F1 Manager 2022F1 22

[Fezzik]

so even with Williams you can win quite quickly. safe to say, game is a bit easy at the moment. the update is supposed to change tyre wear and parts development/research, so will see if that makes more of a challenge. otherwise may as well just start with Ferrari and get Charles a title.

@Spacegoat did you swap to the RBR engines? They seem a bit overpowered (as in real life).

 

[alx42]

First race of '23 went pretty well. Was able to keep Gasly in the RBR DRS train for the majority of the race. Big thanks to Max for spinning out with 5 laps to go and to Perez's tires for falling under 30% with a couple of laps left.

View attachment 1192910

I've not got much better. They want me to score points in half of the races. For a team that hasn't done much in a decade or more, the board sure does expect a lot after year 1.

Congrats on the win.

I know right, they're asking for a huge jump in performance. I finished Bahrain last night, and I'm currently sitting 7th in constructor's standings. ALB finished P12, while GIO finished P16. GIO was following ALB the entire race, yet lost positions during the last 5-7 laps.

I think I under estimated my development to start the 2023 season. I do have a new front wing and underfloor that should be installed before Barcelona, so hopefully it'll move my team further up the grid.

 

[Fezzik]

Started so many careers, tried all the teams below the big 3 to find one I like. All a bit goldilocks, too easy, too hard, too sad having to sack Seb/Mick/Danny etc.

Finally found a winner and I’m sticking with them for a few seasons. Going with the Alfa underdogs, will try and be best of the rest in year 1 and then hope for regular podiums after that. Bottas is locked in for a couple of years. Zhou has a year to impress; I’d prefer to run 2 seasoned pros so likely to replace him with Alonso (hopefully) or Gasly.

Restricting myself a bit, no poaching anyone under contract (drivers or staff). Sticking with the Ferrari power.

 

[Spacegoat]

so even with Williams you can win quite quickly. safe to say, game is a bit easy at the moment. the update is supposed to change tyre wear and parts development/research, so will see if that makes more of a challenge. otherwise may as well just start with Ferrari and get Charles a title.

@Spacegoat did you swap to the RBR engines? They seem a bit overpowered (as in real life).

I've stuck with Merc power, don't see the need to change for time being. And yeah, think I made it easier for myself by not bothering with development and sorely focusing on research for '23. The car is still the slowest on the grid in top speed but is now top five in low speed cornering and top ten in high speed cornering and brake cooling. Decided to stick with this save even after the update drops, to see how much of a difference it makes.

Any future play through's I'm definitely doing the no poaching thing. Saves you money as well by not having to payout to break contracts.

I think I under estimated my development to start the 2023 season. I do have a new front wing and underfloor that should be installed before Barcelona, so hopefully it'll move my team further up the grid.

That's the bit I have trouble with in my previous McLaren save. Trying to juggle between development and research. It's hard thing to get right.

 

[Fezzik]

Race 1 of the new proper Alfa career. Started intense underfloor development and upgrading design centre. No changes to staff or drivers. Funds low.

Managed to get 90% setup for both drivers (not planning to use the reserve for FP1 so Kubica is getting paid for nothing - he’s cheap anyway). Zhou missed the top 10 by 3 thousands. Bottas only P10 because I didn’t get him out in time for his second run, he was a few seconds short of the line. Oops.

Full attack for the first couple of laps. Bottas made a few moves and got up to 7th. Zhou didn‘t do as well. Both ended up in DRS trains, Bottas with the 2 Mercs and Zhou with all the midfield.

Stayed pretty static up to stop 2. Did the all out attack undercut with both. Bottas jumped Russell but got in a protracted fight with Hamilton. Cooked the tyres and had to drop back behind George for 7th at the end. Zhou got fastest lap on his mediums! Passed KMag, Gasly and Ocon for 8th, even after a shunt and 5s penalty.

Tidy result, nice early return in the hunt for 5th place constructor. Zhou better than I expected. Need to watch the tyre wear in the future, be a bit more conservative. Bottas not as easy on the tyres as some others,

 

[Maximum11]

Gosh, I enjoy this game so much, despite the obvious missing bits that hopefully will be added soon.

Still on my 1st year at Williams, Monza and Singapore were the most exciting races of the year, I barely used the fast-forward for these, there was always something to do.

At Monza the car was a rocket, spending the race overtaking cars after starting very far due to big penalties to get the 4th engine (pretty much like we saw at the real Monza race). Unfortunately Piastri locked the brakes at some point and that ruined his race completely when he could have finished 8th or so. I had a very agressive tyres strategy and both finished below 30%, with ok-ish loss of performance.

Singapore, I hate the track, but, again the car showed very strong pace (and Vmax), quite surprisingly. Fairly high in the grid for Williams thanks to penalties, and to my surprise Piastri finished 7th (!!!) and Albon 9th ! Felt like winning. Again the car was a rocket, seems to be by now faster than McLaren, Haas and almost on par with Alpha Tauri and Alpine.

Piastri overtook both McLaren in one corner, that was AMAZING. The 3 cars arrived next to each others in a 90 degrees corner and he was in front at the exit! Albon can be really good in these kind of tracks, he seems to have excellent braking and ability to find little gaps, he overtook guys outside of DRS zones in the last sector which is full or corners.

There was a late SC which put Leclerc on fresher soft tires right being Albon, but despite Albon's lack of defense skills, Leclerc spent 15 laps behind him, and stayed there; that shows really the big step my car has made thoughout 2022.

Now, with 5 GPS to go I'm ahead of both Aston, and McLaren in the Standings with 11 points ! I think I'll stay there as I'm confident Ricciardo and Norris are slower than my boys and I trust the remaining tracks will suit the Williams raw speed.

In the shadows researching for 2023 and the new parts look really promising. Tempted by switching to a better cooled engine as cooling is a big flaw of the Williams.

What a game!

 

[alx42]

At Monza the car was a rocket, spending the race overtaking cars after starting very far due to big penalties to get the 4th engine (pretty much like we saw at the real Monza race). Unfortunately Piastri locked the brakes at some point and that ruined his race completely when he could have finished 8th or so. I had a very agressive tyres strategy and both finished below 30%, with ok-ish loss of performance.

In the shadows researching for 2023 and the new parts look really promising. Tempted by switching to a better cooled engine as cooling is a big flaw of the Williams.

Same here at Monza for season 1. The car overperformed here and at SPA, yet I think I went too far the other way for season 2 as now I have good low speed performance. Even with the switch to Honda/RBP PUs. I may need to make a high-speed or optimized aerodynamic front wing, or rear wing, or underfloor, or some combination of the three throughout this season. This will compromise my research for season 3 as I already have a regulation change to reduce low/medium/high speed downforce by 30%/20%/10%... .

I know there's a real life advantage to added engine cooling, yet I'm not really sure how effective it is in this game.

 

[Fezzik]

Really underestimated the engine wear rate in the first few races. Going to need all the early buffer I’m building up with Alfa against the other midfield teams, second half of the season will be constant penalties for new power units. Very realistic.

 

[Spacegoat]

Really underestimated the engine wear rate in the first few races. Going to need all the early buffer I’m building up with Alfa against the other midfield teams, second half of the season will be constant penalties for new power units. Very realistic.

I'm guessing any wear 20% or under, is the limit for performance with engine/ERS/gearbox. Made the mistake of not changing out worn (18% ) gearbox's at Catalunya for qualifying and both cars didn't make it out of Q1.

 

[Spacegoat]

Got Piastri his first win at the French GP. Gasly ended up getting knocked out in Q1 thanks to my incompetence of putting him out in traffic for his flying lap. Had a nice recovery drive though.

This season has been bonkers. Max is dominating but Gasly has somehow managed to snag 4 wins and is fighting with Perez for 2nd in the championship (despite the fact that he rarely qualifies any better than 6th-7th). Ferrari and Merc on the other hand only have manged one win between them.

 

[Fezzik]

Lost a chance at a year 1 win in Miami because of the rain and my useless forecasters. Bottas started 5th, jumped to 4th on the back of the Ferrari/Red Bull train, then nailed the restart after a Mag crash and safety car. Made my pit stop, on hards to the end with a 3 sec lead over Leclerc but some rain came. My forecast looked it would be light and brief so I kept him out, which was a major error. Verstappen and Sainz came roaring past on inters, by the time I stopped it was all over, 30s back. Absolute heartbreak. 5th place.

Before the heavens opened - new front wing upgrade working well

 

[daan]

Are you allowed to give Ferrari or Mercedes a Honda engine?

 

[alx42]

Lost a chance at a year 1 win in Miami because of the rain and my useless forecasters.

I ran into this same issue at Miami for season 1 and 2. Even though my weather center is level 3, I'm not sure if actually made a difference, or there's glitch somewhere in the display/coding. So I had to re-run these races to get a better result.

 

[Fezzik]

I ran into this same issue at Miami for season 1 and 2. Even though my weather center is level 3, I'm not sure if actually made a difference, or there's glitch somewhere in the display/coding. So I had to re-run these races to get a better result.

No reruns. It’s all a learning experience (especially if it’s me that messes up the strategy, all goes on my Ferrari job application).

I’ll upgrade the weather centre and see if that makes any difference in the future. Maybe just have to be cautious and switch from slicks as soon as the rain appears.

 

[Spacegoat]

Are you allowed to give Ferrari or Mercedes a Honda engine?

According to the developers, you can't. Sadly.

 

[Fezzik]

Alfa career is too easy to start, even with my own restrictions on poaching and not exploiting/gaming the system. Car is battling the Ferraris and Red Bulls by Barcelona, feels very unrealistic. The game really does need some major rebalancing.

One more attempt at a longer term career run before I give it a rest for a while. It's at least somewhat plausible that Alpine can develop into a top contender again as a proper rich manufacturer outfit, so it won't feel too odd to be winning in year 2, and I'd like to get Alonso a 3rd title before he retires. The car is battling the Alfas and Alphas to start which feels right, 4th place in the standings is not a given so there's some challenge.

 

[alx42]

Alfa career is too easy to start, even with my own restrictions on poaching and not exploiting/gaming the system. Car is battling the Ferraris and Red Bulls by Barcelona, feels very unrealistic. The game really does need some major rebalancing.

Do the Alfas have any advantage in their facilities from the other teams you've tried? Because I'm experiencing the same thing in my second season. The Alfas are currently 3rd in constructors. Plus, Alfa Romeo dropped Zhou for Gasly (Zhou went to Aston Martin along with Yuki - they're both dead last in every metric. While Alpha Tauri has Vettel and Stroll).

I'm on an island in 6th place in constructors standings, with six races left in the season.

 

[Fezzik]

Do the Alfas have any advantage in their facilities from the other teams you've tried?

Facilities are very basic and there isn’t much money, but the car and Valtteri are so good to start it makes little difference. One front wing upgrade jumped me from battling with the Mercs up to the Red Bull and Ferrari battle. Once the new underfloor was ready at Monaco I was virtually on pole.

 

[Spacegoat]

'23 season done and continued to be absolutely bonkers. Ended up finishing 2nd in both the constructors and drivers championship (barely). Ferrari being significantly slower than they were in the first season was a good bit of luck. Mercedes as well, never made the jump in performance like they did in my previous McLaren save. Both Mercs were languishing around the bottom half of the top ten for most of the season.



The stats probably make this look a bit easier than it has been. For whatever reason, while the cars are quick during the race. Could never get them any better than the third row in qualifying. Only time I did was thanks to rain at the Canadian GP.

 

[Fezzik]

'23 season done and continued to be absolutely bonkers. Ended up finishing 2nd in both the constructors and drivers championship (barely). Ferrari being significantly slower than they were in the first season was a good bit of luck. Mercedes as well, never made the jump in performance like they did in my previous McLaren save. Both Mercs were languishing around the bottom half of the top ten for most of the season.

View attachment 1194328View attachment 1194330

The stats probably make this look a bit easier than it has been. For whatever reason, while the cars are quick during the race. Could never get them any better than the third row in qualifying. Only time I did was thanks to rain at the Canadian GP.

I'm surprised Gasly's rating has only gone up 1 point in 2 years. Did you not upgrade the simulator, or just allocate his points where it doesn't really affect the overall?

My Alpine career is turning out like real life, negotiations going badly with Alonso so may be looking to sign Pierre instead. Could grab Theo as well for the reserve slot and go full French 🇫🇷

 

[alx42]

For whatever reason, while the cars are quick during the race. Could never get them any better than the third row in qualifying. Only time I did was thanks to rain at the Canadian GP.

Same thing here. I'm wondering what makes them perform better during the race, as opposed to qualifying. ALB is always in Q2, yet GIO for some reason is always knocked out in Q1 (except for Monza, of course ). My only guesses would be the aggression level between the two, and probably the fact I leave their pace at "aggressive" for most of the race.

 

[Spacegoat]

I'm surprised Gasly's rating has only gone up 1 point in 2 years. Did you not upgrade the simulator, or just allocate his points where it doesn't really affect the overall?

No, the race sim is fully upgraded. Gasly's weakest stat by far is defending, so that's where I've been putting the majority of his points into. Wonder if some stats promote growth in ratings better than others?

My only guesses would be the aggression level between the two, and probably the fact I leave their pace at "aggressive" for most of the race.

Forget what Gasly's and Piastri's aggression levels are. I just tend to leave them on "aggressive" for pretty much all of the race as well. Seems to work alright.

 

[Fezzik]

No, the race sim is fully upgraded. Gasly's weakest stat by far is defending, so that's where I've been putting the majority of his points into. Wonder if some stats promote growth in ratings better than others?

Forget what Gasly's and Piastri's aggression levels are. I just tend to leave them on "aggressive" for pretty much all of the race as well. Seems to work alright.

Pace stats (cornering and braking) have the most effect on overall, racecraft (overtake/defend) have the least.

Here’s all the detailed ratings breakdown:

F1 Manager stats

Qualification speed is very much based on just a handful of those - cornering, braking and accuracy mainly. Explains why the likes of Bottas, Gasly and Piastri seem to consistently outperform the car.

 

[Spacegoat]

Qualification speed is very much based on just a handful of those - cornering, braking and accuracy mainly. Explains why the likes of Bottas, Gasly and Piastri seem to consistently outperform the car.

Interesting. Explains why Pisatri is able to perform so well, despite the fact that he is the equal lowest overall rated on the grid currently. Was sort of trying to even out his stats a little but I might not bother with that now.

 

[alx42]

Yeah, I found this out a few days ago. When looking at their stats screen, it's best to increase the top six you see in their profile, or to increase the ones affected by completing their practice sessions which are...

• Control
• Accuracy
• Cornering
• Braking
• Reactions

You can also go by the ones that contribute the most to their overall ranking. Here's a list I found on a Steam thread.

% attribute to overall ranking

• Cornering 20
• Braking 15
• Reactions 10
• Accuracy 15
• Control 15
• Smoothness 10
• Adaptability 5
• Overtake 5
• Defending 5

 

[Fezzik]

Gives me a bit more time to test all the teams outside the big 3. McLaren are next.

 

[Spacegoat]

Yeah, I found this out a few days ago. When looking at their stats screen, it's best to increase the top six you see in their profile, or to increase the ones affected by completing their practice sessions which are...

• Control
• Accuracy
• Cornering
• Braking
• Reactions

Oh, okay. Been putting most of Piastri's points into Smoothness, but I'll definitely be going with those ones over anything else now. Kinda of figured that Adaptability was pretty irrelevant, given how infrequent wet races are.

Gives me a bit more time to test all the teams outside the big 3. McLaren are next.

Going to go back to McLaren once the update drops. Had a bit of success with them first time. But I want to keep Danny Ric (or maybe even sign Gasly), this time around and really focus on the developing parts of the car I struggled with before.

Interesting to see how much the update effects things. The soft tires might actually be useful during a race for a change.

 

[Fezzik]

Going to go back to McLaren once the update drops. Had a bit of success with them first time. But I want to keep Danny Ric (or maybe even sign Gasly), this time around and really focus on the developing parts of the car I struggled with before.

Danny outqualified and outraced Lando in my first outing. I’m going to keep him for the remainder of his contract, then try to sign Leclerc. Realised that he and Lando are the only ones with whom I want to win a title, don’t really like any of the other realistic options.

Damn the car is slow. Ran 1-stoppers and still barely got one car in the points. Doesn’t seem like there’s a way to improve it year 1, so basically punting the power tracks and concentrating on low speed and cooling upgrades. May need that Honda power (though Ferrari engines would be fun). Have until 2026 to win the constructors, unusually generous of the board.

The devs did hint the update would make significant changes to tyre performance, hopefully that means gradual deg rather than the 30% cliff.

Also this on saves, so may be a good thing I haven’t committed yet to a longer run:

 

[Maximum11]

We need this patch so bad. Any late SC really destroys the GPs, suddenly you're 1 lap behind the 13th (I don't understand how that's possible) , and at the restart your guy will basically stop to let the leaders pass, that's great fun . My last gps of season with Williams are really difficult. I paid the price to get new engines and win some easy points in the last races (like IRL), but a new engine does not seem to be faster than a 40% one. Worse, the other teams still seem to develop their cars , when they should focus on next year. They'd better fix properly the tires performances as well, it's so bad at the moment, pitting during SC or VSC and put new Soft is not even worth it, they really got that wrong, it's embarassing.

In between seasons do we have enough time to Design and Manufacture all new parts or should we start already last in the previous seasons? At the moment I'm only doing Research.

I finally found out where to see your starting position for a GP ahha. It's amazing that the starting grid is missing.

Cheers

 

[alx42]

We need this patch so bad. Any late SC really destroys the GPs, suddenly you're 1 lap behind the 13th (I don't understand how that's possible) , and at the restart your guy will basically stop to let the leaders pass, that's great fun . My last gps of season with Williams are really difficult. I paid the price to get new engines and win some easy points in the last races (like IRL), but a new engine does not seem to be faster than a 40% one. Worse, the other teams still seem to develop their cars , when they should focus on next year. They'd better fix properly the tires performances as well, it's so bad at the moment, pitting during SC or VSC and put new Soft is not even worth it, they really got that wrong, it's embarassing.

In between seasons do we have enough time to Design and Manufacture all new parts or should we start already last in the previous seasons? At the moment I'm only doing Research.

From what I've read from others, and I've applied this as well for my second season with Williams, is that you want to start your research for next season during the 5th and/or 6th ATR period. So this means you want to use the first 4 ATR periods to create 4-8 new parts for the season you're currently running. Max out wind tunnel and CFD testing for 1 part, or split it in half so you'll have 2 new parts.

Pitting during the VSC/SC really depends on how much tire life your drivers currently have, versus the opposition (not really the compound at this stage of the game). If you can pit for newer tires that'll make you perform longer during a stint, or even take you to the end of the race while the opponent has older worn out tires, then it's totally worth it. Or if you want to split the strategy and have one of your drivers hold up the field on older tires at a non-power circuit, while you have the other pit for newer tires so they can have an advantage later on.