Forum topic: Driver skills

With work on the racescript on going, we're also going to be introducing a couple of new skills/characteristics for both cars and drivers. Today I'd like to discuss some of the driver skills. In the beta I'll be introducing the following soon and I was wondering if you guys had ideas for other skills. Do note that I don't want to overly introduce new skills just for the sake of it, but that I want to hear whether I missed something obvious.
I added some extra info next to those that might not be ultra clear.

SPEED
Acceleration
Braking
Wet weather
Starts
Overtaking
Defending
Consistency (hidden stat right now)

CORNERS (split up into three stats, currently these are using the speed stat for the slow and fast corners)
Slow
Medium
Fast

MANAGEMENT
Car management: reliable parts suffer less if this stat is high.
Fuel management: the higher the less fuel is used by the driver per lap.
Tyre warming: the higher the faster the tyres will reach the optimal temperature range.
Tyre management: the higher the better the driver will manage the tyres (= less fast higher temperatures).

TECHNICAL
Car setup: the current technical skill. The higher this is, the faster the set up will be increased.
Car development: the higher the faster the car rating is revealed.

PHYSICAL
Fitness
Natural fitness
Fatigue
Recuperation

MENTAL
Concentration: the higher the less error prone the driver is.
Composure: the higher, the fewer mistakes the driver will make when something goes wrong.
Determination: the higher, the longer a driver will keep fighting to get past a driver (and other things which have not been implemented yet).
Mental strength: the higher, the less likely the driver is influenced by events in the press/decisions.
Confidence: influenced by mental strength. The higher the better the driver will perform. A stat that can go up and down like morale.
Aggressiveness
Risk management

Sounds good Frank.
I think you did not miss any obvious.

Great .

2 I can think of but maybe could be included in others:

Reactions: How well a driver reacts to events on track or with the car (ie start lights, track flags, obstacles in road, avoiding other drivers when they do something unexpected, etc)
Car Management: How well a driver can cope with managing the car condition and how well they are able to adapt to new settings.

I added a few more, including two that are already live but hidden.

Good ideas Adam. The first one would fit in starts, so I might change the name of that one to reactions or reflexes. Then again that might be different I think whilst typing this, as starting is also handling the clutch and not only reacting to the lights going out.
Car management: do you mean when a gearboxes loses a gear for example?

#4 by Frank Van Laere
Good ideas Adam. The first one would fit in starts, so I might change the name of that one to reactions or reflexes. Then again that might be different I think whilst typing this, as starting is also handling the clutch and not only reacting to the lights going out.

I thought about that as Starts as well but starts involve clutch and throttle management as well as being aware of those around you. Reactions can involve the things I said plus leaving the pits as well.

#4 by Frank Van Laere
Car management: do you mean when a gearboxes loses a gear for example?

Can be for that but can generally be looking after the car better than others to prevent more wear on the car. Some drivers may ride curbs a lot more for example and add wear to diffusers/suspensions whereas others will avoid riding the curbs and not damage those car parts as much. It can also be how well they can adapt to a change of engine/driver settings.

Like it so far, will add value to various things like the type of driver you get for your team, how you set up you race strategies etc.

MENTAL
*) risk management: how willing is a driver to go over the limit to overtake someone. F.e. drivers fighting for championships, are they getting a secure p2 or will they risk for a p1 but might drop down the order (best example Vettel this season - poor risk management)

*) Vision: The situational awareness of a driver

Kinda similar to Adams 'reactions', but a bit different. Could be a sub category. The better a driver knows his surroundings, the better he will react. Goes for obstacles as well as overtaking and definding other cars. Better vision also should (could) result in less crashes and more positions gained at the start.

I would also like another stat for cars: understeer/balanced/oversteer

And with that a preferred driver style.

This could shake things up quite massively, since some tracks are better for understeering/oversteering cars.
And also, the best car on the grid might be a little bit oversteering, the best driver in the game only wants understeering cars -> they wont work together well, resulting in more spins and less pace.