F1® Manager 2023

Top xuxa

I bought F1 Manager 2023 a few weeks ago and so far, after completing my first grand prix, I am really enjoying it. I think as an overall package it works well and gives a sense of the challenge of being a team principle. It was a bit bewildering at first but I soon realised I would need to get some better parts designed and manufactured asap to have them ready for future races. For the first practice the game suggested to simulate practice session which I did. I was surprised when all results from the three practice sessions were instantly generated. The resulting car set-ups were far from optimum. I expect for the next grand prix I will manage practice and get the chance to improve on these initial set-ups. Qualification occurred, during which time I tried out tweaks to the front wing set-up for both cars. This helped car 2 to get a faster lap and upped my driver satisfaction. For the race, my team were in grid positions 10 (Gasly) and 12 (Ocon). I had taken the gamble to guarantee my sponsor to finish each driver at least one position higher. I expected to loose money! I chose a 2 stop strategy for car 2. After checking time loss due to tyre degradation, difference in typical lap time between H and S tyres, time loss due to pit stop, I decided a 1 stop was worth trying for car 1. I ran the whole race at 1x speed occasionally changing pace or fuel usage or ERS setting during the race and sometimes pausing the race if a bit more thought was needed. I spit 50/50 between the TV camera and the on-board camera above the drivers helmet, and some times used the rear view camera to appreciate how much danger we were in. The switch from TV camera to on-board really ups the intensity. Sometimes my driver was close behind another for several corners but if I set overtake aggression to high he would soon find a way past. On other occasions if my driver was being pressed from behind, if I asked for max attack, push and activate ERS, he would manage to pull away just enough to get out of trouble. Of course when the car behind is one of the top teams there is not a lot you can do. If I asked for a driver to avoid dirty air his track positioning would change. Basically the driver commands did have an effect in the race as you would expect. With only a few laps left in the race my drivers were 9th (Ocon) and 11th (Gasly). Ocon in car 1 had plenty of fuel. Gasly in car 2 desperately needed to conserve his fuel. Between them was Magnussen in the Haas. Gasly and Magnussen fought for several laps often wheel to wheel. Eventually Gasly got the better of the battle. On the last lap with Ocon 6 or 7 seconds ahead I told him to not to fight his team-mate and he let Gasly through. They crossed the line for 3 points. The pit crew seemed a bit subdued for my liking whereas I was stunned it had all worked out. I guess they didn't know how much the 'delighted' sponsor had payed us for achieving that result. Looking forward to the next race when I should have a low drag rear wing ready. Watch out Aston Martin.