This guide is intended to help you getting started on your first F1 22 Manager career. But this guide is NOT intended to explain you every detail of the game. More people will come up with more detailed guides and youtubers will dedicate hours of videos to explain everything on this game. For now, my idea is to help you get familiar with basic concepts and game mechanics and avoid easy mistakes. After you finish reading this guide, you still have to figure out a lot of stuff on your own, but hopefully this helps you get better quick, before you get frustrated.

I have almost 600 hours playing Motorsport Manager (MM), the predecessor of F1 22 Manager (F1 22 M). Moreover, I race karting in real life, TAG category, IAME X30 engine (max speed 95 mph), I also race in virtual races on iRacing since 2017, and I’m a big F1 fan. I started watching F1 in 1998 and never stopped watching since then. I’m writing this guide based on my experience playing Motorsport Manager, and a little bit of real word racing. This guide is NOT complete, it’ll take a while before I can finish it up, but I wanted to put something out for those players that are new to the genre and for those that are puzzled by this new F1 game. If you already played Motorsport Manager, then this guide will be boring to you. If you have not played it, then see if by reading this guide you enjoy and understand more F1 22 M and discover your inner speed.

Not everything that I say in this guide is proven. In fact, most of it is not. However, I have strong suspicious on how the mechanics (code) work behind the scenes, so I make assumptions and so far, those assumptions have been correct based on the few hours (about 50 by now) I have on F1 22 Manager, but more research and play time is needed to confirm those assumptions. As a human, I could be wrong about some assumptions. Also note that the developers are already acknowledging some bugs in the game (too frequent crashes, inaccurate tire degradation), so be aware that the mechanics are still being developed, so things may change in the future.

This game is difficult (if you are new and never played MM), and it will take time to master. It’s not the type of game where you play couple hours and then you start beating everyone. It’s not a FPS or RTS, it’s not even a racing game per-say. It is a racing simulation game. What’s the difference? In racing games, you race and its all about your driving skills (reaction, racing line, breaking ability, focus, etc). In F1 22 M, it’s all about understanding the car, the strategy, studying your opponents, realizing your strengths and weaknesses and improving over time. If you find the game hard, frustrating and almost impossible, well, welcome to the F1 word. Aston Martin re-joined F1 six years ago and they have never won a race, EVER! On the other hand, Mercedes has been in F1 for many years (on and off), they won seven championships in a row in the last 10 years of the sport, but they haven’t won one race this year. Why? F1 is hard in real life.

If you start with a low rated team (Williams, Haas, etc) be prepared for a long career before you can even reach a podium in this F1 simulator. I’m talking about 4-6 seasons long. It takes about 5-6 seasons to win your first race in MM (when you start with a low rated team), so I suspect it will take some good seasons in F1 22 M to get there as well. If you know what to do, if you do the right research, hire the right drivers and staff, etc., then you may make it up there faster. For that reason, don’t over hype yourself about winning any time soon with a low rated team. If you start with a high rated team, then yes, you might win some races at first, but it only takes one or few mistakes to screw up your race. F1 is a milliseconds sport, so it takes milliseconds to screw up. I would think that if you are not familiar with real life F1 strategy and definitions (undercut, overcut, track temp, track position, DRS zones, etc) then even if you pick a top-rated team, you will go downhill very fast. If this is your case, I strongly recommend you to start with a low rated team, because you can only win positions, not lose since you start from the back already.

One big assumption that I’m sure many players will make at the beginning is, having the best driver will guarantee you wins, and that is far from reality. If you start with a low rated team, and you sign a very good driver, e.g., Verstappen, Hamilton, you WILL NOT win races, this is guaranteed, not an assumption. Why? To win races, you will need a good car + good driver + good strategy + good luck. By signing a fast driver, you only guarantee that the driver in this formula is covered; you still need to get everything else right to win races, and believe me, it takes time to get there. So don’t rush and try signing a fast driver at the beginning. First, it's more likely a good driver won’t join your low rated team, they only join high rated teams with prestige and wins under their brand. Second, even if you manage to get the driver signed, if your car is not competitive vs high rated teams, you won’t go anywhere. I’m going to breakdown the formula for you so you have an idea on how the formula affects the outcome of a race. Full discourse, this is my assumption on how the formula works, and I have no way to prove this works. I’m making my assumption based on my experience with MM, and I’m assuming it works similarly in F1 22 M.

Percentage of how it affects race outcomes
Driver = 40%
Car = 30%
Strategy = 20%
Race conditions/luck = 10%

There is another important factor that I have not studied well yet, Opportunity. Sometimes there are events during a race that could give you an extraordinary opportunity to gain positions. Some of these events are rain, crashes, virtual safety cars, etc.

Historic fact: In 2021, Williams, one of the lowest rated teams in F1 today (but they were amazing in the past) took 2nd place on the grid at the Spa GP, a miracle in modern F1. How this was possible? It was raining and at the time the driver took the lap (George Russell) the track was not as wet as before when other drivers made the lap. Also, George is a very talented driver, I’m sure he put a lot of effort on that lap and made it happen. But the rain was the key factor that day. Watch the qualifying session replay here.


I’m sure the formula above gets affected by these events, but since I have not studied them well, I'll give you some basic recommendations.

What to do during a safety car?
The real answer is, it depends on many things. You'll have to learn more about F1, Safety car timing, pit lane duration, and more. But to make it less complicated for now, use this rule of thumb, if the safety car comes out and your pit window is open or is about to open, then enter the pits asap. Why? Because the safety car will slow everyone down, and while you enter the pits, everyone will be driving slow, so you wont lose much time in the pits. In F1 terms, this is call a "free pit stop." Think it this way; when you enter the pits without a safety car, everyone is going to be driving fast around the track, so they will gain time on you while you go slow in the pit lane. If the safety car is out on track, and you enter the pits, everyone has to go slow, so they won't gain much time on you while you are in the pit lane.

What to do with rain?
Man! if I only knew! Rain is hard to plan for and react to, and the chances of gaining an advantage are huge, but also the chances of messing up are big. When rain comes down, there are many factors to consider to make the right call. Some of these factors are: how heavy is raining, for how long is going to rain, what tires are best for the track, when to pit, right after I see the drops, or wait a bit? The answer to all these questions are dilemmas that not even real F1 teams can solve today, because rain is difficult to assess. To make it simple, here is my rule of thumb on rain, have one driver to pit as soon as you see the drops, and have the other driver to wait 1 or 2 more laps to pit after you see the drops. The logic here is, one of the drivers is going to get an advantage, but the other driver will probably lose that advantage. Also, keep an aye on the amount of rain, and also keep an eye on the type of tires other teams are using. If they use full wet (blue compound) then you should use the same. Once you learn to predict and assess the rain, you can debate when to enter the pits, what tires to use. The third tab on the top right of the screen gives information about the track, there you can find more detailed information about the rain, timing, amount, etc; check it out often when it rains. But remember, even real F1 teams can't solve the rain puzzle these days. Wanna see how bad they mess up? Watch Lando Norris at Russia GP, 2021.



Street circuits (Azerbaijan, Monaco, Singapore, Canada, Saudi Arabia)
Pay close attention to street circuits, they will yield great-unbelievable results if you are lucky and do the right thing at the right time. Why? You will probably see a lot of safety cars. Keep an eye for when to enter the pits, timing is everything, and anticipate that more safety cars will come out. Based on that information you should be able to use a more aggressive strategy with Pace, Fuel and ERS. Why? because the safety car will help you cool-down overheated tires, save gas, and recharge your battery.

To wrap up this overview, be patient! It will take time before you get up there. This is normal and I suspect the developers made the game that way to reflect the reality of the sport. If you make the right decisions, design and manufacture the right parts, conduct research on time, hire the right people, and get a bit of luck, you should start seeing results in about 2 or 3 seasons (if you start with a low rated team). So be prepared with a cup of coffee, because it’s going to be a long ride.

Low rated teams have poor performing cars, and that is the biggest problem you’ll have. Overall, they have decent drivers, decent staff, decent facilities, but their car sucks and that is your first objective, to make the car better. Forget about spending money in fancy drivers, or high quality staff; you need to make your car competitive as soon as possible, Also, your budget and income it’s probably low, so you have to pay attention to expenses.

To make the car faster and more competitive, you will need to upgrade your facilities first. Start with the Design Centre and the Factory. You can upgrade both at the same time, but one takes longer to upgrade. Also, take a look at the weaknesses of your car using the “Car Analysis” tool. If your car is very weak on aerodynamics, then upgrading the Wind Tunnel will be very beneficial to you. If your car is weak on suspension, then you should build the Suspension Simulator fast. You should try to tackle your weaknesses first. Also, when you compere cars with other teams, always, ALWAYS compare your car vs the team that closest challenges you during a race/season. For example, if you start with Williams, your top challenger will be Aston Martin and Haas, so you should compare your car against their cars. Never compare your car vs the top teams, they are at a different league and you are too far from them to beat them. Once your weaknesses vs the challenger are equal or better, then you will start beating this team and a new challenger will come up. At that point you can start comparing your car with the new challenger.

Upgrade your Tour Centre. This will bring extra income, and the faster you build it, the sooner you get the money coming in.

Don’t spend money upgrading the Weather Centre or Scout Centre yet, those should be one of the last upgrades you do in your career.

There is a big difference between Research and Design. If you want to learn more details about the differences, I suggest you read the Design and Research Mechanics guide by Mike Takumi. He has empirical data on how these two important topics work. But I'll give you a resume here.

When you do Research, prioritize these parts in this same order.
1. Underfloor
2. Rear wing
3. Front wing
4. Everything else

And when you research parts, use your CFD hours and Wing Tunnel hours. Don't use them when you Design car parts unless you are designing a part that you are going to use for a long period (4-6 races), because when you spend those perks on designing parts, you will lose the benefits once you design a newer part. Mike's guide can explain you better the logic behind this idea.

To be competitive on track, you have to Design new parts asap. They will help improve your race pace. Note that once you design a part, you still have to manufacture it to use it during a race. I strongly recommend you build only one part instead of two. Why? Short answer, to save on manufacturing cost. Remember I talked about saving money? So, to save money you should put all your new parts in one car. That is how F1 teams work in real life, new parts go to one car, usually the car with the fastest driver. If the part works well and it’s better than the previous part, then they manufacture an additional part for the second car. You should do the same in F1 22 M. Personally, I won’t even bother building a new part for the second car, I always build new parts for my #1 car. Once I build a new part for my #1 car, the part that used to be new goes to the 2nd car, that way the #2 car gets an upgrade too, but only after a newer part is installed on the #1 car. In other words, your second car is more likely not going to beat your first car, and that it’s ok. Once your team evolves and you get enough money to manufacture one part per car (2 parts), then you’ll have fun, but for now, stick to this rule to save money. I don’t build new parts for my second car until I am between the top 8 or 6 cars.

Don’t break contracts. If you do, you will pay a buyout fee and that is a fast way to waste money. If you don’t like your drivers or staff, wait until the end of their contracts.

Your scouts should be scouting ALL the time, even on Thanksgiving, they should never stop working. With that said,

Scout young drivers asap. The golden rule with your staffed drivers should be, have one experienced driver in your #1 car, and have a young, upcoming driver on your #2 car. That’s how it is in real life F1 and you should do the same here. If you start with a low rated team, look for two young drivers, or maybe one decent experienced driver, and one young. But don’t try to get an expensive driver early in your career, because your driver won’t be able to do anything with the low competitive car that you have. Once you get your car at a competitive level, then you look for a good driver. Once your car is very competitive, then you look for two great drivers. When you scout for drivers, look for young (16-21) drivers with “Overall Rating” around 55, these are the good ones. Pay attention to their attributes. I suspect that aggressive drivers tend to crash often DUH!

Scout the right staff for the future. Start looking for staff that will help you make your car faster. If you car is weak on aerodynamics, then look for a better Aerodynamic Engineer.

Always have your engineers busy, they should be working on something every day. In other words, never stop designing, manufacturing, researching stuff.

If you are planning to have 2 rookie drivers in your team to save money, then max out the upgrade for the simulator asap, it will help develop your young talents faster.

The first two seasons are all about developing parts for your car and improving your facilities. Don’t pay much attention to your race results, because they are going to be disappointing for a while. Do keep an eye on your qualification and race performance targets, try not to make many of them when you start your career, because it’s hard to achieve them. But once you develop new parts, and become familiar with race strategy and opportunities, then commit to the targets. At some point it should be easier to achieve them, but it’s not easy when you start with a low rated team. It will be a hard first season, but the hard work will pay back next season.

Free Practice one (FP1) is all about finding a decent setup, acclimatizing the driver with the track and getting the driver familiar with the car parts. It is not about top speed, fast times, or beating the competition. Also, when you send your drivers out, make changes to the setup, but not to the Pace, Fuel, or ERS, because this will skew your results. Keep the standard selection for these options, and never touch them. Once you get a competitive car and driver, then you can worry about these settings during practice sessions. FP2 is all about refining your setup. By the end of FP2, you should have found an 80% “Driver’s confident” setup. FP3 is all about optimizing your final setup, it should go from 80% to 90%, but this is very tricky and takes time to master the process of how to refine/optimize setups. Yet, even with a 100% “confident” setup, you won’t win the race. If anything, (I suspect) you will only gain one place on the grid/race. Mike's guide actually has the metrics on how setups affect your pace, check it out, it's very interesting. But the conclusion of the guide is, don’t stress about the setup much, at least during your first seasons. Once you learn how to modify the setup to find the optimal setting, then you can stress about it. For now, I’ll give you some key notes to set up your car.

Each driver requires a different setup, so you won’t be able to copy one’s driver setup and make it work on the other driver. However, I suspect that good level setups between drivers are similar. So, if for one driver, one setting, let’s say “Straights” is “Optimal” and the bar is all the way to the right, then it’s very likely the setup for the same setting for the other driver is also to the right side, but not in the same right side of the other driver. In other words, you can use one driver’s setup to guide you get a good setup on the other driver, but that only will help you to get a “Good” setting, and you should do this during FP1, get similar setups. But during FP2 y FP3 you have to go setting by setting on each driver to find their respective “Optimal” setting, because each driver prefers a different setting than the other driver.

One strategy I use is, in FP1, I set up the car in opposite ways to the other driver. Once both drivers complete their first stint of practice (15 laps) then you get to see their feedback. One of the drivers should give you positive or negative feedback about some settings. Now you know what direction to follow with the other driver’s setup, so you can replicate the setup on the other driver. By combining the feedback from both drivers, you should have a good idea on where to go with some settings. Sometimes drivers give you feedback about 2 or 3 settings, but not all. So, my first settings for FP1 looks like this.




See how car 1 is the opposite setup of car 2? By the end of the first stint, I should be able to tell if the driver from car 1 likes some of these settings, then I compare that to car 2. By combining their feedback, I should be able to build a better setup for the second stint on FP1 for both drivers.

By FP3 you should know their feedback in all settings. If not, that means the driver did not spend enough time with the setup during practice sessions, this happens very often. Also note that some drivers are better at giving feedback. I suspect more experienced (older) drivers give better feedback than new (young) drivers.

You want to have at least “Great” feedback on the “Straights” and on the “Oversteer” setting. Why? I suspect “Straights” setting has a heavy impact on race pace, especially on tracks with a lot of straights or low downforce (Spa, Monza, Silverstone). I suspect the “Oversteer” setting has a heavy impact on most circuits. So, I recommend working on getting these settings with “Great” feedback asap, then figuring out the rest.

Be aware, the fact that you got “Great” feedback on all settings doesn’t mean you are done. I suspect that you must get a high confidence level “Drive’s setup confidence” to actually get the benefits of the setup. Drivers gain confidence by driving the same (unchanged) setup more often (more laps) during practice sessions. Aim to get at the very minimum 80% confidence by race day. Anything above 90% is perfect. Getting 100% is almost impossible and it’s more about luck than anything.

Do not change your setup during Qualification or before the actual race, because that will change the confidence level of your driver on the setup and I suspect this results in a negative experience for the driver during the race.

To make a faster lap during qualification (Q), make sure the track has “High” rubber and grip. That normally happens after other cars have driven on the track a lot, and this normally happens at the end of the sessions. So, aim to get your car out there on the last 4-5 minutes of Q1-Q2-Q3. Be aware, if you get stuck on traffic, you’ll go slow and that will be it for the session. So, pay attention when you release your car from pits, make sure there are no cars in front, or at least they are far away so your driver is not stuck on traffic. This is hard to do tho, it’s all about timing and sometimes luck. That’s how it is in real life, and that’s what’s happening here as well.

During Qualification sessions, F1 22 M shows a graph right above the driver’s windows to help you predict when could be the optimal time to release your car and make a fast lap. Pay attention to this graph when releasing your car.

Historic fact: In 2019, during the Monza GP, in Q3, all cars went out to do their qualy time at the same time. They tried to get behind another car to get a draft/tow (aerodynamic advantage) from the car in front and this caused some drivers to go slower than others to avoid getting passed. Long-story-short, some drivers ran out of time and they were not able to set a fast lap time, because of the bad timing when they were released to the track. Avoid this in F1 22 M! Watch the qualification replay here.

In order to be competitive during a race, you have to constantly use your ERS (battery), but you also have to be strategic about it. When I say constantly I mean, more often than Pace and Fuel. You can’t use “Overtake” or “Deploy” the whole race, because it depletes the battery fast. You can’t use “Defend” either for the same reasons. But if you are not constantly using one of these settings, by the end of the race, other teams will gain an advantage on you and you won’t be able to catch them. So, you have to constantly change this setting during a race and keep an eye on the battery levels. Keep in mind that some tracks recharge the battery faster than others, because they have more breaking zones. So, you have to change ERS usage by tracks. Sometimes you will use it more often than others. Once you develop a good competitive car, you won't have to manage this setting too much.

The same rule applies to the “Fuel” and “Pace” settings, but these settings are changed less frequently. For example, you probably can start a race on the “Aggressive” or “Attack” pace setting (if your driver has less than 54 points of smoothness, be careful overusing this setting), your tires will suffer high degradation, but it’ll take a while (15-20 laps depending on track and tires) for this to actually affect your performance, so you can keep these settings for a while. In fact, you should keep "Aggressive" or "Attack" for most of the race, just keep an eye on tire degradation and lap times. If you see your lap times going up (slower), then lower these settings.

On the other hand, if you use the “Deploy” setting on the ERS and you leave it on, you will deplete your battery in 2 or 3 laps (depending on track), and after that you won’t be able to keep up with the cars that used their ERS more strategically. They will overtake you soon and you will be recharging your battery by the time they overtake you. So, be strategic about your ERS, but keep in mind that you will have to use it more often than the other settings to stay competitive during a race.

You are competing against the team in front of you, not the top 5. Keep an eye on your lap times and on your closest opponent’s lap times. If you are close to them (1 or 2 seconds behind), then you should use a combination of more Pace, Fuel and/or ERS to do faster lap times than them and beat them. Remember I said F1 is a millisecond sport? Well, here we are, looking at milliseconds. If your times are consistently (3 laps or more) .300 or .500 faster than the car in front or behind, then you are ok. If you are less than that, then you need to be more aggressive with Pace, Fuel and/or ERS. Sometimes it only takes to change one of these settings to make a difference, but sometimes it takes all of them, it depends on how competitive your car is against the car you are trying to beat.

A race is all about beating the closest team challenging you, not about gaining a lot of positions. You won’t gain a lot of positions anyways when you start with a low rated team. To put this idea into perspective I’ll explain you the logic behind a race and how car’s performance affects the result of the race. This is how it works on MM, and I suspect this is how it works in F1 22 M.

Each car on a race has a performance value from 0 to 100. You won’t see this value, but it’s behind the scenes (in the code of the game). When the race starts, that value plays a key role on where your car will end the race. If your car has a value of 100, there is a good chance that you will win the race. HOWEVER, other factors will affect this value during the race in real time, and I’m talking about some external factors like driver’s skills, weather conditions, strategy, tire degradation, pace, fuel, ERS, etc. Thanks to those extra factors is that the car with 100 value is not guaranteed to win the race, and that is a good thing, because it gives you the chance to win if those factors play on your favor. Yet, overall, if your car has a low value; even if you start from 1st place, at the end of the race, your car will more likely end where its value is meant to go. For this reason, don’t try to beat top cars or even middle field cars if you are at the bottom of the grid; mathematically you are more likely going to finish at the end of the grid regardless. Instead of trying to beat the top teams, focus on getting your car more competitive during the season and also try to accomplish your qualification and race performance targets. Normally they are achievable when you get a bit more competitive.

The opposite is true as well. If your car has a value of 100 and you start from last place for X reason (grid penalty, crash, etc) you are more likely going to finish the race in the top 5 positions, because at the end of the day, your value is what affects the outcome of a race.

Historic fact: In real life, when top teams start from the bottom, they still have a great chance of finishing in the top 5 places. Sounds a bit unfair, but that is how the sport goes. Hate the game, not the player 😊 Don't believe me? Watch Max Verstappen going from 14th to 1st in 12 laps during the Belgium GP, 2022.


If you have done the right research, designed the right parts, and developed your car appropriately, once in a while you will find yourself at a place during a race where you don't belong, like 6th place with a Williams or a Haas on your second season. This could happen for many reasons, but it's a good thing to happen to you. Yet, be aware that you don't belong there and sooner or later, the group that belong to that space will over take you. So don't fight them. Don't spend tires, fuel, and ERS fighting a car that can overtake you without changing anything. You are just going to waste engine, gearbox, and ERS on something that is a lost cause. Instead of fighting this group of cars, try to maintain a pace to beat the 10th car so you get the championship point. That one is probably faster than you but only by few milliseconds, so you may have a good chance on getting that 10th place from them if you make the right decisions.

By the end of your first season, you should have upgraded your facilities, at least 2 or 3 buildings. You should have researched several new parts, scouted new drivers (just scouted not hired), learned your car’s behavior, learned more about racing strategies, studied your opponents, know their weaknesses and understand your car’s overall performance better. Plan out what you will try to accomplish next season. If your car improved and you constantly beat the car/team in front of you; then you should start comparing your car vs the next challenger.

After your second or third season, be ready to hire new staff, drivers, etc., at the end of those years, since it’s the end of some contracts. Pay attention to new qualification and race performance targets, this will be key on getting more money next year. Make sure you can achieve your performance targets based on the results from last season. If you were able to constantly place 15th during multiple races, then you can commit to reaching 15th place on your performance targets. If not, then avoid that commitment and adjust it when the season starts the following year.

Last advise, AGAIN! don’t try to beat the top teams. Just because you started a new season with a new car and a faster driver, it doesn’t mean you are ready for the big leagues. Get out there, race and realize where your car is compared to the other teams. Be realistic and set realistic expectations. Setting unrealistic expectations will ruin your experience in this simulator and you’ll get frustrated fast. If that is your case, then you should go and play Mario Kart 😊

Drivers or enemies?
Normally, you want to develop your drivers right?, give them development points so they get better and better. However, if you know for a fact that you are not going to sign that driver next year...all I'm going to say is, you may be feeding your enemy

A lost cause
If you have done your homework, you already know your car's strengths and weaknesses, so you should know if your car is going to perform well at some particular tracks like Monza, Spa ( high speed tracks) or the opposite, Monaco, Singapore, Canada (low speed tracks). Your car should fit very well to some of these tracks, and should not fit well to others. If you know your car won't get what you expect from it, lets say place 15th or 12th, then you should not use your best car parts. Why? Lets say that accidents are costly.

Fast track setup
If you really understand how to set up your car, you don't even need to run the actual practice sessions, you can simulate them and still get 85% - 95% by practice session 3 (normally I get 80%-90%). You do have to check the driver's feedback and make changes every session tho. I'm just saying...

More sneaky tips coming soon...