F1 Manager 2023’s v1.8 update aims to balance research and design benefits 

Frontier Developments’ F1 Manager 2023 has today (2^nd October 2023) received a new update, aiming to re-balance the performance gains players receive through the game’s research and development mechanic. 

Not only that, but the studio has been hard at work fixing several bugs reported by the F1 Manager community, including numerous raceday simulation inconsistencies and AI behavioural adjustments. 

Frontier has also altered the balance of experience gained by your pitcrew, who now face a decline in their stats commensurate with fatigue levels, unlike previous instances. Other fixes have been implemented and the full changelog can be seen below. 

Although the game was released back in July, physical copies only just hit the market last month, featuring novel ‘Race Replay’ and ‘Exclusive Scenarios’ modes, both of which we noted as high points in this year’s F1 Manager game. 

F1 Manager 2023’s v1.8 update is available to download now across PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. 

How have you enjoyed F1 Manager 2023 since its release? Let us know in the comments below. 

F1 Manager 2023 v1.8 changelog 

RACE SIM 

• Fixed AI using same tyre compound for entire race after red flag in Sprints 
• Fixed AI using same tyre compound for entire race after saving on pre-race screen 
• Improved the level of impact of rubber on track across sessions 
• Reduced the chances of car-on-car collisions during Practice and Qualifying and slightly increased the chance of spins and running wide during Qualifying 
• Fixed cars slowing down in Singapore sector 3 
• Further improvements made to drivers avoiding crashed/stationary cars on track 
• Improvements made to traffic in Qualifying causing issues for cars on flying laps 
• Ensured Q3 soft tyre is unlocked for all drivers, including those that didn’t make Q3 
• Fixed issue where optimal pit lap dilemma would sometimes not pause the race 
• Fixed issue where flying lap count set sometimes was not followed in the session 

RACE CALENDAR 

• Updated Monza to be an ATA qualifying weekend [NEW SAVES ONLY] 

TEAM SWITCHING 

• Fixed issue where Board Confidence could show as ‘Disappointing’ after joining new team 
• Corrected body text of new team email when switching teams 

TEAM MANAGEMENT 

• Re-balanced Research/Design slider expertise gains 
• Fixed total cost of hiring calculating incorrectly when hiring replacement driver/staff for next season 
• Fixed Car Building attribute having inverse effect 
• Fixed hired F2/F3 drivers from still appearing in F2/F3 standings 

PIT CREW & PIT STOPS 

• Fixed exploit that allowed pit crew to remain at 100% fatigue between races with no penalty 
• Adjusted pit crew xp gain and degradation rates 
• Fixed first day of month not counting toward stat degradation 
• Increased variation of AI pit stop times 
• Fixed issue where total pit stop time did not match sum of actions in pit stop breakdown 

ANIMATION 

• Fixed Charles Leclerc patchy LOD hair in cinematics (Sorry Charles!) 
• Fixed garage scene showing member of pit crew wearing drivers helmet 
• Fixed clipping in Marina Bay intro cinematic 
• Fixed clipping in garage shots 

PRESENTATION 

• F1 driver photos updated 
• Fixed projected cost cap UI not updating correctly 
• Fixed issue where scrolling scouting menus with a controller was unpredictable after highlighting bookmark column 
• Fixed code string appearing in Next Season Staff tooltip 
• Fixed ‘Race Winner’ appearing on event view in Practice and Qualifying 
• Fixed replaced driver being displayed next to ‘Renewal’ after changing driver position during contract renewal 
• Fixed ‘Seasons as team principal’ not updating on profile page 
• Fixed panel borders appearing incorrectly when ‘Laps to go’ notification appears 
• Updated run plan descriptions to clarify that out laps are counted in the run plan 
• Fixed email reading ‘0 days to go’ after renewing contract on last day of year 
• Fixed issue where times set by drivers in Q2 and Q3 were sometimes not visible until hovered over after simulating session 
• Updated chevrons on tyre state when overheating to more accurately reflect impact on wear rate 

GAME STABILITY 

• Fixed crash that could occur when designing new suspension, then highlighting “Brake Cooling” 
• Fixed progression blocker when hiring a reserve driver at end of season 
• Fixed softlock that could occur when repeatedly pressing R2/RT controller buttons during end of season fanfares 
• Fixed softlock that could occur after pressing New Career with existing save games present 
• Fixed progression blocker that could occur when designing car part during tutorial 
• Game will now pause when Steam overlay is opened during a race