XCNuse, wow, didn't know that! I'll have to check it out!
Maggot, i understand what you're saying, but surely there can be a compromise.
IRL: you move your hand onto the shifter before you want to shift.... but how long before? depends.
Another question you have to ask yourself is; how long does it have to take for the animation of the hand to get from the wheel to the shifter? As long, or as short as you want. Move your hand from infront of you, over to your left as though you were mimmicking the same animation, how quickly can you do it? Why can't it be that quick in the game?
Jump in the Sauber and reef the steering wheel from left to right (with a mouse) as fast as you can..... that's some quick animation
The animation and the action don't have to be perfectly sequenced. Although the more realistic the sequence timing, the more realistic the whole thing will be, but the
action of the shift doesn't necessarily have to wait for the
animation of the shift. i.e; you tap the shift button, the shift
animation starts immediately, the shift
action begins, by the time the hand is 3/4 of the way to the shifter the shift
action is completed, shift
animation also completes, hand returns to wheel. Mind you, this is all happening within a second. So to the untrained eye, it's probably something that would go un-noticed. Especially if the drivers arm/hand is above the shifter, covering it, therefore not allowing the driver to actually see that it's shifting before his hand's actually on it.
One last idea i just thought of, animation begins when the clutch is pressed. Whilst ever your clutch is depressed, the hand is on the shifter. I also like your idea of 90% revs, then animation begins. He then holds his hand on the shifter till either you shift, or the revs drop below 90%.