F1 Manager 2023

It's not easy being in love with a sport. It's especially hard when things don't go according to plan for your favourite team or star, and sometimes it's hard to contain your frustration with situations and decisions that affect your idols. Sitting there on the edge of the couch, you just can't take it anymore, and in the heat of the moment it's easy to let out the occasional angry rant.

So it's perhaps not surprising that many of us state from time to time "I could have done a better job". This is often an outright lie, of course, but thanks to the wonderful world of games, we sometimes get the chance to take on roles that we would normally never get the chance to try or experience. Such is the case with F1 Manager, Frontier Development's all-encompassing simulator where we are given control of an entire team and all its many different components, be it drivers, strategies, finances and much, much more.

When it comes to this type of game that aims to simulate the actual management of a large team, Football Manager is often cited as the golden standard that everyone wants to reach. It is, after all, a beloved series that has been around since the early 90s and whose database is so packed with useful, clear information that even people in the industry are said to use it. Something F1 Manager can hardly claim to boast, and after last year's questionable debut, the team has a lot to prove to us fans of the sport.

For those of you who gave the game a chance last year, a lot will be recognisable in this year's edition, as is so often the case with games that are renewed on an annual basis. But the foundations of last year's game were still pretty strong, and there was no reason for Frontier Developments to try to reinvent the wheel with F1 Manager 2023. Instead, they have focused on further developing their various concepts and creating more distinct nuances in the game with improved simulation and expanded options in (almost) every area.

We are also offered a bunch of new camera angles, rules adapted to this year's F1 season and one of the newest additions: Scenarios. This game mode more or less allows you to rewrite events from the season at varying degrees of difficulty. Like trying to give the win in Monaco to Fernando Alonso rather than Max Verstappen. It's a welcome and exciting addition that is something we've seen in several other management games over the years. Another incredibly welcome improvement from the previous game is the more involved mechanics in intricate stages, such as the critical pit stops that the F1 cars are forced to make.

You are given more control to train your mechanics and focus on different aspects. Are you focussed on speed or rather accuracy? And this improvement in the amount of interaction is a common thread throughout the game. Because just as you communicate with your drivers and staff, you are also given the opportunity to do so with the other team managers. There is a constant flow of ongoing conversations in your inbox and should you, for example, try to lure a driver from another team, you can count on reactions.

It's something that makes the game feel more alive, and an aspect Frontier Developments should definitely continue to develop, especially since it currently still feels rather superficial and could have had more depth and complexity to it. But I won't complain too much, it's nice to at least have the possibility of interaction between the team leaders. After all, the virtual inbox is not where you are supposed to spend your time. No, this is more about planning your resources and maximising your strategies during races, and much of your time will be spent staring at the development screen.

Here you will plan out the car and its many different aspects such as the chassis, suspension, wing and all the other components that make up an F1 car. In addition, you are also given control over when you want to spend your limited time in the wind tunnel and everything must ultimately be balanced against the ever-ticking clock and the cost cap that all teams are subject to. Development, for example, can be rushed but at an increased cost and in addition, your role also requires you to ensure that the team's two cars have a good balance of components.

More often than not, you end up with something like a patchwork of parts from different generations. They're often also completely different between the two cars, not least if one of them has been involved in more accidents than the other. Something that can quickly undo your expensive upgrades and before you know it you have two significantly different F1 cars to plan strategies for. It's a fascinating, ever-evolving battlefield filled with variables, opportunities and (sometimes) miracles.

At times, it is actually miraculous how well and in detail F1 Manager 2023 manages to simulate this year's season. Something that can be seen as both a strength and a weakness, because if we ignore Red Bull with its brutal technological advantage (yes, it is reflected here in the game as well), the remaining teams are rather balanced, and as a result, the game is not particularly beginner-friendly either. It feels more like a violently complex, high-tech dance with some human drama dotted within. Climbing up the pecking order is difficult, and the different tracks with their variable weather conditions can also easily make a mess of the best of plans.

So when it's race weekend, it's all about being in control, and you're given the opportunity to really be in control. Everything from training sessions to qualifying and the race is simulated with surprisingly robust AI. During pre-race preparation, the drivers also give you feedback on settings, which you can then try to adjust to the best of your ability in the menus. In addition to this, it is also possible, or rather expected, to create individual strategies for the two cars before the race. This can be about the amount of stops, which tyres the cars should start with, etc.

It is also possible to influence the drivers during the race, albeit in a limited way. For example, you can encourage them to increase their speed, how they use ERS or to be more aggressive and attack. Choices that also come with their underlying risks, which can end up with mistakes from the driver that can cost both positions, or if things get really bad, damage the car and result in expensive repairs. This in turn will affect your ability to invest in further development of the components.

The simulation and its many aspects are simply brilliant, at least that's what my (approximately) four days with the game have convinced me of. Similarly, F1 Manager 2023's audio is really nice with plenty of sound clips recorded from all the drivers and team managers, which really adds to the sense of realism. Highlights include, perhaps unsurprisingly, hearing Yuki swear like a sailor, which is very hard to get tired of - and yes, of course I made it my life's goal to take on the fumbling AlphaTauri.

Visually, the game is more of a mixed bag. The menus are, after all, where you will spend most of your time, and they are all, despite their complexity, nicely presented. The races, on the other hand, are another matter, mixing real video clips with the game's 3D engine, with mixed results. Because while the game has the ability to be surprisingly beautiful at times - especially from inside a driver's cockpit, moments such as celebrations on the podium can look downright grotesque. However, it's never something that spoils the experience, and perhaps more often than not provokes a laugh or two.

So what's the bottom line, is F1 Manager 2023 worth the money even if the developer has a very tarnished reputation after its treatment of last year's game? To be honest, it's a difficult question to give a concrete answer to, because basically this year's game is really, really good from a simulator point of view. Sure, the computer-controlled drivers can act like knuckleheads from time to time and visually the game is a bit hit or miss. But if, like me, you love F1 and dream of experiencing what it's like to pull the strings behind the scenes at one of the ten teams, then this is your best bet and the fact that both F2 and F3 are included in the package is icing on the cake.

In short, I find it hard not to love F1 Manager 2023, but now it is also important that Frontier Developments follows up, supports and not least, updates the game as the season progresses. In other words, do not choose to leave it at the roadside, broken and missing a tire. Because the work they have done is solid and the strategic dance you are invited to is thrilling and wonderfully complex, provided you're a a bit of an F1 nerd. It builds on the strong foundations from last year and expands and improves on virtually every level in an absolutely brilliant way.