Formula 1 is about so much more than just racing. Designing a competitive car is just as crucial as pulling off the perfect overtake. Therefore, developing the car in F1 Manager 2023 should be one of the highest priorities for players.
With so many options available during the design process, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Our F1 Manager 2023 development guide will show you how to develop success before you even reach the track.
F1 Manager 2023 development guide
Our F1 Manager 2023 development guide has been created based on information in this Steam post. There’s a lot covered in that post, so for this guide, we’ve tried to keep things as simple as possible.
The most important decision when developing the car is which components to focus on first. Depending on the team you’re managing, you may need to prioritise different aspects of performance. A team like Haas, for example, are in dire need of straight-line speed, whereas a team like Williams, which is fast along the straights, need better performance through the corners.
Heading into the Car Analysis screen, you can compare your car to others on the grid to find out where you’re lacking in performance.
It’s also key to remember that different tracks require different levels of performance. Monza is all about straight-line speed, whereas Monaco requires more downforce than any other track on the calendar. Therefore the upcoming race should also be factored in when developing new parts for the car.
So with all that out of the way, let’s talk about car development itself.
Developing success
Once you’ve decided which areas of performance need improving, it’s time to learn how each part of the car affects each area of performance. If you’re looking to improve pace, you need to focus on the underfloor, front wing, and rear wing. The underfloor is by far the most paramount for increasing speed, whilst the rear wing has the least effect.
Sidepods, suspension, and chassis shouldn’t be ignored when looking for pace, as they act as multipliers for the real impact makers. But with the cost cap prevalent, there’s not a lot to be gained from developing these purely to gain pace.
Cornering pace comes from downforce. Low, medium, and high speed are the important components of this, but airflow front and middle work as multipliers. High airflow front boosts low and medium corners, with high airflow middle boosting medium and high corners.
Keeping your cool
Working on both straight and cornering paces is important when racing on hard-to-pass tracks such as the Hungaroring. The straight-line pace will get your drivers to pull alongside before the corner, then the dominant cornering pace will get the overtake completed through the turn.
One final aspect of performance that definitely shouldn’t be ignored is cooling. Being able to cool the tyres throughout the race will open up more possibilities for race strategy. Keeping the engine cool will reduce parts wear, meaning you can run the same components for longer during the season.
With the risk of breaching the cost cap always hanging over you, it’s crucial to plan out your development strategy. Costs are higher in F1 Manager 2023 and development time is lower, so it’s tempting to keep your development slots full at all times. Doing this will definitely result in overspending, so make a development plan and try to stick to it.
Science of development
It’s very easy to go ahead and stick all your development time into the recommended parts above, but without understanding the science of development you could still end up compromising the car.
Parts are weighted for each stat according to how it will affect the car. For example, an increase in drag reduction from the rear wing will provide more top speed than the same increase in drag reduction from the suspension.
It’s also worth noting that having one component with exceptional stats means nothing if the rest of the car is below average. The car will actually perform better with average stats across the board. This means it may be more beneficial to wait until multiple new parts are complete before applying them to the car.
Managing your hours
Finally, it’s crucial to allocate your CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and WT (wind tunnel) hours sensibly. Many players don’t realise that your CFD and WT hours are reset throughout the season, being split into six ATR (aerodynamic testing regulations) periods.
The hours reset approximately every two months, so if you haven’t used your allotted time before then, you lose them for good.
Every season, the first ATR period can only be applied to car design. The remaining five can be applied to both car design and research for next season’s car. Considering that using ATR hours can improve parts by a flat percentage and increase expertise gained during the design phase, we recommend using as many hours as possible for design over research.
Experts in design
Expertise gain is also fundamental in developing success in F1 Manager 2023. Design expertise is gained for every part developed. This expertise can then be used when developing later parts to increase their stats further.
Expertise is gained at a daily rate. This means a longer development time actually yields more expertise. This will mean parts take longer to develop, but in return, the next part will have a stats boost.
Therefore, it’s more financially efficient to allocate a single engineer to each design task to maximise the amount of expertise gained. It’s counter-intuitive but incredibly beneficial.
Once you’ve got to grips with how development works in F1 Manager 2023, you’ll be developing your way to success in no time.
For more on F1 Manager 2023, check out our tips and tricks for beginners as well as our full review.