F1 Manager 22 review: the perfect game for Formula 1 lovers

In October 2000, EA Sports published: F1 manager, a racing simulator in which players took on the management of a real Formula 1 team. 22 years later, it finally has a sequel. And it’s fantastic.

The excellent Netflix documentaries Ride to survive has led to a huge surge in popularity for F1, especially in the United States. It’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, and there’s another new game hoping to capitalize on the surge of interest. F1 manager 22Frontier Developments’ new simulator (best known for the Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo series) brings the complex, detail-rich world of Formula 1 to life with tons of data, beautiful presentation and an easy-to-use interface that will help players of all experience and familiarity levels .

In F1 manager 22, players run one of the 10 F1 teams. As the team boss, you control the team’s race strategy and preparation, improve the workforce (through development or new hires), upgrade the team’s car and facilities, close deals with sponsors and much more. As this is a management simulator you don’t drive yourself, but you still have a lot of control over the driver’s performance during the race by determining their strategy, giving them the correct car setup and even their consumption of tyres, fuel and fuel. energy.

Image: Border developments

In the time between the original F1 manager and the new release, motorsport management sim lovers had to make do with Motorsport Manager. Initially a mobile game, Motorsport Manager did not have the rights to the real drivers, teams or circuits of F1, but existed in a fictional version of the F1 World. The game eventually got a PC version and has an active modding community that regularly adds the drivers and teams (but not the race tracks) from the real F1 to the game. Despite those efforts, there has always been a gap between what the game had to offer and the level of immersion fans wanted.

That’s one of the many areas in which F1 manager 22 thrives. In addition to securing the rights to the names and likenesses of the teams and drivers, the game also features real engineers and team personnel. Their inclusion is a blessing in itself, especially in the attachment you form as you improve their stats over time. The drivers may get credit, but F1 is a team sport at heart. And the game’s use of audio pushes that connection even further.

The pleasant hum of a racing car is an integral part of any racing game, but F1 manager 22 adds an extra layer of realism: real team radio exchanges between drivers and engineers. Whenever you instruct your driver (such as “kick some more” or “push here for position”), you will hear the voice of your (real) team (real) engineer instructing, and the (real) the (real) voice of the driver responds. It’s one of many small details that together absolutely envelop you in what is basically a role-playing fantasy. (If the chatter gets on your nerves, you can always tinker with your audio settings.)

Image: Border developments

Image: Border developments

However, the game doesn’t just sound like the real deal – it looks better than any sports management sim has yet. With a strong emphasis on stats and data, most games in the sports management simulation genre look like, well, spreadsheets. But F1 manager 22‘The racing scenes are almost indistinguishable from EA Sports’ F1 22 racing game. The cars and tracks come alive with stunning visual clarity, making the races enjoyable to watch as you try to plot your way to victory.

The presence of the real tracks goes a long way towards this visual immersion. All the quirks and sights of some of the world’s most famous racing circuits are in play, from the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco to the rolling hills of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Data-intensive management simulators can be overwhelming for new players, and one of the most commendable parts of F1 manager 22 is how customization the experience is. The game offers all the details that F1 obsessives want to dive into, but almost everything in the game has some degree of automation available for those who just want to dabble. Do you only want to determine the tire strategy? You can do that. Want to micromanage every sector of every round? So can you.

Image: Border developments

Image: Border developments

Perhaps F1 manager 22The crowning glory is how accessible it is to so many camps, from management veterans to F1 enthusiasts to the many new fans the sport has amassed over the years. The management sim genre can be overwhelming for new players, and F1 manager 22 tackles this from the jump. The opening team selection screen gives you an overview of the strengths, weaknesses and goals for each of the potential teams you could play with. When you hover over each team, a voiceover from F1 commentator David Croft tells you more about the current status of the team and how it got there. As you set up your first playthrough, the game teaches you as much about its own systems as it does the overarching rules of F1 racing.

It’s been a long time since F1 fans had a licensed management SIM that lived up to the dramatic highlights of the real thing. The recent explosion of interest paved the way for the perfect timing for a return to this style of F1 games. But even more impressive than the timing is the execution, which leaves little to be desired. It took more than two decades, but it was well worth it.

F1 manager 22 was released on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on August 30. The game has been reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Frontier Developments. Vox Media has affiliated partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commission on products purchased through affiliate links. you can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.

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