Frontier has announced the next part of its management sim. Fans get some meaningful innovations, but the step is small
As part of our preview of F1 Manager 2022 last year, the world-famous but unfortunately only fictional Formula 1 manager Bodo Barsch (my alter ego, if I were working in F1) was kind enough to explain the most important aspects of his everyday managerial life to us.
After we had been in Bodo”s secretary”s anteroom every day and sent carrier pigeons to his Mallorcan finca, he thankfully agreed to present the recently unveiled F1 Manager 2023 to us again this year. When we are taken away by the police half an hour later for trespassing, disillusionment has set in.
Table of Contents
New year, new rules, old challenges
What are you doing in my house? Oh, well, now that you”re here, I”ll tell you about F1 Manager 2023, but after that, you”re out of here, okay?
Let me check my records for the file. Budget limit, legal fees, drive-to-survive interview – ah, here it is: The most important innovations of F1 Manager 2023 at a glance
!
New role of the sports director
This year there is personnel growth in my Formula 1 racing team. The sports director is expensive as hell, but takes care of all matters at the track. That means primarily the pit crew, because our catering is already excellent.
The sports director is responsible for how the team develops over the course of a season Do we prefer to make a risky but quick pit stop, or do we play it safe but lose precious time? I wouldn”t want to be in his shoes, I tell you. That”s not going in the article, you hear?!
Better promotion of young people
I always say that children are our future. Well, they don”t drive Formula 2 or Formula 3 yet, but the youngsters there can usually only just see over the steering wheel.
To prevent the next mega talent from being snatched up from under my nose, I have to keep an even closer eye on the results of the junior classes in F1 Manager 2023. Because from this year onwards, the development of a young driver reacts dynamically to his race results, which is why the stars of tomorrow have to prove themselves continuously over the course of the season.
Revised driver development
Even in F1, the lads are still learning all the time. That”s why Valtteri Bottas reinvents himself every year, by now it should be Bottas 5.0.
My drivers do it differently in F1 Manager 2023. They orientate themselves on the development focus that I give them, like this and not otherwise! One has to step up in the corners, the other in the race starts or overtaking. They gain the experience on the track and then invest it in the individual skills
After a few seasons, the old veterans are so experienced that they no longer improve as quickly as rookies. I have to kick them in the butt…I mean, I have to support them especially!
Depending on how much risk my riders take and how they treat their tyres, the value for the new rider confidence
turns out. This allows me as a manager to see immediately whether the lads are over- or under-performing, i.e. whether I can cheer them on or rather take a bit of steam out of the boiler so that they don”t park the bolide in the next wall.
More tactics, more risk
Well, and then there”s a whole host of nice improvements around the tactical component of our sport in F1 Manager 2023.
- Drivers now respond even more to the instructions I shout into the radio from the pit wall during the race. More risk equals higher reward if everything works out. But if it goes wrong, for example because he makes a mistake and hits something, we lose even more – then we get a set of hot ears!
- As a manager I can now activate the new ERS mode
Battle Assist
in the race. Then the engine is automatically used in the best possible way for both overtaking and defending, which is of course especially practical for inexperienced managers. - In F1 Manager 2023 the tyre simulation is to play a much bigger role my little birds at the FIA have told me. From this year onwards, not only the outside but also the inside temperatures of the black rubber rollers will be simulated, based on factors such as ambient temperature and, of course, the skills of my drivers.
That”s all?
You”re looking at me so puzzled?! Did you expect anything more from F1 Manager 2023? No, there”s no mistake here, that was all. Yes, I”m sure! Well then, I”ll just look again, kreizkruzefix, you panakuacha!
Aha, okay, well, I guess I missed some info. Nah, wipe that smug Game of the Year
grin off your face real quick, there”s not that much more to come. Just standard stuff that you could expect from F1 Manager 2023 anyway:
- All 2023 tracks: Of course, we”ll be travelling across the globe again this year, this time to Qatar and Las Vegas for the first time. Ui, my wife mustn”t find out about that, she”ll block my Mastercard immediately!
- All 2023 drivers: It”s not just my two boys at the start, all the other players in the big horsepower circus are there too. Max Verstappen, of course, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bottas 5.0, Albon or this new boy – Piastri, that”s his name!
- Sprint races: F1 Manager 2023 also includes all six official sprint races. So those who like the still young replacement format can cheer.
Oh yes, there”s a secret feature as well as a mode called Race Replay
But according to developer Frontier, I”m not allowed to tell you anything about the latter either, so don”t even bother asking me. I did, however, get a memo from the devs to read to curious fellows like you, second: Fans can rewrite the key moments of the 2023 F1 season.
So, that”s really about it. You seem disappointed?! Excuse me? What about the criticisms you listed in your test last year?
No, I have to disappoint you there. You still can”t send your own team to the starting line. And there”s no multiplayer mode either, so you can compete in the F1 season either cooperatively or against each other. Nothing has changed in the visual presentation either.
Whether F1 Manager 2023 deserves the inglorious charm of a full-price update, I can only tell you sometime in the summer. That”s when the game is supposed to be released.
I can understand your displeasure, but I don”t care. After all, it”s 11 p.m. and I”m sitting in front of you in my dressing gown! How did you find me anyway? Who cares, just get out of here now!
Editorial conclusion
Thank you, Mr. Perch, for this voluntary interview. I”ll take it from here, for jokes and frolics aside: I can”t suppress a mild disappointment with F1 Manager 2023.
Are we dealing with a good game here? Yes, I”d put my hand in the fire! After all, the predecessor was already extraordinarily fun and represented a very promising basis for a glorious series future. But that glorious era still seems to be missing, at least with F1 Manager 2023.
Don”t get me wrong: most of the new features and improvements sound useful and sensibly integrated into last year”s foundation on paper. But we also have to keep in mind that Frontier announced that it would no longer release updates for F1 Manager 2022 only one month after its release. The reason: they wanted to concentrate entirely on the 2023 offshoot.
The leap is much smaller than hoped for. Let”s hope that fans will not be asked to pay the full price of 50 euros. Yes, there is another really cool innovation that I”m not allowed to talk about yet. But it”s not a gamechanger either, but the cherry on top of a still delicious sundae – but one that could be so much tastier.
I”m curious to see if F1 Manager 2023 suddenly activates the game fun DRS in the test after all. It would be desirable that we fans continue to have the sim alternative to the EA racing games!
