F1 Manager 23 review | Enter a new dimension of being an F1 fan

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

The first edition of F1 Manager (launched last year) was good. The amount of detail involved in the career mode was enough to impress any F1 fan, both on track and off track. Suddenly you could dive deeper and submerge yourself in all of the data on the pit wall. But inevitably, the career mode took a very long time to complete.

For many F1 fans, it was difficult to dedicate enough time to the game to get the best out of it. And therefore, it became a struggle to get hooked. That limiting factor has now been removed. You don’t have to spend hours to get the best out of F1 Manger 23. Whilst the career mode remains in place in all its glory, the new Race Replay Mode has you covered if you cannot spend a lot of time playing. GPblog received access ahead of the launch.

Ever thought you could do better than an F1 team?

All F1 fans, at some point, have questioned a team's strategy decsion. It's a natural thing to do as a motorsport fan, and it probably happens at most races. However, these theories and ideas could never be tested. But now they can be in the F1 Manager game. This feature will enhance the sport from a spectator's point of view. One of the best examples came at the British Grand Prix when McLaren put Lando Norris on the hard tyres for the safety car restart. Sure enough, this scenario is already in the game.

Norris said it himself. McLaren made him work extra hard to keep an attacking Lewis Hamilton behind, who had softer tyres fitted to his Mercedes car. The game gives you the exact same scenario. The weather conditions, the lap count, the positions, the timings, and the tyres are replicated. You name it, it's exactly the same. Your goal is to improve the race result. In this case, putting on the soft tyres was obvious to give Norris a better launch and a chance to fight leader Max Verstappen. 

This mode starts at the exact point the safety car comes out. This allows you to make your decisions immediately. As was the case last year, you control the full strategy. Fuel modes, how aggressive you want your driver to push the tyres, and now you can even control how aggressive your driver is on his overtaking methods or defence. The screenshot below shows where the game starts in this scenario and how you can select pit options immediately. 

Driver mistakes are a factor, but this game is about giving your driver the best chance to win. If you have a different idea to how the team did it, you can try your idea and see if it works better. On this occasion, instead of defending against Hamilton, Norris could challenge and overtake Verstappen at Silverstone. It's very satisfying when your idea works, and you can watch it back with a replay. 

Race Replay Mode continues

It's the gift that keeps on giving. The game doesn't tie you down to one single scenario. You have the freedom to pick any of the ten Formula 1 teams. Frontier Developments had already updated the game on Tuesday [25th July] to include the Hungarian Grand Prix. A speedy addition that will hopefully carry forward. It'll give fans a midweek fix of Formula 1 as they try different strategies to get different outcomes. All part of adding an extra dimension to being a Formula 1 fan. It also gives this game a future pathway. Of course, these events will keep unfolding through the season. But what about putting you in McLaren's shoes in the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix? Ferrari's shoes in the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix? Mercedes' shoes in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix? The future potential for this mode is endless, with over 1,000 Grands Prix to choose from. 

GPblog experimented with the Hungarian Grand Prix and opted to attempt to improve Mercedes. Still being relatively new to the game, the tutorial gives a decent overview of how everything works, but there's no better way to learn than getting hands-on experiance. This is not a game that you'll pick up straight away. There are so many different things to control that there aren't enough buttons on the PlayStation remote. To get the best out of the game, you should use Laptop or PC. It'll take some getting used to on a PlayStation or Xbox. 

It's perhaps too complex for a beginner to control two different drivers. There's too much to keep an eye on straight away. But that's probably exactly what it's like to be Christian Horner, Toto Wolff or anyone on the pit wall. The driver confidence is a new feature that works really well. This lets you know how the driver feels and when best to push for an overtake. If they're not feeling confident, you know it's not time to go for a risky overtake because they could make a mistake. This adds a much-needed human factor. The new ERS Battle Assist toggle allows you to fine-tune the usage of ERS charge so that the driver applies it when within the DRS range. This cleverly buys you time to focus on other things. Tyre temperature also gives you an indication as to when a driver can push or when they need to move to clean air. 

When the Race Reply ends, the game informs you of how well you did compared to the real-world outcome. 

Graphics and crashes

This is where the game falls down. The graphics are sub-par. Crashes look like something from the mid-00s and are actually quite funny with the spray of sparks and debris and a sudden stop in the gravel trap. The addition of the visor cam is cool, but it doesn't add anything to the game. In fact, it makes it harder to worry about the things that matter, such as ERS, overtaking and data. The facial features and the podium celebration lack uniqueness. The generic trophies are...generic. Norris won't have to worry about breaking one of those. 

But that's really not what this game is about. This isn't a game for 'gamers'. This is a carefully crafted nerdy game for hardcore Formula 1 fans. Year one was great to experiance what it's like to be a team principal, but it was hard to see how it would develop. The introduction of the Race Replay and scenarios adds to the package and creates a whole new dimension of being a Formula 1 fan.