F1 Manager 2023

F1 Manager 2023 is a textbook definition of what a yearly game should be. It's not just a good racing sim, it's one of the best management games on the market today.

Frontier's annual management sim offers some small refinements over its predecessor but a lack of major upgrades means it doesn't snatch pole.

The sequel brings welcome enhancements, but the on-track racing simulation is a let down.

It fully embraces its mission as a simulation, which is both a triumph and a chicane.

I found F1 Manager 2023 to be slightly worse than last year's edition. In small things, not important stuff, but still. That's the first aspect that pulls the score down. The second one is the fact that after the previous edition we were expecting updates and improvements in every part of the game, but we got basically the same game in terms of content and mechanics.

F1 Manager 23 promises to deliver a fantastic fix for those that want to be in control from a mission statement, rather than making marks on the tarmac.

F1 Manager 2023 complies with what it wants to offer, but it lacks actually compelling innovations for anyone that played the previous game.

F1 Manager 2023 significantly improves on the solid foundations of the previous game, offering one of the best management simulators currently on the market.

F1 Manager 2023 can be tough to love and it’s definitely one you’ll need more than a passing interest in the sport to play. However, once you get into its layers, build out your tactics, understand the optics, and familiarise yourself with a broad range of strategies, the experience truly opens up to you and can be incredibly fulfilling. Race Replay also adds a fun side detour that helps break up the intensity of the campaign and remind yourself why you love this sport.

At the end of the day, I consider the value of these sports management simulators to be an opportunity to teach the nuances of the sport to laypeople. By understanding the underlying tactics and management structure that goes into those on-field or on-track performances, you do come to a much deeper understanding of the sport itself. Football Manager understands this, but F1 Manager doesn’t quite. Not yet. The presentation of the information is accessible and even elegant, but this is an enormously complex sport, and the developers haven’t found a way to translate this so it’s palatable to people who aren’t already deeply invested in the sport. As enjoyable, comprehensive, and well-designed as F1 Manager is, there’s still work to go to get it to the standards of Football Manager in supporting people to develop a passion for the sport.