It’s time to put on your favourite team shirt and prepare yourself as Frontier Developments brings to life F1 Manager 2023. The intense world of Formula 1 comes alive for a new season in F1 Manager 2023. 23 races, 6 F1 sprint events, new cars, new circuits including the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, new drivers, and new challenges… Your legacy begins here.

Players are put to the ultimate test as they are challenged to manage their chosen F1 team to victory for the 2023 season and beyond. Taking on the role of Team Principal at one of the ten F1 teams, you will set out to guide your team to victory, managing every aspect of your team from the factory to the garage to last-minute preparations as race day fast approaches. With such a detailed management system giving us control over drivers, staff, and cars, we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us.

There are long-term goals set for us to achieve during the season, and while our drivers are battling it out for the driver championship, the manufacturers will be doing their best all season to show their dominance in the battle for the manufacturer’s championship, and pit crews will battle it out for pit stop supremacy for the coveted fastest pit stop award. Players also have the opportunity to make extra money for the season by completing sponsorship objectives set by the team sponsors. Completing these objectives can be quite lucrative, especially if you’ve suffered an engine failure and are running low on funds in the budget.

Speaking of budgets, at the beginning of the season the board will allocate your team’s budget for the year, the size of the budget you have to work with is determined by the team’s placement in the previous season.

Using the money allocated in your budget will allow you to build, upgrade, and refurbish facilities, which, in turn, will offer an increase to all aspects of team performance. Be very wary about your spending, as spending too much too fast can see you receive a fine for going over cost caps, and as a result, can lead to the board losing some faith in your leadership.

Keeping your drivers and staff forever will unfortunately see you out of the running very quickly. As your staff and drivers age, their ability to perform at their peak also regresses, leaving you no other option but to lead them out to pasture. Thankfully, we have a solid scouting team that we can send out to scout for more fresh younger talent, scouting F2 and F3 divisions for fresh young drivers, and scouring through the management ranks for new staff, from engineers to sporting directors.

In order to keep your pit crew in peak condition, whilst also minimising potential errors, you’ll need to hire an experienced sporting director. Doing so will give you the ability to then issue a training regime to your pit crew, and this will go a long way in reducing pit stop times crucial for a race win. Training your crew too hard also has its risks. While they may have made massive gains in speed and parts knowledge, they also become tired. We all know what happens when an employee turns up to work exhausted – costly errors are more likely to occur.

Trackside for race day, and this is where I really started to feel the pressures of an entire team fighting it out for the best result. Race days will have players oversee and manage practice, qualifying, and finally, our main race.

During practice, players have the opportunity to give their reserve driver some track time, improving their overall skill level. Players will make tweaks to their car’s setup during practice sessions, and this gives our drivers their overall confidence levels as they head into qualifying. Reach for the coveted pole position in qualifying, being mindful that there is now only minimal change allowed to the car’s setup. Undertaking such a mammoth task of managing the team so far can get a little time-consuming, but thankfully, we are able to simulate the practice and qualifying sessions and head straight to the main race.

Races are very dynamic and exciting, but anything can happen out there on the track. As if you weren’t busy enough monitoring the weather, managing driver’s fuel consumption, and tyre strategies, throw in any number of on-track incidents, from a spin-out to a crash, even mistakes from your own drivers, and you’ll really have to think fast. Races will certainly have you feeling the thrill of achieving the win, but rest assured, you will also feel the weight of the entire team if a decision you’ve made results in a loss. Disappoint the board too often and… “YOU’RE FIRED!”

New to F1 Manager 2023 is the addition of Race Replay. Utilising real-world F1 data taken from the live races, Starting Grid replicates the race conditions and driver starting positions of every race from the 2023 season, and Race Moments allow you to take control of a specific team during a pivotal moment of a real race from the 2023 season. Your challenge is to then manage that team and potentially change the results of that race. Race Replay gives us the perfect opportunity for a quick thrill of overcoming a few quick challenges before we log off for the night, and it’s perfect for those of us who are pretty pressed for time and need that quick fix.

Graphics are of a high caliber as one would expect in such a beloved franchise, delivering stunning driver likenesses and broadcast-quality action of the cars as they fight it out for the win. I am particularly fond of the new addition of the driver’s visor camera. This made me feel incredibly close to the action as the race unfolded. It was a near-flawless visual experience, except for a few moments where some assets would remain behind for a second, as the camera changed from one location on the track to another.

From the radio chatter of the drivers with the crew to the screeching tyres and roaring engines of the cars, the audio soundscape is pure ear candy for any motorsport fan. The way that the cars sound at times was the only thing that I found to be a little weird. When the camera view is set to the rear of the car, I expected to hear the exhaust absolutely screaming as the motor pushes in excess of 12,000rpm, but instead, I heard what sounded more like a V8 cruising at a comfortable 3,000rpm. Set the viewpoint back to one of the on-track camera views, and it sounds as if you’re standing trackside in amongst the action. The only thing missing is the smells of burned-out tyres, hot brakes, and high-octane fuel.

F1 Manager 2023 is a very solid racing management simulator that will have you feeling all of the excitement of leading your team to victory. You will also experience the heartbreaking pressures of an entire team and the board should you make some bad decisions. Frontier Developments have done an incredible job bringing the pressures and pleasures of this high-octane, highly competitive motorsport to life. A must-have addition for motorsport fans who wish to step into the shoes of management and show them what you’re made of.

Written by: Gary Nielsen