Understanding Your Data

Fuel And Ers

Fuel management and energy recovery systems are critical in race situations. Apex Racing tracks both so you can optimize your strategy.

Fuel Data

Each lap records:

  • Fuel load — how much fuel is in the car at the start and end of the lap
  • Fuel consumption — fuel used during the lap (kilograms or liters, depending on the game)
  • Fuel remaining (laps) — estimated laps of fuel remaining at the current consumption rate

Managing Fuel

  • Compare fuel consumption across laps to understand how driving style affects usage
  • Aggressive driving (late braking, full throttle) uses more fuel
  • Lift-and-coast on straights can extend fuel range significantly
  • In races, track whether your actual consumption matches your pre-race fuel plan

ERS (Energy Recovery System)

In F1 games, ERS data includes:

  • ERS energy store — current battery charge level
  • ERS deploy mode — how aggressively the system is deploying energy
  • ERS harvested — energy recovered during braking and coasting

ERS Strategy

  • ERS energy regenerates under braking — tracks with heavy braking zones allow more deployment
  • Monitor deployment across a lap to ensure you're using full energy on key straights
  • In races, consistent ERS management prevents running out of charge at critical moments

DRS (Drag Reduction System)

For F1 games, DRS availability and usage is tracked:

  • DRS available — whether DRS can be activated (detection zones)
  • DRS active — when the rear wing is open

DRS data helps correlate straight-line speed gains with lap time improvements.

Fuel Weight Effect

Fuel is heavy. In F1 games, each kilogram of fuel adds roughly 30–40 milliseconds per lap. This means:

  • A full fuel load (110 kg) can cost over 3 seconds per lap compared to a light car
  • Lap times naturally improve as fuel burns off through a stint
  • When comparing laps from different points in a stint, account for the fuel difference

The session analysis panel shows the calculated fuel weight effect for your session, helping you isolate genuine pace improvement from fuel-related gains.

ERS Deployment Strategy

ERS energy management varies by track:

  • Heavy-braking tracks (Monaco, Singapore) — Regeneration is high, you can deploy more freely
  • Low-braking tracks (Monza, Spa) — Energy is scarce, save it for key overtaking zones
  • Mixed tracks — Balance deployment across the lap, ensuring you don't run out before the final sector

In qualifying, full deployment every lap is typical since there's no need to sustain it. In races, consistency matters — running out of energy on a straight can cost you a position.

DRS Missed Activations

The session analysis tracks how often you activated DRS when it was available. Missed activations usually mean:

  • You were too far behind the car ahead (race only — outside 1-second gap)
  • You forgot to press the button in a qualifying or practice DRS zone
  • The detection zone was missed due to track limits

In qualifying and practice, DRS should be activated in every available zone. The activation rate helps identify overlooked opportunities.

Game-Specific Differences

Feature F1 24/25 iRacing AMS2 LMU
Fuel tracking Full Full Full Full
ERS data Full Varies by car Limited Varies by car
DRS Yes Yes (where applicable) No No
Fuel weight effect ~35 ms/kg Varies by car Varies by car Varies by car

See also: Reading Throttle Input for lift-and-coast technique, Session Analysis for fuel and ERS analysis