The experiment

The Super Formula Lights. Low downforce, clean aerodynamic feedback, punishes sloppy inputs immediately. You can't compensate with grip — you have to be correct. Switching cars constantly means constantly re-calibrating instead of refining.

Monza, Silverstone, Suzuka, Spa. Locked for the full year. Each tests different things:

• Monza — heavy braking, chicane precision, high-speed discipline
• Silverstone — flowing high-speed corners, commitment
• Suzuka — technical variety, rhythm, the Esses
• Spa — elevation, Eau Rouge, long straights into hard braking

Most people switch tracks when progress slows, chasing the dopamine of early gains. That means never reaching the deeper phases of learning where real skill lives.

Sim racing lets you reset to track instantly. No recovery laps, no waiting. I use this constantly — isolate a corner, run it 50 times in the time it would take to do 10 normal laps. The feedback loop tightens to seconds instead of minutes.

This is probably the single biggest advantage sim racing has over real-world practice for skill development. The rep density is unmatched.

Lap time variance decreasing over time (the main signal)

Near-pace within a few laps after time away (retention)

Being able to explain why a lap was fast, not just feel it

Race performance close to practice performance

Constraint drift — adding "just one more" track or car. Ego chasing — optimizing for hero laps instead of consistency. Garbage miles — hours without clear objectives. Plateau panic — abandoning the protocol when progress slows. I'm trying to be honest about all of these.