F1 Manager is back from Frontier Developments just as the 2024 series heats up for the summer. This year's iteration introduces new additions that significantly enhance the immersion and experience of acting as a principal for a Formula 1 team. With detailed tools and systems that make the time away from the track almost as engaging as the on-track action, F1 Manager 2024 has something to offer every fan of the sport, especially those who like to dive deep.

Welcome to the grid

The highlight of F1 Manager 2024 is the new Create A Team mode, which allows you to join the grid as an 11th team. This means you get to design your team from the ground up, including the name, branding, budget constraints, and driver lineup. You can choose to make a big splash with a large budget, poach top talent from other teams, and begin building your legacy. Alternatively, you can start small as the underdog with a modest budget and focus on developing young drivers from the F2 or F3 series. You can even create something entirely custom with generated drivers and staff. The choice is yours, and your experience of the sim will vary greatly depending on the path you choose.

Part of creating a new team involves designing your team's branding. Frontier provides players with a simple yet effective designer, which has already inspired the internet to generate some stunningly accurate logos. This truly allows you to compete on the F1 grid with the team you envision, not just an existing team. The sponsorship system has also been expanded, requiring team principals to balance funding with the potential impact of disruptive sponsor events. Hitting targets and holding engagement events can increase your cash flow, but may also upset one of your drivers or delay the manufacture of critical parts due to a fan tour.

The newly introduced Mentality system tracks how drivers and other team staff are affected by results on and off the track. Driver mentality can be influenced by recent race results, contract length, relationships with race engineers, and competition between teammates. It quickly becomes clear that there are many factors for a team principal to manage. Fortunately, this new system does a good job of explaining the causes and performance impacts, helping guide players to the most beneficial areas of team development.

Development successful

With so much going on in F1 Manager 2024, I found myself eagerly diving into car development and practice session strategies. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging the activities outside of the Sunday Grand Prix race were. Striving for 100% driver preparation each weekend, while optimizing car setups and strategies, is a lot of fun for a die-hard Formula 1 fan like myself. The official branding throughout the game adds to the immersion. During races, I felt like I was right at the pit wall, analyzing tire stints, monitoring the weather forecast, and cursing my rookie driver's mistakes that dented the team's budget.

I often find menu systems in PC games frustrating, especially when they're clearly designed for controllers. However, F1 Manager 2024 deserves credit in this regard. While the menus are functional for console users, they work exceptionally well with a mouse and keyboard on PC. For once, I didn't feel constrained by console limitations; the system works well in both environments. Kudos, Frontier.

Some adjustments required

The new additions in F1 Manager 2024 complement the returning and expanded features from previous versions. The on-track audiovisual package now includes over 70,000 lines from broadcast recordings and several new camera modes, perfect for capturing the newly introduced mechanical failures. While I enjoy the audio clips from real drivers and race engineers, the commentary during race replays feels out of place. The transition from the quiet intensity of strategizing to an overly enthusiastic announcer with odd delays can be jarring.

F1 Manager 2024 does suffer from a few bugs, notably in the UI, where tutorial messages sometimes reappear even after being dismissed. I also encountered instances where the UI stopped updating while my mouse could still issue commands during a race. Fortunately, the autosave system is reliable, and I was able to resume without losing significant progress.

Closing

What stuck with me most about F1 Manager 2024 is how much I want to keep playing it. If Civilization is known for "just one more turn," then F1 Manager 2024 tempts me with "just one more practice session," "just one more set of laps to tweak the car setup," or "just one more race to see if we can score some points." It keeps me coming back for more, and I'm excited to see how my custom Shacknews Racing team will evolve over the seasons. If you've ever wanted to experience what it's like to manage a Formula 1 team, you'll find countless hours of enjoyment here.

This review is based on the PC Steam release. The game key was provided by the publisher for review consideration. F1 Manager 2024 is available on July 22 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.