Take Your F1 Team to the Top of the Podium with These Tips for F1 Manager 23 – Available Now on Game Pass

While the drivers might be the stars of the show in Formula 1, it takes an entire team to build lasting success. F1 Manager 2023 is our officially licensed management simulation which puts you in the shoes of Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, and Guenther Steiner, as you lead one of the ten official F1 teams to glory. It will take strategy, decision making, and foresight to write your name in the history books and establish yourself as one of the greats.

“You don’t expect to be at the top of the mountain the day you start climbing” – Ron Dennis, CEO McLaren Racing (1981 – 2016)

Brand new in 2023 is the addition of ‘Race Replay’ – a game mode which offers single race scenarios based on data and conditions from the real-life 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship. Start from the grid and improve on the team’s results in ‘Starting Grid’, or rewrite some of the season’s key strategy calls in ‘Race Moments’ as you answer a selection of 2023’s ‘what ifs’. New Race Replay scenarios are added after every race in the 2023 season, so you’ll regularly have new content as we accelerate towards the glamorous neon lights of Las Vegas and the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

For those seeking the ultimate challenge, the returning and improved career mode will see you taking responsibility for every area of your team. At HQ your leadership and direction will cover all bases, from designing and researching parts, recruiting and developing drivers and staff, even down to defining the training schedule of your pit crew. On-track, you’ll see all the action unfold in a stunning broadcast-like experience, with the new visor cam bringing you even closer to every thrilling moment. Relaying commands to your drivers via real team radio messages, your strategizing will be put to the test as you aim to maximize your results, reacting to pit-stop mistakes, safety cars, and weather changes.

Before you take your seat on the pit wall, we’ve put together a dossier of essential reading for Team Principals to give you the edge over your rivals.

Designing the Ultimate Upgrade

Whilst a star-studded driver line-up might get you moving up the grid order, crucial to your success across the season is the development of new car parts. When designing these, there are a few considerations you’ll want to account for – including managing your Aerodynamic Testing Restriction (ATR) budget. In Formula 1, teams are allocated a limited number of hours they can spend testing their aerodynamic parts in the Wind Tunnel or with Computational Fluid Dynamics, with those towards the back of the field being allocated more to help them close the gap.

ATR allocation will reset at set times throughout the season, and any unused time when this happens will be lost, so top Principals will utilize of all these hours before their allocation resets. Making the most of this testing will allow you to improve your car’s pace against your competitors and increase the Expertise of your team, allowing you to create even better parts in future.

Building Your Dream Team

Crucial to success in F1 is an ability to always look ahead and plan for the next challenge. In F1 Manager 2023, you’ll invest your budgets into developing your car, your facilities, and your people. Staffing your team with the best upcoming talent can often give you an edge when you might have a disadvantage on the balance sheet.

When recruiting, consider the impact of changing out a driver or staff member during their contract. There will often be a costly fee for cutting short their time with the team, and instead you might look to offer your new recruit a position starting in the following season. Each driver and key staff member can develop their skills based on your preference, so identifying areas of weakness and considering whether to take the time to train, or whether to opt for an immediate change, will likely be influenced by your own board objectives.

Practice Makes Perfect

Although you’re able to simulate each of the three practice sessions during an F1 race weekend, you can gain an edge on your rivals by managing these yourself and responding to each of your drivers’ feedback. When each car is on track, drivers will build up their track familiarity (how well they know how their car handles on the circuit this year) as well as gathering feedback on the individual set-up of the car. Once a driver’s accrued five pieces of feedback covering each major area of the car (indicated by a number out of 5 next to a speech bubble in the driver control panel), it’s best to bring them back into the pitlane to see how you need to adjust.

It might be tempting to put on a fresh set of soft tires in every stint to finish top of the table in practice, remember that you won’t get any points for that! Tire usage is rolled over to each session, with an allocation being returned to Pirelli after every session on track. You’ll need to use a minimum of two compounds during a dry race, so remember that sometimes it can be beneficial to save a set of tires to give yourself the edge when it really counts.

Tire-ing Work and Crucial Race Strategy

Race strategy is king on track, and even an underperforming car can deliver exceptional results in the right circumstances. Before the race begins, make sure to take a moment to assign a strategy for each driver. Keep an eye on the ‘estimated race time’ to weigh up your options, as well as the weather forecast for any downpours which might create an opportunity.

During the race, it can be easy to give your drivers’ the freedom to push as hard as they possibly can, but a good Team Principal knows when to push and when to hold some pace in reserve. When you ask your drivers to increase their pace, you’ll be increasing their tire wear and their usage of fuel and stored ERS (Energy Recovery System) charge.  

As tire life decreases, so too will your drivers’ ability to consistently improve their lap-times. Remember to consider the tire temperatures, which will fluctuate throughout the race depending on how hard your driver is pushing, as well as the track conditions. When the tire drops below 30% of its’ remaining life, expect to see a significant drop in your pace and an increased risk of a costly puncture.

Cementing A Place in the History Books

The Greatest Team Principals can establish a team as a dominant force, returning season after season to challenge for every title and lifting new drivers into the spotlight as older talents move on. In F1 Manager 2023, building a team that can not only succeed but maintain that success is something which will challenge you, just as it challenges the real 10 Team Principals currently heading up official F1 teams in 2023.

Our aim has always been to recreate this thrilling sport in all its detail, and to put you, our players, behind those big decisions which shape the sport. Remember, you can always hone that race strategy in Race Replay mode and compare your results to reality. Armed with our top tips and hopefully plenty of silverware from a glittering career, maybe it’s time to dust off that cover letter and add your F1 Manager achievements to your CV… Good luck out there!

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