I have been playing Raceplan for 10 seasons and have had ups and downs I have learned a thing or two during my time as a Team owner. Please remember that these are my tips and not rules this is what I feel is good and bad. To win in Raceplan you need to do something different.

When you first get your set up turn for Raceplan you have two options as far as drivers concerned spend the losing points (money)evenly or plough it all into one decent driver. To have any chance of winning the drivers championship in the first season you must place as many losing points as possible on your number one driver and as many losing points as possible on the drivers race speed.
Try to spend the losing points allocated for you chassis on major specs and reliability make sure that you are able to get to the end of the race!

Out of the seven Major specs Power seems to have the most impact keeping this spec on good or excellent will mean that you will probably be quick enough to score well in each race.
Reliability is probably the most important aspect of your car there are 4 areas that will need work. Engine reliability should be fairly easy as their is only one are to keep up to scratch. The suspension has two areas and always seems to be developed less often by teams than other areas so If you can get good suspension at the start of each season you probably wont have to touch it again until the following season.
Breaks and Gears are more troublesome both have a major and minor spec and both take extra were during a race when using extra cornering tactics. Make sure these spec are at least average.

The first thing you should be looking at is getting your car to the end of each race and without decent reliability you wont do that and therefore it is pointless having a fast car.

The best drivers are not all ways the most expensive. The most important factor is Race speed If you can get a higher than average driver with high race speed then you could be in for a good season.
Car control and smoothness are also important to a driver. with these ratings high he will be able to keep the car on the track and not create to much were and tear. Qualifying speed is always handy but not imperative a good driver in a good car will always qualify well. Testing ability is probably the least of your worries as this can be combated through designer Mechanics and test teams.Aggression is one of those areas where you don't want to much or to little to much and you driver takes too many risks and finds himself in accidents or spinning off. to little and he wont pass anyone.

This is one of the most important factors in Race plan form ranges from 0-20 the sooner you can get a drivers form to 20 the better constant finishes will increase form as will winning. It seems to add quite a bit to a drivers ability. taking a driver into the following season with a form of 20 and with at least one point of potential should see gains in all areas of the drivers abilities for the following season.

There are basically two tips for choosing your home circuit 1) Try to choose a circuit that nobody else uses. The benefits you receive will be diluted by the more teams that have the same circuit as their home Grand Prix.(Silverstone is the default so never choose this one) 2) Try to choose a circuit near the start of the season as you have more chance of winning this grand prix you therefor have more chance of getting early form gains early form gains can be crucial.

Try to develop you car evenly don't have two or three things on excellent and two or three specs on obsolete you wont stand a chance. Remember also that it is easier to play catch up than it is to pull away. Developing new technology takes time copying everybody else doesn't

Both of these should be kept at a relatively high level ie 7+ only once have I managed to get them up to a 10 and I won the championship proving good design and reliably works the trouble is that the higher the level the higher the cost over 7 is great under this and you will only finish about half the races and catching the teams in front will be a slow painful process Mechanics also make fewer mistakes in the pits and therefor pit stop times will come down.

Buying a test team at the start of the season is expensive when you have several other out lays. However it should not be overlooked buy a Test Team as soon as possible not only will it improve the reliability of your car but the cost of testing is reduced considerably making it possible for you to make several extra developments to you car every season try to buy before round 6 but earlier is better.

Not really much point to this the benefits are small for the amount of losing points you spend it is much better to put it to better use developing your car designers or mechanics in other words Don't do it.....

Always keep an eye on your sponsors totals and income it may be worth spending a couple of losing points during the season now and then to get them up to the next level of income slightly earlier. Make sure you have a good 25 points spent at the start of each season.

When you have spare special actions always use hightech to get the low down on spec areas so you know how far your competitors are a head of you. Do it systematically so you know as much as possible about your car in all areas. The only exception to this is towards the end of the season when you start to think about signing new drivers.

It is always important to find out what wing settings you need always try at least 2 and maybe 3 different settings for each race. As tyre wear is constant through out running C tyres in practice should mean that it is easy for you to work out how long each different set will last. If you can run a different tyre choice in practice good as it will tell you how much faster or slower each set is. don't worry about fuel as its all got to go in at some stage If you have a spare order then use it for the fuel if not don't worry about it. Qualifying set ups should be run at least once during practice but probably twice.

Number 1 MAKE SURE YOU PUT ENOUGH FUEL IN. I don't know of any team (including me) who at some stage has run out of fuel just a couple of laps from the end. I now tend to put it an extra 2 laps of fuel the loss in time is nominal and there is nothing worse than leading a race by 30 second and coming to a splutter stop on the last lap(speaking from experience). Try to run a different pit stop tactic to everyone else if you are down the grid your not going to win by playing follow the leader. Cornering speed should be no more than in practice and probably a couple of kph less the cost of a spin is about 30 seconds the cost of those kph over the race about 20 more spins more lost time or possibly a retirement. Use cornering tactics sparingly Yes use them but don't over do it you will break down. If you don't use them you could find yourself stuck behind a slower car for the whole race. Long straights into slow corners are great for out breaking and slow corners into fast straights are great for acceleration. A good place to break late is into turn 1 as you should be able to jump a couple of places at the start.

Don't forget that wet races take longer and if it is going to take over 2 hours you can carry less fuel for example if its a 58 lap race but only going to last 47 why not put just enough fuel in for say 50 (+3 just in case its a bit quicker than you think) 8 laps of fuel could give you an extra place.
Handling on your car is the most important factor on in the wet you wont need power or speed just handling the better it is the better your chances.