First play: Tackle real-life challenges from the pit wall in F1 Manager 23

Were you screaming at your screen when Fernando Alonso headed for the pits as rain fell on lap 54 of the Monaco Grand Prix and took another set of slick tyres?

Have Ferrari’s tactical decisions left you with an unshakeable view that all would be well at the Scuderia if only they would hand over the reins on the pit wall to someone else – say, you?

The crucial pit wall calls which can win or lose Formula 1 races made for one of the most absorbing parts of the new F1 Manager series when it arrived last year. For the upcoming new iteration, F1 Manager 23, the idea has been taken a step further, with the inclusion of challenges based on real-world scenarios.

RaceFans had the opportunity to sample a preview version of the game based around one of the most scrutinised tactical calls of the season so far – that memorable pit stop for Alonso in Monaco. This is one of many new features the Frontier Developments team has added to its officially-licensed title, but it looks like being the one fans of the series will have the most fun experimenting with.

I’m dropped into place on the Aston Martin pit wall with the cars running in the same order they did when that rain shower arrived in Monte-Carlo. Alonso is well behind Verstappen in second place, but a well-timed call for intermediates as the track gets wetter could prove a tactical masterstroke.

I take the gamble, summoning car 14 in for a set of intermediates. Immediately it looks like the decision is going to pay off – the television-style footage of the pit stop shows it’s tipping down.

Red Bull, just as sharp as they are in real life, react the next time around. Alonso’s sector times give me cause for optimism as the race leader swings into the pits, takes four intermediates, heads for the exit… and beats Alonso to the timing line by less than three-tenths of a second.

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Any hope Verstappen is going to push too hard too soon on his intermediates is gone as he immediately draws clear of Alonso. I can’t fault the realism on this count – Verstappen pulled away from Alonso when they switched to intermediates in real life too, at least when the track started to dry out.

The game doesn’t rigidly follow real-life events, merely uses them as a starting point. So in this alternative reality Nico Hulkenberg bins his Haas and the Safety Car appears. I take the opportunity to gamble again, pitting Lance Stroll from 13th onto a set of full wets in case the rain gets harder. He gets his lap back too, and for the first time ever I experience a sense of gratitude at the delay in restarting the race while the lapped cars are allowed to rejoin the queue. This feature was notably missing from last year’s game at launch.

Soon after Verstappen leads Alonso away at the restart, Pierre Gasly – who has managed to emerge from the pack ahead of his team mate – surprisingly demotes my leading car for second place. It’s inconceivable that a driver of Alonso’s ability would give up a position so easily on a track like Monaco in a healthy car, yet there’s no indication his AMR23 has developed any kind of problem.

As a precaution, I set his driving aggression level to maximum, to guard against losing a grip on the podium entirely. Alas, he surrenders another position. “Sainz gets by without too much trouble,” intones David Croft.

It’s not going any better for Stroll, though he at least has the excuse of being on the wrong tyres. Sergio Perez passes him for 17th and I begin rehearsing the excuses I’m going to tell Stroll Snr. As Verstappen appears in junior’s mirrors, I abandon any notion of racing etiquette and begin interrogating the menus in the hope of issuing a ‘tactically delay leader’ command, but there’s none to be found.

The strange ease with which Alonso gave up those two places was the only moment that undermined my belief in the recreation of the race I was playing. As ever, we’ll wait until we’ve sampled the finished game, which will include many more of these scenarios drawn from real 2023 races, before delivering our final verdict.

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As those who played last year’s game will know, F1 Manager’s simulation extends far beyond what happens on the pit wall. This side of the game, focused more on resource management and long-term strategy, has also seen some revisions.

You now have the ability to manage the development of your pit crew and will face more challenging financial decisions in the game. Although we had a chance to see these in action during our preview, the limitations of time meant assessing how they play out over the course of a full game wasn’t possible.

Many players who enjoyed the first game urged Frontier to introduce the ability to switch between teams. This is coming for F1 Manager 23, and promises to add a new dimension to the game play.

Before wrapping up our preview I have time to quickly run a full grand prix weekend in charge of Mercedes. Here the simulation plays out more convincingly. Satisfyingly, after promising the sponsors both W14s will reach Q3 in exchange for an extra pay-out, we come good in a rain-affected session.

The race proves more challenging. Lewis Hamilton is happier with his set-up so I put his car on softs and tell him to attack, only for Logan Sargeant to punt him off. Hamilton leans on it hard as he regains ground early on so he has to do a lot of pace management at the end, but to my relief his fuel projection rises from negative numbers to zero on the penultimate lap. Seventh at the flag is a decent result under the circumstances.

George Russell has a more productive day. Using the car’s superior tyre management he pulls off a one-stop while others come in twice, he is quick enough at the end to avoid being caught and finishes third behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Aside from one notable graphics glitch which I’m sure will be tidied up before launch, this provides a deeply immersive experience.

Switching between day-to-day team management and the intensity of running the pit wall gives F1 Manager sessions a clear rhythm. But for those who want more pick-up-and-play fun, the new scenarios mode has plenty of potential and taps into the major talking points from real-life race weekends in a way which enhances the game and takes it in an interesting new direction.

No, it’s never going to end those ‘should-they-have-pitted’ arguments, but it looks like being a fun new way to approach them. We look forward to finding out once the finished game arrives.

F1 Manager 23 will be released later this year on current and last-generation consoles and on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

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