Last year's "F1 Manager 2022" gave me a taste of the anguish of representing an F1 team, renewed my respect for Horner, Wolff, and others, and made me optimistic about Frontier's new series. It was a strong debut and exactly the kind of game that deserved a sequel. But are the improvements on par with Mercedes' "zero sidepod" design? In last year's game, the field quickly settled on Snake and started overtaking with DRS assist. In this 2023 version, the "alligator" like car (Murray, I still miss you) takes longer to settle in, and runs several corners at once in two rows. The problem is that thanks to AI's multiple lines through the corners, this kind of tandem driving has become the preferred state of affairs. While it would be great in real life (and a dream come true) to have the cars battle wheel-to-wheel through several corners, it's unrealistic here and frustrating because overtaking is almost never decided. Cars just flow and swap positions, even going side-by-side through some of Monaco's tightest bends.

The solution, of course, is to use all three boost settings - tires, fuel, and battery - to pull away from the gap after overtaking a rival. By over-injecting fuel, the driver can continue to increase fuel boost without incurring a 1-2 kg penalty. Saving tires and fuel will drop you down the order like a lead weight, but this doesn't seem very realistic in a sport that is notorious for tire degs and "lift-and-coast" woes. Going all out in shorter stints is a more exciting and often rewarding strategy, but the balance does not seem appropriate.

Adding to this is the increased frequency of safety cars and red flags. On street circuits like Monaco and Baku, one can easily see several safety cars and several red-flag suspensions in a single grand prix. This means that tire changes are almost always free. Of course, AI cars do that, too, but by using VSC periods to save the system, they can push much longer than usual when the race is underway. Also, although the tires overheat, they seem to run fine for a while even when the temperature is in the red, so you can essentially conserve tires.

Race day doesn't feel quite right. But what the game really does do well is reward patience and preparation in the other sessions. You could simulate a practice session or qualifying session, but doing so would definitely take away the most enjoyable part of the experience. Sending drivers out for feedback, tweaking the slider bar on the setup microgame to hit all five sweet spots, and hearing real drivers over the radio saying, "Great balance!" is very, very cool.

This driver's confidence is not mere cynicism. It is now a real statistic and makes a real difference. Instead of asking the game to simulate a practice session, if you fix the driver's problems, they will perform better throughout the weekend. This is important if just a few bad incidents can ruin an entire season. This also applies to pit crews. If they are managed well by giving them a break, putting them in the gym, or focusing on practicing their jackskills, not only will pit stop times be reduced, but mistakes will be made less often. There is nothing more painful than watching an exhausted mechanic fiddle with a wheel nut and watch the podium disappear. Your job is one thing: to make sure that the car is in good shape.

Graphically, little has changed from last year's game, with the screen displays, menus, and bloom-heavy effects looking very similar. However, the cars seem less organic than last time, the cars behave more unrealistically when turning in, and the overall movement is less convincing. It is stiffer, more jerky, and probably not as realistic as TV, considering the strong baseline of last year's game.

In addition to this, the crash damage is as disappointing as ever. There are some beautiful debris scattering effects, but no front wings are broken or wheels come off, no matter how severe the crash. This modest damage is kind of a trend in the racing genre as a whole at the moment, but it's a shame that more progress hasn't been made. One visually stunning new feature, however, is the new visor cam. Just like in real life, the game now allows you to see through the visor of your chosen driver, and during motion the unrealistic cornering seems to shine through, masked by a terrifyingly awesome sense of speed.

It is also nice to see that the game works well with Steam Deck. The small touchscreen is a bit more difficult than using a mouse or laptop touchpad, but it has full controller support and convenient labels on the screen furniture to let you know what to press. Gameplay on the go is a surprisingly seamless transition, especially with Steam's cloud saving.

With the introduction of sprint races, the strategy of pushing heavily in a short format is once again rewarded. However, sprints interrupt the normal practice schedule and often hamper at least some days of the weekend in terms of setup confidence. After all the preparation, you suddenly feel like you're way out of your comfort zone. It's amazing what a single percentage indicator can do.

Formula 2 and even Formula 3 can now be simulated. But we can still scout for new talent and invest in promising young drivers. This is very useful if you inadvertently insult Lewis Hamilton and he leaves the team without wanting to discuss a contract further. They could also bring up a reserve driver, but it would be quite sad to see their morale suffer because of the terrible team facilities. Sorry, Mick. The ability to change teams mid-season will be patched before the end of the year, but apparently it is not available at this time. If it fails now, you'll have to reload your save, go back 5 races, or restart the entire season. Too bad.

Despite the great worldbuilding, with real names, faces, and even voices of key staff members of real teams, the game sometimes breaks immersion by "misreading" the results. The board is constantly passing judgment on your spending and points earned, but does not seem to take context into account. After a series of disappointing 7th place finishes, followed by a win in the sprint race and 1st and 3rd in the race itself, we received an email the next morning expressing displeasure with our efforts and ending with a curt "Have a nice day." It didn't seem appropriate, as it had been a great weekend in which the team's hard work had finally paid off. Stupid executives.

Apart from the expansive career mode, the new Race Replay mode allows the director to try out preset scenarios from the actual F1 season. You can take on a specific Grand Prix weekend and try to do better than a real-life F1 driver, or you can try your hand at Race Moments, where you take part in real-life races at key points to rewrite history. While I appreciate the gaming aspect of the game, there are some near impossible challenges, such as getting Alonso to win in Monaco. Verstappen always gets out in front and stays there; the GP2 engine is clearly the only logical conclusion.

So the biggest question, of course, is: Is the game actually fun? Despite its flaws, the answer is "yes." It is worth noting, however, that it is a bit more difficult than last year, and when the core experience is essentially repetitive, it is quite demotivating to realize you should have done something different six races ago. That said, restarting 20 hours later is not a bad idea. It's because it becomes clear where you made a mistake, and correcting that mistake is an attractive proposition in itself. But it is serious free time for many, and if you want to be a champion, you must be prepared to devote dozens or hundreds of hours to the game.

This second attempt is unlikely to convince those who were not convinced by the first, but newcomers are likely to be impressed by the TV presenters, the impressive driver portraits, and the depth of the team simulation. Still, more obvious improvements will be needed next year in the all-important area of racing and car damage. Unfortunately, like that infamous Mercedes sidepod, the new "multiple lines" feature is not much of an improvement at all, and it might be wise to revert to something a little more traditional sooner rather than later.