Introduction to fundamental game mechanics.
 

This guide

This guide will help you get started with your first F122 Manager career. This guide will not cover everything about the game. Youtubers will spend hours explaining the game in detail, while more people will make detailed guides. For now, I want to help you understand basic concepts and game mechanics so that you don't make common mistakes. Even though you've finished this guide, you will still need to figure a lot of things on your feet. However, I hope this helps you to get better quickly and avoid getting frustrated.
 
 
 

About me

I have played Motorsport Manager (MM) for almost 600 hours, the predecessor to F122 Manager (F122 M). I also race karting in the real world, TAG category and IAME X30 engine (maximum speed 95 mph.). Since 2017, I have been racing in virtual races on iRacing. I am a huge F1 fan. I began watching F1 in 1998, and have not stopped since. I wrote this guide based upon my experience with Motorsport Manager and a little bit real-world racing. It's not complete. I'll need to finish it, but I wanted to make this guide available to new F1 players as well as those who are still confused by the game. This guide will not be of much interest to those who have played Motorsport Manager. If you haven't played it yet, you should read this guide to see if you like it.
 
 
 

Full disclosure

It is not possible to prove everything I say in this guide. It is most of the time not. However, I am suspicious of the mechanics behind the scenes (code), so I make a*sumptions. I have only spent a few hours on F1 22, Manager and those a*sumptions have been confirmed. But more research and playtime is necessary to confirm those a*sumptions. As a human, some a*sumptions could be wrong. The developers have already acknowledged some bugs in the game. It is important to remember that the mechanics of the game are still being developed so things could change in future.
 
 
 

Overview of games

This game is challenging and takes time to master. This is not a game that you can play for hours and then suddenly beat everyone. It's not a FPS, RTS, or even a racing simulation game. It's a racing simulation. What's the difference? You race in racing games and it is all about your driving skills (, reaction, racing line breaking ability, focus, etc.). F1 22M is all about understanding your car, your strategy, your opponents, and understanding your strengths and limitations. F1 22 M is for you if you find the game frustrating, difficult, or almost impossible. Aston Martin joined F1 six years ago. They have never won any races. Mercedes has been involved in F1 for many decades (to). They won seven championships consecutively in the last ten years of the sport, but haven't won a single race this year. Why? F1 is difficult, complex and hard to master.
 
 
Start with a low rated team like (Williams, Haas or) and you will need to be patient before you can even reach the podium in the F1 simulator. I mean several seasons. It takes around 5-6 years to win your first race in (MM if you start with) low rated teams, so it may take several seasons in F122 M to get there. You shouldn't be too proud of your team's success with a low rated one. Although you may win some races with a high-rated team at the beginning, it is possible to make mistakes and lose your race. F1 is a sport that takes only milliseconds, so mistakes are easy to make. I believe that if your knowledge of F1 strategy and definitions is not up-to-date, even if you choose a high-rated team, it will be very difficult to keep up with the competition. If this is you, I strongly advise you to start with a low-rated group. This will allow you to win, not lose, as you start from the front.
 
 
One big a*sumption that many players will make when they start is that the best driver will guarantee them wins. However, this is far from the truth. If you start with a low-rated driver team and sign Verstappen or Hamilton, you will not win races. This is not a guarantee. Why? To win races you need a great car + a good driver + a good strategy + good luck. Signing a fast driver does not guarantee that they will be covered. You still need to win races and it takes time. Do not rush and sign a fast-driving driver from the beginning. First, a good driver is less likely to join a low-rated team. They only sign up for high-rated teams that have prestige and wins under their banner. Even if you get the driver signed, your car will not be competitive against high rated teams. I will give you a breakdown of the formula so you can understand how it affects race outcomes. Full discourse. This is my a*sumption of how the formula works. There is no way for me to prove that it works. Based on my experience in MM, I believe it works similarly for F1 22 M.
 
 
Percentage of how it impacts race outcomes
 
Driver = 40%
 
Car = 30%
 
Strategy = 20%
 
Race conditions/luck = 10
 
 
Opportunity is another important factor I haven't explored yet. Sometimes you can gain extraordinary positions by participating in races. These events include crashes, rain, and virtual safety cars. These events can affect the formula above, but I haven’t experienced them yet. Even if your team is low rated, these events can drastically alter the outcome of a race. Historic fact: Williams, a team that was among the lowest rated in F1, took 2nd on the Spa GP grid in 2021. It was a miracle of modern F1. How did this happen? It was raining when the driver took lap (George Russell.) The track was not as slippery as it was before other drivers made laps. George is a very talented driver. I'm certain he put a lot effort into that lap and it paid off. But it was the rain that made the day special. You can see the replay of the qualifying session.
 
 

 
 
Let's wrap this overview. Be patient! It will take some time to get there. This is normal. I believe the developers intended the game to reflect the reality. If you make the right choices, design and produce the right parts, do your research on time, and have a bit luck, you will start to see results in around 2 or 3 seasons (, if you start with a low-rated team). You should be ready for a long ride with a cup o' coffee.
 
 
 

You should take actions as soon you begin (with a low-rated) team

Low-rated teams often have poor performing cars. That is the biggest problem. Their cars are a problem. They have decent drivers, decent employees, decent facilities, but they don't like their car. This is your first objective: to make it better. Don't spend money on expensive drivers or high-quality staff. You need to make your car as competitive as possible as soon as you can.
 
 
Your facilities must be upgraded first to make the car more competitive and faster. Start with the Factory, the Design Centre, and the Factory. You can upgrade both the Factory and Design Centre simultaneously. However, one takes longer to upgrade. Use the "Car Analysis tool" to a*sess the strengths and weaknesses of your car. If your car is weak in aerodynamics, you can upgrade the Wind Tunnel. If your car has weak suspension, you should build the Suspension Simulator quickly. It is important to address your weaknesses first. You should also compare your car with the cars of other teams when you are competing in a race or season. You should compare your car with theirs if you are starting with Williams. Your car should not be compared to the top teams. They are in an entirely different league and are too far away from you to beat them. You will beat this team if your weaknesses against the challenger is equal or better. Then you can start challenging a new challenger. At that point, you can begin comparing your car with your new challenger.
 
 
You should upgrade your Tour Centre. This will generate extra income. The faster you build it, you'll get the money flowing in.
 
 
You don't need to spend money on upgrading the Weather Centre or Scout Centre until later in your career.
 
 
Create new parts as soon as possible. They will improve your race pace. It is important to remember that even though you have created a part, it must still be manufactured in order to use it in a race. I recommend that you only make one part. Why? Answer: To reduce manufacturing costs. Remember how I mentioned saving money? All your new parts should be put in one vehicle to save money. In real life, F1 teams work this way. New parts are sent to one car, usually that with the fastest driver. If the new part works well and is better than the old one, they make another part for the second car. F1 22M should be done the same. Personally, I won’t bother to build a new part for my second car. I always make new parts in my 1 -car. Once I have built a part for my 1st car, the old part goes to the 2nd car. This way, the 2nd car gets an upgrade. However, only after a better part is installed on the 1st. Your second car is less likely to be better than your first car. I don't build any new parts for my 2nd car until I am among the top 8 to 6 cars.
 
 
Breaking contracts is not a good idea. You will have to pay a fee to buy out your driver or staff member. That is a quick way for you to waste money. Do not agree with your drivers or staff members. Wait until their contracts expire.
 
 
Scout young drivers asap. One experienced driver should drive your 1 car and one young driver your 2 car. This is the golden rule for your staffed drivers. It's the way it works in F1 real life, and you should do so here. You should look for young drivers, one experienced driver and one younger driver if you are starting with a low-rated team. You shouldn't attempt to get a highly-rated driver early in your career. Your driver will not be able to compete with the low-cost car you have. Once your car is competitively priced, you can look for a driver. You can then look for two great drivers once your car is competitive. You should look for drivers between the ages of 19 and 21. Drivers with an "Overall Rating” of 60 or higher are the best. Pay attention to what they have. I suspect that aggressive drivers often crash.
 
 
The first two seasons will be all about developing parts and improving your facilities. Your race results will be disappointing for a while so don't pay too much attention. You should keep an eye on the qualifications and performance targets for your race. It is difficult to meet them. However, once you've learned new parts and are familiar with race strategy and the opportunities, you can then commit to the goals. Although it should be easier to reach these goals at some point, it's difficult when you start with a low-rated group.
 
 
 

Free practice sessions

Each track has a different distribution of tire sets and) compounds. Some tracks offer medium and soft tires, while others have more hard compounds. Based on their research and manufacturing process (, Pirelli the compound manufacturer suggests what compound the cars should use. The selection is approved by the FIA, who enforces F1 team usage rules. What do you do next? The first practice is to use the compound you have the most. Why? Because you will likely need the other compounds (for your race strategy) and FIA regulations). If you use the compound you have the least amount of), you'll be a disaster during the race. There are other strategies that you can use for compound usage and free practices. For example, you could use the tire with the fastest speed. I won't discuss those strategies as they are only for advanced players or people who know more F1.
 
 
Free Practice One (FP1 – It's all about getting the driver comfortable with the track, setting up a decent setup and getting familiar with the car parts. It is not about speed, top speed, or beating the competitors. Also, do not make any changes to the setup while you have your drivers out. This will cause your results to be distorted. You should stick to the standard selection of these options and not change them. When you have a driver and a car that is competitive, you can start to worry about the settings during practice sessions. The second half of FP2 is all focused on improving your setup. Towards the end FP2 you should have a setup that is 80% confident. FP3 is about optimizing your final setup. It should go from 80% up to 90%. However, this is difficult and takes time to learn how to refine/optimize setups. You won't win the race even if your setup is 100% confident. You will lose one spot on the grid/race, I think). Don't worry too much about the setup, at least not during your first seasons. Once you have mastered the art of setting up the right settings, you won't need to stress about it. I would like to give you a thorough breakdown of how to get the best setup. But, I don't have enough time. I will give you some key points for now.
 
 
 

Adjusting your car's configuration

Each driver requires a unique setup. You can't copy one driver's setup and make it work for another driver. I think that drivers will have similar setups. If one driver uses a setting such as "Straights", and the bar is set all the way to right, then it is very likely that the setting for another driver is the same but on a different right side. You can use the setup for one driver to guide you in getting a good setup on another driver, but it won't help you to get a "Good setting". FP1 is a better time to do this, so you should get similar setups. However, you will need to set each driver up individually during FP2 or FP3, because each driver has their own preferences.
 
 
I use FP1 to set up my car in a different way for each driver. So one driver gets the opposite setup as the other. After each driver completes their first practice session (15 laps), you can see their feedback. You will get feedback from either one of the drivers. This will help you to replicate the setup of the other driver. Combining the feedback from both drivers will give you a good idea about where to place certain settings. Sometimes drivers will only give you feedback on one or two settings. So my first settings in FP1 look like this.
 
 

 
 
 
You can see that car 1 has the opposite setup to car 2. I should be able tell by the end of the first stint if the driver from car one likes these settings. I then compare that to car 2 Combining their feedback should allow me to design a better setup on FP1 that will suit both drivers.
 
 
You need to know the driver's feedback in all settings. If the driver does not give feedback, this means they did not spend enough time working on the setup during practice sessions. This happens very often. You should also note that some drivers are more adept at giving feedback. I suspect that (-aged) drivers are more likely to give feedback than young)) drivers.
 
 
You want to get at least "Great Feedback" on the "Straights", as well as the "Oversteer", setting. Why? I suspect that the "Straights" setting has a large impact on race pace, especially if there are a lot more straights or low downforce (Spa Monza Silverstone). I suspect that the "Oversteer” setting has an impact on most circuits. I recommend that you get these settings with "Great", feedback as soon as possible. Then, figure out the rest.
 
 
Don't forget that even though you received "Great Feedback" on all settings, it doesn't mean that you are done. To really reap the benefits of the setup you will need to have high "Drive's setup confidence". Drivers gain confidence by driving the same (unchanged) setup during practice sessions. Try to reach a minimum of 80% confidence by race day. Anything above 90% is excellent. It is almost impossible to achieve 100%, and it is more about luck than anything.
 
 
You shouldn't change your setup during Qualification, or before the actual race. It will lower the confidence level of your driver and can lead to a bad experience for the driver.
 
 
 

Qualification

For a faster lap in qualification (Q), ensure the track has "High", rubber and grip. This usually happens after other cars have driven the track a lot. It usually happens at the end or middle of sessions. You should aim to get your car on the track in the last 5 minutes of Q1-Q2-Q3. You'll be slow if you get caught in traffic and that will end your session. Be aware that you must release your car from the pits. You need to make sure that there are no cars in front of you, or at least not too far away, so your driver isn't stuck in traffic. This is not easy, it's all luck and timing. This is how it works in real-life, and that's what's happening right now.
 
 
F122 M displays a graph directly above the driver's window during Qualification sessions. It helps you predict the best time to let your car go and make a quick lap. This graph should be consulted when you release your car. Historic fact: During the Monza GP 2019, all cars went out to do their qualy at the same moment in Q3. They tried to get behind a car to get a draft/tow of) aerodynamic advantage from the car in front. This caused some drivers go slower to avoid getting pa*sed. Some drivers ran out of time and couldn't set a fast lap time due to bad timing. F1 22M is not for you! You can see the replay of qualification here.
 
 

Race day

To be competitive in a race you must constantly use your ERS battery) (. But you also have to be strategic. It is not possible to use "Overtake" or 'Deploy' throughout a race as it quickly depletes your battery. You can't also use "Defend" for the same reasons. You won't catch other teams if you don't use these settings often enough. You must change this setting frequently during races and monitor your battery levels. Because some tracks have more breaking zones, they are able to charge the battery faster. Tracks can be used to modify ERS usage. Sometimes you will use it more often than others.
 
 
The same applies to the "Fuel” and "Pace” settings, but they are rarely changed. You can, for example, start a race using the "Aggressive" and "Attack pace settings (if your car is not in the top 6-8 cars. Be careful not to overuse this setting). Although your tires will be severely degraded, it could take up to 15-20 laps, depending on the track), for this to affect your performance. You can however keep this setting on for a while. You will lose your battery quickly if you use the "Deploy” setting of the ERS. They will quickly overtake your car and you will have to recharge your battery by the time they pa*s you. Be strategic with your ERS but remember that you will need it frequently to stay competitive during races.
 
 
You are competing against the other team, not the top 5. Keep an eye on your lap times, and the lap times of your closest rivals. If you are (less than), or if you are close to them, then you should use more Pace and Fuel to make your lap times faster and beat them. Remember how I said F1 is a millisecond sports? We are now looking at milliseconds. You are fine if your times are (3 laps per minute or more).300 to.500 faster than the car behind or in front of you. If your times are lower than this, then you need more aggressive fuel, pace, and/or electronic safety systems. Sometimes, you just need to change one of these settings. Other times, it can take all of them. It all depends on how your car compares to the car you want to beat.
 
 
The goal of a race is to beat the closest team and not to gain a lot. A low-rated team won't give you many positions. This will help to put the idea in perspective. I'll explain the logic behind a race, and how the car's performance affects its result. This is how it works with MM, and I suspect that this is how it will work in F1 22 M.
 
 
Each car in a race has its own performance value, which can range from 0 up to 100. Although you won't be able to see it, it's hidden in the code for the game). This value plays a crucial role in the outcome of the race. There is a good chance you will win the race if your car has a value above 100. But, other factors can impact the value of your car in real-time during the race. I'm referring to external factors such as weather conditions, strategy, driver's skills and pace, fuel consumption, ERS, and others. Those extra factors mean that the car with 100 values is not guaranteed to win. However, that's a good thing as it gives you the chance at winning if the factors work in your favor. However, if your car is of low value, it will be more likely that your car will finish where it is supposed to. Don't try to beat top or middle-field cars if your car is at the bottom of a grid. Mathematically, you will finish at the bottom of a grid. Instead of trying and beat the top teams, make your car more competitive and work towards your qualifying and racing performance targets. These are usually achievable if your car is more competitive.
 
 
The reverse is also true. If your car has 100 points and you start the race from last for (grid penalty or crash, you will be more likely to finish in the top 5. Your value is what determines the outcome of a race. In real life, top teams starting from the bottom have a good chance of finishing in the top 5. This may seem unfair, but it is the way the sport works. Hate the game, but not the player
 
 
 

End of season, Road to Next

You should have at least 2 to 3 buildings in your facilities by the end your first season. You should have built a lot of new parts, scouted out new drivers (, not hired). You should also have studied your competitors, their weaknesses, and gotten a better understanding of your car’s overall performance. Next season, plan what you want to do. If your car has improved and you beat the car/team in front, then you should begin comparing your car with the next challenger.
 
 
Your second or third season is the time to start looking for new staff, drivers, and other employees. Pay attention to the new qualification and race performance goals. This will be crucial in order to get more money next season. You should base your performance targets on last season's results. If you were consistently able to place 15th in multiple races then you can make a commitment to reach 15th on your performance targets. If you don't, then you can change your commitment when the season begins next year.
 
 
Last tip, AGAIN! Don't try and beat the top teams. It doesn't matter if you have a faster car or a better driver for this season. You are not ready to compete in the big league. Go out and race to see how your car compares to other teams. Be realistic and set realistic goals. You'll quickly get frustrated if you set unrealistic expectations. If you feel like that, then Mario Kart is the game for you.

 
 
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