F1 Manager 2022 has seriously impressed us and some of its features need to be in F1 23. EA and Codemasters now have serious competition when it comes to their official Formula 1 game.
F1 23 is a long way away, but will already be in development. So, here's what we think F1 23 needs to adopt next year.
F1 Manager Features in F1 23
F1 23 won't be released until the Summer of 2023. However, Codemasters will be working on their flagship title for next year's release already. So, now will be the time where they and EA are looking at what they can take inspiration from for next year's title.
F1 Manager 2022 really impressed us and is the first true Formula 1 management game ever on console. While F1 22 did bring some new features to the table, we were left a little disappointed with the lack of innovation.
This could spell the start of the changing of the guards when it comes to the Formula 1 game. However, EA and Codies do have the ability to prevent this by adding a few key features from F1 Manager 2022.
Hiring and firing
F1's My Team mode has been a roaring success since it revolutionised the F1 game's Career Mode back in 2020. For the first time, we were able to create and manage our own Formula 1 team in the F1 game.
Since it was introduced though, the mode has largely remained the same in the following two games. It's high time we get a shakeup, but what exactly should we be able to do?
For a start, it'd be good to be able to hire staff similar to how you can in F1 Manager 2022. In F1 22 My Team, your team grows with investment but you don't have any say on how many nor who is working for your team.
With the exception of your drivers, there's no indication of whether you have a staff list of a hundred or over a thousand. We're not talking about each individual staff member, that would be needlessly complicated.
We are though talking about the heads of departments, like what we see in F1 Manager 2022. Even if it's only a head of aerodynamics, chassis, engine and durability, the four development areas in F1 22, this would add a lot to F1 23.
On a sidenote, being able to make your own power unit and develop it in-house (similar to what Red Bull have done irl) would be a cool addition.
Investing in the future
Kudos has to go to Codemasters for introducing Formula 2 into the F1 game back in 2019. However, three years have past since then and aside from the driver ratings, little has changed in this regard since 2019.
F1 Manager 2022 has also added in Formula 3 into the driver pool, but F1 23 shouldn't stop there.
Thanks to F1 Manager 2022's reserve driver role, there is almost a driver academy feature within the game. There is no reason why Codies can't add this in for F1 23.
Teams such as Red Bull, Ferrari and Alpine are famous for their driver academies and F2 and F3 drivers having these affiliations would make F1 23 even more realistic.
So, for example, if you're playing as Alfa Romeo, it will be very hard for you to sign the likes of Jack Doohan and Logan Sargeant.
However, Felipe Drugovich was unaffiliated with an F1 team, so he could be an easy one to sign just like Aston Martin proved in real life. Furthermore, the option to loan drivers should be implemented, like Williams do with Alex Albon.
You should also be able to develop the driver academy just like the departments of your Formula 1 team. If you want to as well, it should be possible to aid your development drivers in finding F2 and F3 seats.
Top-down view
This won't be for everybody, but there will be some F1 gamers that will love this option. In F1 Manager 2022, you don't compete in the races themselves, you view them from either the onboard camera of the cars or a top-down view of the circuit.
A bit like what we see in FIFA, you should have the option to simulate the race but be able to jump into the action if you feel like it. This gives us the option to change our minds rather than jumping straight into a pointless result with no way to go back.
One last honourable mention as well has to go to red flags. We've been saying this for years, but they have to be in the next F1 game. They shake both qualifying and the races up in real life and could do the same in the F1 game too.