Keys F1 through F9 (except F6, which isn't used) allow communication with your crew. Here's a look at each of them:

F1 - Lap Info
This is essentially your pit board. In practice sessions, it displays the speed of your last lap above that of your fastest lap in the session, just as does the pit board. During the race, however, it differs slightly from the pit board (see right). Your distances from the cars in front of and behind you are provided, as is your last lap speed/time (in the Rendition version, it's your race average speed at the ovals); the bottom line provides the current lap and total number of laps in the race.

F2 - Standings
This gives you a rundown of the field order, with numerical position, car number, and name of each driver, in addition to the number of seconds back that driver is from the leader of the race. Use the > and < keys to move up or down the standings. "-1L," "-2L," and so forth will appear when the driver is some number of laps down. During practice, the F2 screen looks the same as at right except that it displays the best lap of the session for each driver rather than number of seconds behind the leader.

F3 - Fuel Management
This serves a couple of functions. First off, it provides all the fuel information you need: number of gallons remaining, the current mileage, and the projected number of laps you'll be able to go on your current fuel load. The bottom line indicates the number of gallons you'll take on when you next pit; use the > and < keys to increase or decrease the number as desired.

F4 - Tire Temperatures
Think of this screen as looking down at your car from above. This provides you with the outer, middle, and inner tire temperatures for all four wheels - left front, right front, left rear, right rear. The numbers normally appear white. Temperatures which are a bit high will appear yellow, and those which are extremely hot will be red; in the latter case in particular, grip will decrease and tire wear increase considerably.

F5 - Tire Wear/Changes
Again, think of this as viewing the car from above. For each tire, tire compound (soft, medium, hard), tire pressure (inside the box), and tire wear (the line beneath the box) are displayed. The line becomes shorter as the tire wears, turning yellow as wear becomes significant and red as it becomes critical. Several pit options can be specified here. Use the spacebar to select the tire; from there, you can specify whether or not to change the tire (Enter toggles the checkmark on and off), raise or lower tire pressure (> and <), or change the compound (? key).

F7 - Wing Adjustments
This displays your current wing angles and allows you to specify changes for your next pit stop. Use the spacebar to toggle between wings, and the > and < keys to raise or lower the values. It's recommended that you work with in-car anti-roll bar adjustments before you make major wing angle alterations.

F8 - Wheel Stagger
Here you can view your current stagger setting (the "+" implies that the right-side diameter is greater than the left, here by 0.8 inches), and opt for a new setting to be implemented on your next pit stop if you so choose. Use the > and < keys to raise or lower the value. Usually this will only be an issue on the ovals, and in most cases you won't need to touch it.

F9 - Pit Status/Repairs
This screen displays your current pit status - what your crew will change on the car the next time you stop. If you have damage, it will be repaired by default, unless you elect to leave it as is by hitting the Enter key (the display will then read "Do not repair"). This must be repeated before each subsequent pit stop, as its status will reset to "Repair" after each stop. All other changes you've specified via the above function keys will be displayed here as well.