Five teams to pick for your first career on F1 Manager 2022

PlanetF1 was given early access to the upcoming F1 Manager 2022 game and we have picked out five different challenges for you to start with.

How many times have you sat at home thinking I could do a better job as a team (*cough* Ferrari *cough*) makes a strategy blunder?

Well now is your time to prove it with the release of F1 Manager 2022 which puts you in the seat of Toto Wolff, Christian Horner or any of the other eight team principals on the current grid.

The game provides an excellent level of detail, with you having the ability to oversee every session of a grand prix weekend or just sim to the race itself if that is more your style.

There is so much more off-track as well and perhaps that is where the game comes into its own.

You can design new parts for the car, have them manufactured, scout drivers for the future, upgrade your team base and make commitments to your sponsors that could earn you more cash should they come off.

With that in mind, we’ve picked five teams ranging from easy to hard to get you started. After you’ve chosen your team, you can read our sneak-peak review of the game here.

Easy

Ferrari

Starting Balance – high, Season Objective – 1st, Long-Term Objective – Constructors’ Champion

Car Performance – 1st, Driver Performance – 3rd, Staff Performance – 1st, Headquarters Quality – 3rd

Drivers: Charles Leclerc (88) and Carlos Sainz (87)

If you want to ease yourself into the game with a car that will win races then look no further than Ferrari. With the best-ranked car in the game, it is a chance for you to do what their real life strategists seem unable to and navigate Ferrari to victory.

Charles Leclerc is the third-best ranked driver in the game at an overall of 88, behind only Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, and with the 87-rated Carlos Sainz alongside him, you will have the drivers at your disposal to go for the World Championship.

And that is exactly what you will need to do should you wish for a long stay at Ferrari as the board are expecting a 1st-place finish come the end of the 2022 season. With a high budget, you have nothing holding you back but can you be the one to guide Ferrari back to the top of the podium for the first time since 2008?

Medium

Mercedes

Starting Balance – high, Season Objective – 3rd, Long-Term Objective – Constructors’ Champion

Car Performance – 3rd, Driver Performance – 1st, Staff Performance – 3rd, Headquarters Quality – 2nd

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (90) and George Russell (86)

If we had made this list this time last year, it would have seemed absurd to have Mercedes down as a challenge let alone a medium one but, as we all know, 2022 hit Mercedes for six and not only were they not winning races, they found themselves battling just to stay in the points.

With the best-rated drivers in terms of performance and the joint highest ranked in Hamilton, you have the pair to pull yourself out of this mess but with the third-best car, the long-term objective of Constructors’ Champion may prove difficult to obtain.

You do have some breathing room though as the board are only expecting a third-place finish for 2022, something that is well within your reach should you hit the ground running. Oh there is also the small matter of Hamilton’s succession plan, good luck with that.

Alpine

Starting Balance – high, Season Objective – 4th, Long-Term Objective – Constructors’ Champion

Car Performance – 5/10, Driver Performance – 4/10, Staff Performance – 4/10, Headquarters Quality – 8/10

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (85) and Esteban Ocon (85)

With some impressive performances this season, Alpine are a team on the rise but reliability issues have prevented from breaking through into the podium spots. That should be your immediate goal if you plump to take charge of the French outfit.

Unlike real life, the 85-rated Fernando Alonso is still at your disposal alongside the equally rated Esteban Ocon. Just like Otmar Szafnauer, you will be faced with a decision of when to introduce your reserve driver Oscar Piastri into full-time racing and you will need to act quick with his current contract set to expire at the end of the season.

From the board’s perspective, they want you to beat McLaren to P4 but the real difficulty will be in achieving their long-term goal of a Constructors’ Championship. The first area you will need to focus on is the team’s headquarters which is currently ranked the third worst on the grid.

Hard

Aston Martin

Starting Balance – high, Season Objective – 8th, Long-Term Objective – Points Contender

Car Performance – 9th, Driver Performance – 7th, Staff Performance – 10th, Headquarters Quality – 5th

Drivers: Sebastian Vettel (82) and Lance Stroll (79)

If you fancy a real challenge, you can opt to have Lawrence Stroll as your boss and be the master of Aston Martin’s grand plan where there is certainly work to do be done.

With the staff performance ranked as the worst on the grid and the car the second worst ahead of only Williams, it will take plenty of work to move the team up from backmarkers to race winners. But with a high budget, that target is within your reach.

Your first task will be to decide the future of your drivers. Sebastian Vettel is ranked 82 while Lance Stroll is one of five drivers rated under 80. Luckily for you, Stroll Sr. is not breathing down your neck so you can opt to replace his son should you wish.

In terms of what is expected of you, the season objective of eighth is certainly achievable but becoming a points contender may require a bit more effort.

Williams

Starting Balance – low, Season Objective – 9th, Long-Term Objective – Points Contender

Car Performance – 10th, Driver Performance – 9th, Staff Performance – 9th, Headquarters Quality – 7th

Drivers: Alex Albon (80) and Nicholas Latifi (73)

Can you be the one to bring Williams back to its former glory? It has been a long 25 years since the famous team last tastes F1 success and they are in a sorry state.

Ranked 10th for car performance, ninth in both driver and staff performance and seventh in headquarters quality, you are very much starting one step behind the rest of the pack should you opt for Williams, but therein lies the challenge.

You have Alex Albon in your team alongside the worst-rated driver in the game, Nicholas Latifi, so it should be pretty clear where you will want to start making changes – but attracting a bigger name to the team is no easy feat.

Even the season objective of ninth could prove to be difficult and a long-term objective of points contender is a step harder, especially given the fact that Williams are one of three teams with a low budget.

But, should you do it and lift Williams back to the top of the podium, you will go down in F1 history.