“F1 Manager 24” reviewed – Does Create-a-Team make for a must-buy? · RaceFans

After over a year of negotiating, politicking and shots fired through passive aggressive press statements, the question of which of the two new teams approved by the FIA will get the honour of joining the F1 grid has been decided.

Shockingly, Andretti Global have missed out. Instead, FOM stuns the motorsport world by accepting the entry of unknown Australian outfit Redback Racing to become the 11th Formula 1 team.

Despite a minimal budget of only $10 million, a barely functional factory, no simulator, a technical team made up of ex-Formula 2 engineers, Renault power units purchased for cheap in exchange for a race seat for Alpine junior Jack Doohan and controversial team principal Will Wood, whose only prior F1 experience was running Williams into the ground in 2022, FOM believe for some inexplicable reason that this second-rate squad will “add more value” to Formula 1 than one of IndyCar’s most successful squads.

Heading into the opening round of the 2024 season in Bahrain, the question on everyone’s lips in the paddock is not whether Red Bull can be caught, but if Redback Racing can even survive their first season…

It’s hard to believe, but Frontier Developments’ F1 Manager series – the first officially licensed F1 management simulation game for PC and console for two decades – is now on its third entry.

Up to now, RaceFans has enjoyed what the franchise has had to offer. Especially as it has filled a gaping hole in the F1 gaming market while has been lacking for so long.

But with the third entry, ‘F1 Manager 24’, the initial contract with FOM for three initial entries has been fulfilled. Although there has been no word yet about whether or not the series will continue beyond this latest edition, the prospects of renewal look more ‘Kevin Magnussen‘ than ‘Lance Stroll’ at this stage.

If F1 Manager 24 is the final entry in this series, how does this third incarnation measure up – especially for players who already own the 2022 or 2023 editions of the game?

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Evolving the Formula

If you have not yet played any of the previous F1 Manager games, F1 Manager 24 shares much in common with its two predecessors. Giving players the opportunity to virtually step into the shoes of a team principal, the game allows you to make key off-track decisions over driver contracts, car development, factory facility maintenance, sponsorship…