REVIEW: ‘F1 Manager 2022’ Is an Excellent Management Simulator (PC)

F1 Manager 2022 is the first in the new F1 Manager series developed by Frontier Developments. The racing management game puts players in the shoes of a Formula 1 team principal. It uses an incredible amount of real-life data to make the experience as authentic as possible.

To start, F1 Manager 2022 is purely about what takes place behind the scenes in Formula 1. Unlike the F1 2022 game from Codemasters, F1 Manager 2022 does not allow players to take control of the cars and drive themselves. It is very similar to the relationship between Football Manager and FIFA franchises, where one is focused on the actual management of the teams and the other focuses on realistic gameplay meant to mimic the experience as an athlete. While F1 Manager 2022 may not offer the authentic race day experience from a driver’s perspective, it does offer an incredibly in-depth look at all of the responsibilities of a team principal.

F1 Manager 2022 puts all of the crucial decisions in the hands of the player, and one wrong call could make the difference between competing for the championship or sitting at the back of the grid by the end of the season. Players have complete control over staff and driver hiring, firing, and development, and the many options for improving statistics are all extremely important. For example, having a driver who excels at overtaking other drivers may seem beneficial. Still, if that comes at the expense of stats like braking or how they approach corners on the track, it won’t matter because they will never have the chance to overtake. Similarly, staff attributes can aid the development of certain car parts, but players must be careful to find the right balance so that the car they develop doesn’t fall behind the rest of the pack.

Speaking of developing car parts, that is where the real meat and potatoes of the game lie. Each car has several components that can be developed and improved, but the amount of resources spent developing parts is limited by a number of factors. Formula 1 regulations restrict the amount of testing teams can do during the season, which is also implemented in the game. Only so many hours can be applied to each upgrade, so players have to choose whether to split that time between multiple upgrades or focus everything on one crucial part. Midway through the season, players also vote on new regulations that unlock the “research” category. This is important because it allows players to start focusing on their cars for the next season to limit the impact of the new regulations. At the same time, though, focusing on the subsequent season limits upgrades for the current season, so the decision can’t be made lightly. There is also a significant spending cap to watch out for, although that mostly only impacts the more prominent teams with larger bank accounts.

Regarding the actual races, players are responsible for creating the strategies used for all three practice sessions as well as qualifying and the race. There is a tutorial of sorts that explains how it works for new players or people who may not be familiar with Formula 1. Race strategy and setup is one of those things that are relatively simple to grasp but extremely challenging to master. F1 Manager 2022 uses real-life data to make each driver feel authentic behind the wheel, which means the decisions you make for one of your two drivers might not always be the best for the other driver. There are countless options for both drivers that make setup such a vital part of the game and that which I loved being able to mess around with.

While I do really love everything about F1 Manager 2022, it could use more depth in terms of what types of teams players can manage. Players are limited to the ten current teams in Formula 1. Even though drivers and staff from Formula 2 and Formula 3 are included, players cannot manage teams in those series. There is also no option for players to create their own team, which is a bit of a bummer. I would imagine both of those are mainly down to how Formula 1 allows the license to be used, especially for the first F1 Manager game. Still, I hope future iterations include the lower race series as well as custom teams.

F1 Manager 2022 is an excellent look at what it takes to be a Formula 1 team principal. There is so much depth to the game, and the real-life statistics make the experience incredibly authentic. Everything about the game feels polished, from the look and feel of the cars and tracks to the in-depth look at the car data, and I can’t wait to see what new tricks the series will bring in future versions of the game.

F1 Manager 2022 releases on August 30th for Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.