excellent. My first lap of qualifying was just over 1:22:00 but I knew I would have to do better. My second lap was just under 1:22:00 so I was going well. I pulled into pits as I took a small blow into my third lap and I decided it was best. I went out with 5 minutes to go in the session and I was in 18th position. My third lap was a needed one though putting a time of 1:20:320 to get 14th place in the first session of qualifying, beating the knocked out 17th place by .3 of a second. In the second qualifying session I started off with an ordinary time of 1:21:339. A second lap time of 1:21:299 didn?t boost my position at all and I was sitting in 9th at that particular time but I would probably fall by the end of the session if I don?t improve my time. I made an excellent time of 1:19:780 though to improve my position and giving me a small chance to go through to the third session. I just managed to get through with 10th position but I didn?t know if I could do much better in the final session. I didn?t have a great session not improving my position and only recording a top time of 1:20:440 so I would start in 10th.


The Grid:

1. Barrichello - 1:18:341
2. Raikkonen - 1:18:441
3. Webber - 1:18:701
4. Alonso - 1:18:821
5. Button - 1:18:821
6. M Schumacher - 1:18:881
7. Coulthard - 1:18:921
8. Fisichella - 1:19:460
9. Montoya - 1:19:520
10. Hedger - 1:20:440
--------------------------------------------------
11. Villeneuve - 1:19:920
12. R Schumacher - 1:19:999
13. Trulli - 1:20:080
14. Massa - 1:20:240
15. Klien - 1:20:920
16. Rosberg - 1:21:179
--------------------------------------------------
17. Heidfield - 1:20:620
18. Liuzzi - 1:21:110
19. Speed - 1:21:439
20. Sato - 1:22:679
21. Monteiro - 1:22:779
22. Ide - 1:25:017


The Race:

So the race to start now, with Barrichello in pole position. I was back in 10th which was a nice position to start in. I fell into 11th place a few turns into the race but I didn?t worry about it. 3 laps into the race, I saw too late that a driver had stopped on the track and I couldn?t pull out fast enough, as I nearly lost the front wing. It forced me to pit. It was obvious that the person who I crashed into had to retire which was pretty obvious the way he hadn?t moved out of the way of the racing line. I had fallen back to 21st after the pit stop but this had happened before and I knew I could get back in the race. After 7 laps, I had caught up to Heidfield in 20th. Disaster struck as I took my teammate out of the race and I had to pit again.

I really needed to work on my driving strategy and not run into other players. I felt sorry for him and he wouldn?t be too happy with me after the race. Again I had fallen back down the grid in 20th now. 16 laps gone and I was within 2 seconds of Heidfield. Halfway through the 17th lap and I had taken over Heidfield and moved into 19th position. Ide pitted and I took over Speed early in the 18th lap which moved me up to 17th. 20 laps into the race and I was in 15th and battling with Sato for 14th position. I took over him pretty easily in the end. I then took over Villeneuve somehow and I was in 13th after 28 laps. There was a spill on the track so I guess it was a mechanical problem and he had to retire. I took over Klien halfway into lap 31 to move into 12th. Another mechanical problem, this time from Trulli and I had moved up to 10th. Halfway through the race now and I still hadn?t got a good opportunity to take over Massa. However, with Massa pitting on the 36th lap, I had moved up into 9th position and just over 10 seconds behind Rosberg.

Up into the top 10 I went as Rosberg decided to make a pit stop with 31 laps to go in the race. Webber pitted causing me to move up to 7th but only 2 seconds ahead of Webber now with 24 laps to go. I had lost my place to Webber with 20 laps to go after I went on the track. I was to come in for a scheduled pit stop at the end of the 53rd lap, meaning 17 laps to go. Rosberg had also pitted on the same lap as me but took over me shortly after and I was just ahead of Massa who didn?t make a pit stop. I had lost my position to Webber though so I was now in 9th. Into the final 10 laps, I was in a comfortable position a few seconds behind Rosberg but a few seconds ahead of Massa. Into the final 5 laps, it was looking like 9th position for me, with a 10 second lead over Massa now but a 4 second deficit to Rosberg so I would probably just miss out on points.

I headed into my final lap just after Rubens Barrichello crossed the finish line to win the race. I couldn?t catch Rosberg though and finished in 9th place, just missing out on points. I was happy with the result though. Raikkonen finished second with Fernando Alonso the last driver to finish on the podium in third. Michael Schumacher got a well deserved 4th place, Fisichella grabbing a few points by finishing 5th, Montoya would have been happy to take 6th place. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg took the last points positions in 7th and 8th respectively. I had taken 9th with Massa, Klien, Heidfield, Liuzzi, Speed and Sato the other drivers to finish the race. Trulli, Ide, R Schumacher, Villeneuve, Monteiro, Coulthard and last races winner, Button were all the drivers that had to retire.

 

[harrisb]

very well driven, it's a shame that you aren't getting many comments, the last two races have been good for you, points at silverstone and 9th in canada. keep it up and you'll get a drive for a better team.

 

[hedger_14]

Thanks for following this story. It's annoying that I'm not getting any comments but that won't stop me. I've got holidays now so I can get a few races done over the next 2 weeks.

 

[hedger_14]

United States Grand Prix​

So Indianapolis was the venue for my next grand prix. Looking to continue my good form, I was looking for another top 8 finish. I posted a time of 1:19:580 in my first qualifying session, being the 13th best time of the session. Rosberg went in the first session, getting 18th position. My second session was really good getting a best time of 1:18:161 to take 7th position. What could I do in the third qualifying session? Although I didn?t go as well in the final session, I still posted a time of 1:18:581 to get a starting position of 7th. Massa took pole position with Webber finishing second, Raikkonen 3rd, Fernando Alonso 4th and Michael Schumacher 5th.


The Grid:

1. Massa - 1:17:361
2. Webber - 1:17:561
3. Raikkonen - 1:17:821
4. Alonso - 1:17:961
5. M Schumacher - 1:18:121
6. Button - 1:18:241
7. Hedger - 1:18:541
8. Fisichella - 1:18:821
9. Barrichello - 1:19:020
10. Montoya - 1:19:260
--------------------------------------------------
11. R Schumacher - 1:18:980
12. Coulthard - 1:19:720
13. Klien - 1:19:920
14. Villeneuve - 1:20:040
15. Liuzzi - 1:20:320
16. Heidfield - 1:20:720
--------------------------------------------------
17. Trulli - 1:20:380
18. Rosberg - 1:20:400
19. Speed - 1:21:719
20. Monteiro - 1:22:159
21. Ide - 1:22:579
22. Sato - 1:23:398


The Race:

It was going to be a good race and I was ready to go as I set off for the parade lap. And we readied for the start of the race. I lost my place to Fisichella on the first turn but regained the place on the second as I took the inside line. After 5 laps fighting with Button in front of me while fending off Fisichella who was behind me, I finally made my move overtaking Button going into the third sector so I was up to 6th. 15 laps in and I was still tailing Michael Schumacher as well as Raikkonen and Webber and I had finally taken over him as I saw a small mistake from the Ferrari driver and capitalised on it, overtaking him. Raikkonen was in front of me now but could I overtake him? Webber made a pit stop 16 laps in so I had moved up to 4th now. I knew I would have to pit though so I would probably fall back past him.

I pulled into the pits for my first scheduled stop on lap 18. The pit stop time was 7.9 seconds plus the time from driving down the pit lane. I pulled out in 9th and surprisingly in front of Webber by a place. He took over me straight away though as I was only just ahead of him. Webber wasn?t having a great race and I overtook him pretty easily in the end. The car wasn?t very good on the straights meaning I lost a second or so in the last sector each lap but I made it up with my good times through the first sector. Button pitted but pulled out just before I could overtake him so I stayed in 9th place. I took over Barrichello after he pitted to move up into the top 8. The earlier pit stop might have been just mistimed but again I had taken back over R Schumacher while he pitted. I finally got my chance to take over Button and I easily did it in the end with him taking the wrong line into the turn. 6th place, I was in now. I took the outside of Michael Schumacher to take over him and I had moved up into the top 5. Klien then pitted to move me up into 4th after 24 laps.

The rain started to come down. Well I didn?t expect that. The team hadn?t told me it was going to rain. All of the top 3 pitted on lap 27 and I had moved up into 1st for the first time in my career. Could I keep it though? I pulled into the pits for my second stop with 37 of the total 73 laps to go. I pulled out of the pits in 4th place behind Raikkonen. I took over Raikkonen though with 34 laps to go. Massa must have made a pit stop as I found that I was only 3 seconds behind him after being about 12 seconds behind the lap before. Massa was lapping slowly but I couldn?t find the right time to overtake him so it resulted in me losing time to Raikkonen who was behind me. I finally got past him though with 22 laps to go in the race but I still had one more scheduled pit stop to make. Massa pitted the lap after anyway so I would have moved into 2nd. I pulled into the pits for my last scheduled stop with 20 laps to go. I only lost 2 spots as I moved down below Massa even after I made a mistake in the pits. Raikkonen had pitted so I moved up past him and into 3rd. I spun out off the track and nearly lost the rear wing of the car. I was down in 5th though. About 10 seconds later, I was forced to retire and I was pissed off badly.

It could have been a podium finish but the rain had forced me to spin out and retire. Alonso had to retire with 4 laps to go so his result was still classified but he finished in 18th instead of 1st. Massa had finished first though. Fisichella finished second, Michael Schumacher took third, Barrichello finished 4th, Trulli finished strongly taking 5th place, and Button didn?t make any change to his qualifying position. Red Bull driver, Coulthard had a good race taking 7th. Rosberg took the final point after a poor qualifying session. Klien just missed out on any points, as did Montoya. Webber after starting second on the grid couldn?t get it right finishing in 11th. Liuzzi, Speed, Villeneuve, Raikkonen, Heidfield, Monteiro and Alonso were the only other classified drivers. Ide, R Schumacher, Sato and I were the racers that had to retire. The Grand Prix in France was up next and I was definitely going to finish the race.


Drivers Table:

1. Alonso - 54 points
2. M Schumacher - 48 points
3. Barrichello - 46 points
4. Fisichella - 45 points
5. Raikkonen - 43 points
6. Button - 33 points
7. Massa - 30 points
8. Montoya - 29 points
9. Webber - 15 points
10. R Schumacher - 10 points
11. Trulli - 10 points
12. Rosberg - 10 points
13. Coulthard - 10 points
14. Heidfield - 3 points
15. Hedger - 2 points
16. Klien - 1 point
17. Liuzzi - 0 points
18. Villeneuve - 0 points
19. Speed - 0 points
20. Monteiro - 0 points
21. Ide - 0 points
22. Sato - 0 points
23. Albers - 0 points (Not currently F1 Driver)


Constructors Table:

1. Renault - 99 points
2. Ferrari - 79 points
3. Honda - 79 points
4. McLaren - 72 points
5. Williams - 25 points
6. Toyota - 20 points
7. Red Bull - 11 points
8. BMW Sauber - 3 points
9. MF1 - 2 points
10. Toro Rosso - 0 points
11. Super Aguri - 0 points