The F1 career of Erik Andersson (1999-?)

[UncreativeUsername37]

After karting and minor national series, the Swedish Erik Andersson began his major racing career in 1996 by just losing the German F3 title to Jarno Trulli. Going into the final event, he was seven points behind Trulli, meaning that victory in both races would be enough no matter what else happened. Instead, he came second behind him in both.

Whilst Trulli went off to F1, Erik had to be content with F3000. He came third overall, taking a win when everyone crashed in Helsinki, and won the championship the following year with five wins.

Minardi have signed him for the 1999 F1 season, putting him alongside Marc Gené in an all-rookie lineup. If he can consistently beat his teammate—what the hell is "Open Fortuna by Nissan" anyway?—then that'll be the first step to championdom.

Some more meta points:
*This career won't use the vanilla rcds. It'll use some I made myself to better reflect 1999 instead of some weird average of 1999-02.
*All of the races will be done as individual races with dry weather, because rain and keyboards don't mix.
*I haven't done much racing against 100% AI, but judging by how I've done, this won't be one of those careers where the guy gets 2nd overall with a backmarker and then just wins into eternity.
*I don't know if I'll just post results, do a lot of writing, or something in the middle. Maybe I'll find an amount I like or maybe it'll fluctuate like Toyota.

The Australian GP will be posted fairly soon.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

what the hell is "Open Fortuna by Nissan" anyway?

Just in case this was a serious question, it was the series that went on to become World Series by Renault. Fun fact: The chassis was built by Coloni!

All that aside, good luck with the career!

[Peteroli34]

what the hell is "Open Fortuna by Nissan" anyway?

Just in case this was a serious question, it was the series that went on to become World Series by Renault. Fun fact: The chassis was built by Coloni!

All that aside, good luck with the career!

Didnt Fernando Alonso win that series in 1999 his first year of car racing

[UncreativeUsername37]

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

(There was nothing weird about the rcds, this is just what RNG thought would be funny today)
"So how was your first F1 qualifying session?"
"I don't understand how Marc is six, seven tenths ahead of me. I had fun, if that's what you mean, but when I was out of the car and he set that time I didn't understand. When I went back in I couldn't come close in the laps I had left. I know it's my first qualifying, but it is for him too."

It's okay, though, because Andersson is famous for his starting prowess since his career is in F1C. So one position behind on the grid? That doesn't matter. Indeed, by the end of the first two corners, he was up to twelfth. And then he did this.

He tried to go between Wurz and Michael Schumacher, but knocked off Schumacher's rear wing, causing him to fly into Alesi and knock off his rear wing. Then Erik ran into Wurz too.


Championship
1. M. Häkkinen (10)
2. R. Barrichello (6)
3. E. Irvine (4)
4. J. Trulli (3)
5. G. Fisichella (2)
6. H. Frentzen (1)

1. McLaren (10)
2. Stewart (6)
3. Ferrari (4)
4. Prost (3)
5. Benetton (2)
6. Jordan (1)

[Ciaran]

Best of luck with the career mode, it makes a change from most of us who start out in the late 80s/early 90s.

[UncreativeUsername37]

So not much about Brazil went as planned. The idea was that after I, I mean Erik caused the pileup, he would be banned for a race, then he would have Badoer's accident and the ban would hilariously be rendered pointless. Instead, noplayer was a bit glitchy, so neither of those happened.

I beat Badoer by over a tenth in qualifying, so that was good. Thinking back to Melbourne, I forgot to change my setup, so that would've been part of it. Still, it was only a few more laps of fuel, not enough to explain the better part of a second. In the race, I ran in 13th until losing it early to Wurz, then regained it thanks to a mechanical failure. I was keeping up with him, then on lap 21, maybe 22, Wurz decided to take turn 1 at the speed of Nissany and I ran into him. I went a lap without a front wing and pitted, but I had lost so much time that I stopped caring and didn't finish.

Then it turned out ClipX wasn't running, so all I had was the bottom page of the race results. Like last time, I did let the race play out, so I still have the replay and therefore the results. Hopefully Imola can be the first normal post.

Classified:
1. Häkkinen
2. M. Schumacher
3. Irvine
4. R. Schumacher
5. Frentzen
6. Hill
7. Fisichella
8. Panis
9. Diniz
10. Zonta
11. Takagi
12. de la Rosa

Championship
1. M. Häkkinen (20)
2. E. Irvine (8)
3. R. Barrichello (6)
=. M. Schumacher (6)
5. R. Schumacher (3)
6. J. Trulli (3)
7. H. Frentzen (3)
8. G. Fisichella (2)
9. D. Hill (1)

1. McLaren (20)
2. Ferrari (14)
3. Stewart (6)
4. Jordan (4)
5. Williams (3)
6. Prost (3)
7. Benetton (2)

[UncreativeUsername37]

"SAN MARINO" GRAND PRIX
The home race of my team! I'll try extra hard not to crash.


I set a lap one and a half seconds better than that in practice, but I freaked out every time it was time for a hotlap. The reason I only did one is because of what I consider a serious design flaw in F1 Challenge, the leave circuit button doesn't have a confirmation prompt. But just know that I had three other laps I screwed up too.


Yeah, I crashed at the beginning of the second stint. Oh well. Next race is Monaco, so I should definitely be fine there.

Championship
1. M. Häkkinen (26)
2. D. Coulthard (10)
3. R. Barrichello (9)
4. E. Irvine (8)
5. M. Schumacher (6)
6. R. Schumacher (3)
6. J. Trulli (3)
6. G. Fisichella (3)
9. H. Frentzen (7)
10. A. Wurz (2)
11. D. Hill (1)

1. McLaren (36)
2. Ferrari (14)
3. Stewart (9)
4. Jordan (8)
5. Benetton (5)
6. Williams (3)
6. Prost (3)

Since I haven't yet, I guess I should clarify that the Open Fortuna thing was indeed a sarcastic comment.

[UncreativeUsername37]

MONACO GRAND PRIX
I crashed a lot in Practice 1, but I didn't have an individual crash as bad as this Jordan:


On the start of my first qualifying hotlap, this happened.



Let's just say I didn't get a clean lap in.


So it was your typical F1C start at Monaco. Order after 4 laps:
1. Villeneuve
2. Zonta
3. Andersson
4. Herbert
5. Gené
6. Hill
Out. Everyone else
(Yes, really)

Naturally, Hill began to catch Gené. And then, on lap 12:


Zonta catches up to Villeneuve. Meanwhile, I put it in the wall and have to pit, dropping to last. Then all of these things happen on the same lap, number 33:





Forza Minardi!


But a few laps later, starting this shot of Gené, Martin Brundle suddenly says something that makes the race exciting again: Andersson is catching him at two seconds a lap!


Murray Walker: And there you can see the two Minardis, the only cars left running in what has been a very strange Monaco Grand Prix.
(It's about lap 40 now, I forget exactly when)

A couple laps later...

Martin: So Andersson's caught up, now he just has to find a way past.

The next time we come to the Nouvelle Chicane, I completely divebomb him, but I manage to only cut one apex just like he does.

I have a worse exit compared to him, as you might guess, but it's so much worse I effectively park it on the exiting left-hander and I'm good. Race won, right? Well, despite my previous relative pace, I wasn't able to lose him at all.

Several laps later...

Murray: Andersson is slow out of the Nouvelle Chicane! What's happened?
Martin: I don't know, but Gené's just taken back the lead!

A few corners later:

Martin: Gené very slow out of the—and there's contact! Gené loses his rear wing, and Andersson loses his front!

As an F1 Challenge AI who had lost his rear wing, Gené had no choice but to retire. One third of a Grand Prix later...

Murray: Erik Andersson, the only finisher, wins the Monaco Grand Prix for Minardi.
Martin: Bizarre. That's the only word that can describe this race. Surreal, maybe.
(I turned into the last corner of the race too early, that's what the missing wheel is about)


Championship
1. M. Häkkinen (26)
2. D. Coulthard (10)
2. E. Andersson (10)
4. R. Barrichello (9)
5. E. Irvine (8)
6. H. Frentzen (7)
7. M. Schumacher (6)
8. R. Schumacher (3)
8. J. Trulli (3)
8. G. Fisichella (3)
11. A. Wurz (2)
12. D. Hill (1)

1. McLaren (36)
2. Ferrari (14)
3. Minardi (10)
4. Stewart (9)
5. Jordan (8)
6. Benetton (5)
7. Williams (3)
7. Prost (3)

I don't think I should have Monaco in the next season.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

[Nuppiz]

What AI difficulty and aggression did you use? If they're too high that's exactly what will happen in vanilla Monaco, because the AIW there is not made very well.

[UncreativeUsername37]

What AI difficulty and aggression did you use? If they're too high that's exactly what will happen in vanilla Monaco, because the AIW there is not made very well.

I know this is normal for F1 Challenge. I have the AI on 100%/100%, since that seems like it should be the "normal" settings. Even on the 93% difficulty I'm most used to, they still do this, but I've always had aggression on full. If reducing the aggression really does help, I'll play around with that.

[UncreativeUsername37]

Well, even with 0% aggression, the AIs couldn't handle Monaco. And reducing the difficulty isn't an option, of course. So unless there's a fan-made fixed Monaco out there, I'll have to drop it from 2000. But that's a season away, what's happening now?

SPANISH GRAND PRIX
As a time-traveller, I know this as the Catalan Grand Prix, and a Spanish GP at Catalunya sounds to me like what a Czechoslovak GP would sound like now. Spoiler: 2039 was F1's first season with joker laps.


Turn 5 and the chicane afterward weren't exactly perfect, but check it out, this is what I can achieve when I'm not a complete plugup.


The start went pretty well, this being F1 Challenge and all. I was 12th when the dust settled.


It quickly became apparent that my epic start had resulted in a Trulli train, but there was something special about this one—it had Trulli himself as the second car. Yeah, doesn't feel so nice, does it?

But soon...


But the next corner...



But the next lap...

Yes, that's turn 3. After that, he got away. But we had been catching Zanardi, and later...


...I had a three-car train once again. You know you're having a bad race when a Minardi takes you....


The stint wasn't without its mistakes, but I kept everyone behind until they pitted or had mechanical failures. The only reason I kept the positions after overrunning the chicane is because they happened to battle amongst themselves in the last sector that lap, allowing me just enough of a gap to still do this.

I messed up pitting. I went through the lollipop guy, the stop didn't start, and I thought oh shite, I've overrun the box. I tried to reverse, but the car wouldn't move. Then after panicking for a bit, I pressed Enter because I was still on the pit-planning LCD mode. It all cost me about seven seconds.

The third quarter of the race was quite lonely, but I did manage to do this worth showing.

No cars to battle, nothing, just straight-up pushing too much.

Then about three quarters of the way through the race...

...Trulli returns! I guess he two-stopped or something. He certainly didn't jump me in the pits


I held him up well for several laps, but I just had to be Erik Andersson.


Coulthard evens it wins-wise, and Michael Schumacher takes third by a suspicious margin.

Championship
1. M. Häkkinen (32)
2. D. Coulthard (20)
3. R. Barrichello (11)
3. E. Irvine (11)
5. E. Andersson (10)
5. M. Schumacher (10)
7. H. Frentzen (7)
8. R. Schumacher (4)
9. J. Trulli (3)
9. G. Fisichella (3)
11. A. Wurz (2)
12. D. Hill (1)

1. McLaren (52)
2. Ferrari (21)
3. Stewart (11)
4. Minardi (10)
5. Jordan (8)
6. Benetton (5)
7. Williams (4)
8. Prost (3)