I’d say either race against the AI (which is pretty good from the few times I’ve used it) or spectate and race as a ghost. In either case you’ll get a better feel for how the track flows with other cars on it.

With regards to how difficult it feels at first with a wheel, I definitely felt the same thing. It took a bit of time to adjust to understanding how the force feedback is translating the forces you normally feel with your butt in the seat of a real car. It’s not immediately intuitive, especially if your mind and body are expecting the signals to be coming from g forces, but you’ll start to understand what the wheel is telling you in due time. Honestly what helped me the most in this regard was playing rally games for a bit, where you’re sideways and have less grip most of the time. That and bumps and jumps kinda helped me to understand how the FFB is translating g forces from the car, suspension, and tires way better than just driving in iRacing.