Looks like the suspension bug, not really a bug but I'll call it that because Codemasters, is still present.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/10/04/f1-2013-the-f1-fanatic-review/
I've played enough of 2011 and 2012 to know for sure that the "suspension bug" wasn't anywhere near as fast in 2012 as what it was in 2011, and that more variable setups produced better times in 2012 with less tyre wear. I've run a PC league for these games for over 2 years now and have at least 200 hours played in all the games separately, so I know a bugged setup when I see one. Non-patched 2011's bugged setup was the low point of the series setups-wise, and in that aspect they've only improved from that point.
The issues setup-wise in 2012 were that 1-1 wings could be used at any track effectively, and that one alignment setup worked well at all circuits. While I haven't really tested the latter at this point, the aero definitely seems to be working better in 2013. Monaco for example is faster with 11-11 wings than it is with 1-1 wings, and vice-versa for a track like Monza. Mind you, 1-1 is only a relative setting based on the track you're on and not the same at every track, but it's an improvement nonetheless. The car tends to understeer more and more the lower downforce you go, which makes sense to me. You might still get away with 1-1 aero in Time Trial, but I doubt the effectiveness of it in longer races will be present to the same level as it was in 2012.
The game is pretty much a melding of 2012 and 2011 handling wise. It's 2012 + more pointy front end grip + stronger braking with less lockups + introduction of more aggressive rear wheelspin, minus a lot of the weird understeer effect on wheels from 2012 that needed excessive steering saturation to combat. While the slip angle effect can still be felt, it is still a serious improvement in 2012 and it can be modded out on PC with no issues. Tyre model also seems to be improved too.
The wheelspin in my mind is a great addition and it makes sense. It makes race starts more difficult to perfect, and makes low speed, low gear cornering clumsy, which is similar to real life due to no added aerodynamic grip pushing the car to the ground at high speeds increasing cornering speed, which is also why the wheelspin doesn't occur in high speed corners in 5th gear and above.
It most importantly rewards those that are more progressive with their acceleration than those who slam the accelerator, without making the more aggressive driver frustrated due to endless spinning of the car. It delivers an easy introduction to the benefits of throttle control for those that don't play racing sims, which is a key skill you need to learn to be any good at any somewhat realistic racing game. They can't get away with using traction control either, because you can still do all this with TC on, and the aggressive cutting of the engine with it set only increases lap times (which was another odd bug of 2011 too, TC gave cars more grip and never cut the engine power, making the game horribly imbalanced if assists were used).
Wheel-gamepad balancing has improved due to this too. Gamepad users can still be very quick like in 2012, but wheel users are definitely on the same playing field this time around.
The cars in general are fun to drive. Yes they're not anything on real sims but they were never intended to be. While the classic cars are ridiculous and way too fast compared to their actual counterparts lap times wise, they're a blast to drive. Especially the 86 Lotus. Driving that thing at Monaco on worn tyres is quite the experience! Sure, it's not as hard as driving pCARS' version of the same car, but hey, it's a new thing after the relative easiness of the cars in F1 2012 (once you dealt with the understeer, anyway).
Only problem I still have is FFB quality, but I think that's been a lost cause in these games for a while now.
Hope this helps your purchasing choices concerning 2013 F1GAF.
