F1 Manager 2023 Qualifying Guide: Maximise driver confidence

Driver confidence is key in Formula 1. Confidence is the difference between winning the race and crashing out in turn 1. So how can you maximise your driver confidence in F1 Manager 2023?

A confident driver can result in a surprise in qualifying and even during the race. If you want to move your team up the grid, this F1 Manager 2023 qualifying guide is perfect for you.

Driver confidence in F1 Manager 2023

New to F1 Manager 2023, driver confidence dictates how your driver will perform during a race weekend. The more confident your drivers are, the more likely they will be able to pull off overtakes and defensive manoeuvres.

Driver confidence also gives your drivers a stats boost. More confidence equals a higher stat boost and a lower risk of an incident during a race.

A driver with low confidence is more likely to make mistakes during a race, such as spinning out on corner exit or even banging wheels with other drivers. They are also less likely to be able to pull off overtakes during a race, meaning the only direction they’ll be going is backwards.

So we know how important driver confidence is in F1 Manager 2023, but how can you give your drivers the most confidence? Careful planning in qualifying is the key.

How to maximise driver confidence in F1 Manager 2023

The easiest way to maximise driver confidence is to give your drivers the best car setup. That gives the best confidence boost going into qualifying sessions. Our F1 Manager 2023 setup guide will help you nail your setups each time for every driver on every track.

Once you have the highest setup possible, it’s time to hit the track for qualifying. It's here where the confidence can be really boosted.

During qualifying sessions, each time your driver sets a personal best sector time, their confidence is boosted. This is boosted even further if their sector time is the overall best. If your driver has a high affinity with their race engineer, their confidence is boosted even further.

The trick here is to make sure every lap your driver sets is a personal best. The easiest way to do this is to switch to manual control and tell your drivers to conserve fuel and tyres on their first timed lap, then ramp up the pace for the in-lap. This will result in more personal best sector times on the in-lap, boosting confidence even further.

Setting everything to standard for the second timed lap will see more green sectors and much higher confidence as a result. If you manage to max out the confidence, it’s time to go for a final run to get the lap time needed to progress through qualifying. With the right setup, timing, and confidence, your drivers should be able to sail through qualifying.

If you perfect your run plan for each session, you’ll soon see some surprise qualifying results from your drivers.