Ahead of the F1 Manager 2023 release date, I was fortunate enough to hop into a pre-release build of the game to check out the brand new Race Replay mode and the full suite of improvements Frontier Developments has made for this year’s release. With the first F1 Manager game essentially ruining my life (in a good way), I was excited to jump into F1 Manager 2023 to see just how much the developer had been able to improve upon the already-decent management sim it delivered last year. Boasting new game modes, deeper management systems, and even more control over your team, staff, and drivers, my hopes were very high – and, it turns out they had every right to be. I was only able to spend a couple of hours with the game, but F1 Manager 2023 is already shaping up to be everything I wanted 2022’s game to be and more.
In the build-up to launch, Frontier has been quite transparent with some of the new features it has introduced to the series through F1 Manager 2023, like the fact that you can organize your pit crew’s training schedule and the addition of a sporting director role. However, there are so many more minor changes Frontier hasn’t talked about yet that bring a new level of depth to the series and really elevate the experience.
One fantastic, and impactful, example of this is the Driver Confidence setting and the associated changes to ERS deployment, and instructions. At the start of each race, dictated by a multitude of factors, each driver has a Driver Confidence level. This, which can shift during a race, influences the success of your driver and – if not managed – can negatively impact a race result. However, it’s also more directly tied to F1 Manager 2023’s new overtake and defend instructions – and this is where the moment-to-moment micro-management I loved in the previous game gets even more exciting.
In F1 Manager 2023, you can choose how aggressive you want your driver to be when it comes to overtaking and how much they’ll try to defend against certain opponents using tighter racing lines and DRS deployment. Your ERS deployment, of course, can be taken advantage of, but it’s not directly tied to overtaking anymore.This doesn’t just simplify your options when it comes to using ERS (now, it’s a choice between Deploy, Neutral, Top Up, or Harvest), but it also means you don’t necessarily need to rely on that to get ahead on track.
If your driver is confident, they’ll try riskier overtakes with greater success. If not, you could find that they spin out one too many times and cost you valuable points positions – something I experienced first hand when it came to my attempt at a Mercedes 1-2 finish at Silverstone during my preview. This might seem like a minor adjustment in the grand scheme of things, as you could still tell your driver to attack and defend in the last game. However, it’s a fantastic example of how Frontier has tweaked an existing mechanic to add more depth and offer players more agency – something that could quickly become lost in a management sim like this.
Frontier has also made a number of more cosmetic improvements across the board and the race day experience in F1 Manager 2023 is so much more exciting than last year’s entry – and that already set a very high bar. From the introduction of more dynamic racing lines to even more real-world audio message announcements when you make decisions, it’s never been more exciting to watch your team triumph – or, of course, falter. One thing that stands out, though, from my time playing the preview build of F1 Manager 2023, is the helmet cam camera option.
An option you can swap in and out of when watching a race at regular and two-times speed, I found myself in awe at how accurate the helmet cam perspective actually is in F1 Manager 2023. Watching from a TV Pod camera perspective, something that was available in last year’s game, you do notice some head movements from your driver. However, that didn’t prepare me for just how accurate the helmet cam option is when you do switch to it. From the rapid head movements when you’re whipping through the streets of Monaco to the framing from the inside of the crash helmet making everything that little bit harder to see, it really does feel like you’re watching things from your driver’s perspective. The authenticity this adds to the experience is invaluable.
On top of all that, F1 Manager 2023 also introduces the Race Replay mode – a game mode I can see being a fantastic option for players looking for an easy way to jump right into race day action without the deep management systems that come along with it.
In Race Replay mode, players can choose to jump into one of two types of scenarios: Starting Grid, or Race Moments. Both of these modes are based on real Formula One results and Frontier is planning to update them post-launch with new options based on upcoming race weekends. So, there’s going to be a season’s worth of content there for players to enjoy at a minimum.
In Starting Grid, players take control of a team from lights out – so, you’re going to be able to play through an entire race here. In Race Moments, though, you’re thrown into a mid-race scenario with a specific objective to try and achieve. In my time playing, I was thrown into a rainy Monaco with the goal of getting P1 with Alonso. I was in charge of Stroll, too, but Alonso’s position was paramount – Stroll was sadly sat in P14 when the Race Moments scenario started.
With 20 laps to go and a pit stop to make, this was a lot harder than I expected it to be, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a lot of fun. A moment like this might come around in your career playthrough of an F1 Manager game, but there’s no guarantee and the fact that Frontier is offering players the chance to experience these curated high-stakes moments is far from a bad thing. In a standard career mode playthrough, you’re going to have to think about your entire season at any one time. Pushing for P1, while exciting in the moment, could be a risk you can’t afford to take – especially in the wet. In Race Moments, though, none of that matters. That removal of risk makes it even more exciting and this mode is something I can certainly see being popular when the full game drops.
Frontier has, as you may expect, made some graphical improvements to the management sim in F1 Manager 2023. I already thought the last F1 Manager game had no right looking as good as it did considering the sheer depth of the experience, and this game raises the bar – even in the pre-release build I played via a streaming service online, it looked great. In particular, the particle effects of rain during my Race Moments experience in Monaco looked fantastic. The spraying was, perhaps, a little muted and there was some rain inside the tunnel – which, to be honest, was funny if anything – but it all looked like a step up from what we saw last-year. The sporadic sparks from the high-speed straights at Silverstone also add to the improved realism on offer.
Is this going to be one of the best racing games out there? Well, this series really is one-of-a-kind and, so far, it’s a lot of fun. I do think it’s quite harsh to compare a triple A racing simulator like F1 23 – which, coincidentally, is one of the best Formula One games I have ever played – with a rich management simulator like F1 Manager 2023, though. If you want to try and orchestrate a successful season of Formula One racing with control right down to the training schedule of the pit crew, this is the perfect game for you. Sure, you’re not going to be able to hop in the car and race around the Red Bull Ring, but that’s not what this game is about. When you consider the experience Frontier is trying to provide players with, what it’s actually trying to do with F1 Manager 2023, it does that all very well. So far, this is a step up from last year’s game and then some – and that makes it worth getting excited about.