F1 Manager 2024 v1.3 – v1.11 Make This The Game We Wanted It To Be

A number of patches have been released since I last posted. The team appear to have worked really hard to turn the title into what we all really wanted before the final update.

1.11 really was a highlight, with these new headline features added:

New Features

NEW – Customise A Season
Expanded customisation and season setup options, including:
Edit all 10 teams’ driver and staff lineups
Set all 10 teams’ starting balance
Set all 10 teams’ facilities and car performance starting levels
Take control of any team in Create-A-Team mode
NEW – Create A Driver
Create your own drivers and staff
Set their biographical info and staff attributes
NEW – Race Calendar Customisation
Adjust the race calendar at the start of a new save
Move or remove (to a minimum of 8) races in the schedule
Choose which races have a sprint weekend
NEW – Rules & Regulations Customisation
Adjust the rules and regulations, including points allocations schemes
NEW – Calendar Randomisation
Optionally randomise the race calendar between seasons for a renewed challenge
NEW – Track Evolution
Enhanced the simulation of rubber on track and grip levels – and the impact on lap times – during and across qualifying sessions
NEW – Driver Rating Updates
OVR rating adjustments made to some young drivers (new saves only)
NEW – Nationalities
Generated and created drivers and staff now represented with a nationality
Custom teams can now be given a nationality

Here is a round up of all the F1 Manager 2024 patches:

1.11

Stability & Performance
Various stability & performance improvements
Resolved virtual keyboard stopping appearing after quickly entering and exiting a text box (Switch only)

Create A Team
Leclerc and Sainz will no longer be shown on Team Branding screen when default drivers are left unchanged in Create A Team
Resolved inability to see which are active sponsors in decal editor
Welcome Email will no longer display incorrect contract data having started Create A Team game with vacant seats

Contracts & Hiring
Breakout multiplier lower limit set to x0.5
When terminating a driver or staff member’s contract, the ‘Cost to Terminate Contract’ will no longer display an incorrect value
Addressed blank response when offering a contract with an immediate deadline on first day of race weekend
Revised UI in contract negotiation screen

Finance & Sponsorship
Resolved starting balance not updating when changing engine manufacturer during End of Season flow
Addressed some Engagement Activities not contributing to the Engagement Target after the first season
Engagement Activities will no longer be available for facilities the user does not have
Resolved Spending Breakdown screen not displaying any Incoming or Outgoing data for Sponsors

Team Management
Resolved Mentality level being displayed inconsistently between some screens
“Biggest Issue” feedback will no longer show an incorrect number of staff with same opinion
Driver Development emails will no longer show a blank sender

Race Weekend
Addressed AI reluctance to send cars out in qualifying when track changes from wet to dry
Resolved incorrect finish position displayed on post-race Driver Performance screen
Track Rubber will no longer drop significantly after a red flag
Bahrain race weekend dates have been updated
Cars will no longer go through the barrier after collision on Baku’s main straight
Resolved driver panel not highlighting when focused for an affiliate being used in FP1
‘Very Low’ Track Rubber status will no longer show in green

Race Replay
Re-applied missing audio in Brazil Race Moment (PS4 only)
Added missing Race Moment descriptions
Resolved discrepancies in Las Vegas Starting Grid
Stroll & Bottas grid positions
Tyre allocations
Season performance data

Presentation & Navigation
Various localisation improvements
Adjusted driver numbers for rookie drivers
Resolved WDC not reverting to previous race number when no longer reigning champion
Added a donut chart to the marketability tooltip
Updated dialogue text for Theo Pourchaire to remove a grammar mistake
Reduced the clipping seen on Mercedes drivers hands when using T-cam
Double-digit driver numbers will no longer be cut off when present on a McLaren
Resolved incorrect results being displayed in Grand Prix section of F2/F3 standings
Resolved ‘Scout for Replacement’ button in expiring Sporting Director contract email incorrectly linking to Head of Aero staff
Reworked the game navigation to return the player to Staff rather than the Driver menu after signing a Race Engineer via the latter
Addressed code showing in text on ‘Staff Survey’ email when language set to Italian.
Added ‘Development Focus’ to the details tab on top level Driver screen
Moved descriptive text on the top level Driver screen into a secondary tooltip
Resolved ‘Time’ column displaying incorrectly when using stepper to view results for each F2/F3 session

1.10

Pit Lane Starts
Fixed pit lane start persisting across sessions after breaking Parc Ferme multiple times within the same session
Fixed the blank driver panel after breaking Parc Ferme during Q2
Removed the possibility of continuing to Q2 after breaking Parc Ferme in Q1

Powertrain Payments
Fixed powertrain costs continuing to be paid annually rather than monthly
Fixed incorrect ‘Starting Balance’ values not matching the End of Season flow

Contracts & Hiring
Fixed costs to break contract being charged for contract renewals
Improved contract negotiation UI to display more relevant information in the ‘Current Contract’ panel
Fixed the incorrect order of items in Contract Proposals

Race Weekend
Fixed fastest lap being awarded to driver finishing P11
Fixed cars not returning to pits when managing Qualifying

1.9

New Pit Lane Starts
Pit lane starts now fully supported for player and AI teams based on real-world regulations
Principals will be prompted before making a change that break Parc fermé rules and incur a pit lane start

New Driver Development
Principals can now focus drivers into three new distinct areas of development in order to use their skills to benefit your team
This is also applicable to affiliate drivers, giving extra reason and purpose to make use of affiliate positions

New Team Suitability
Added new “Team Suitability” rating uncovered when scouting staff and drivers to help inform hiring decisions
The rating consider a variety of factors and results are dynamic dependent on the context

New Contract Rumours
Added new email content providing insight into negotiations and hiring happening elsewhere on the grid

Stability & Performance
Prevented saves reaching critical file size, leading to corruption (console only)
In cases where there is a risk of save file corruption, additional protections have been implemented. The option to ‘Restart Season’ will be removed in order to mitigate this risk.
Fixed crash that could occur during processing
Fixed crash that could occur when confirming sponsor plans in quick succession
Fixed crash that could occur at the end of the Australian GP during a long play session
Improved performance when team HQ background is present (Nintendo Switch Only)
Updated Powertrain Costs
Updated powertrain cost balance
Changed powertain payment structure to monthly from annual
Updated finances screen to accurately reflect costs

Finances
Fixed occurrence of mandatory activities not paying out at the end of the sponsor period
Fixed occurrence of DHL Fastest Pit Stop prize money not being paid
Fixed occurrence of cost to break contracts not being charged
Updated Finances help screen to reflect monthly payment structure for board and prize money

Contracts & Hiring
Fixed Hamilton not going to Ferrari at the start of Season 2
Added positive and negative opinion considerations to the driver and staff contract negotiation process
Updated email content when player staff/drivers are approached by other teams
Fixed counter offer reminder email not sending when counter offer is received and left unresponded on day of deadline
Fixed Staff Changes email displaying incorrect contract info
Fixed Accepted Contract email displaying incorrect cost to hire
Fixed Team Roster Update email including incorrect contract info
Fixed Staff Poached emails displaying contract length as 0
Fixed incorrectly displayed affiliate contract length in Affiliates Overview panel
Fixed incorrect or missing cost to break contract for immediate start dates
Fixed the empty reaction window when a contract offer results in a negative reaction

Team Management
Fixed ‘One for the Future’ achievement not being awarded after signing an affiliate with an offer deadline of 7 days
Improved AI regulation voting logic
Fixed issue preventing player continuing with their current team after selecting to switch team having not been fired
Fixed Car Performance Overall Ranking not aligning with individual attribute rankings
Fixed engineers not returning after Design Centre fire dilemma
Fixed engineer increase not applying correctly after Design Centre Improvement email
Fixed “Best Driver Position” in End of Season Board Review not considering drivers who left during the season
Fixed board attending grand prix after selecting ‘Deny’ in ‘Board Attendance at Grand Prix’ email
Fixed issue where an affiliate driver could be selected for both cars

Race Weekend
Players will now see the Results page after simulating a Sprint session
Fixed cars not attempting to unlap themselves during a race
Fixed incorrect classification of drivers who DNF on the last lap ahead of other lapped cars
Fixed driver and constructor standings shown during race weekend not including previous sprint race points
Fixed ‘DRS Enabled’ notification displaying at beginning of practise & qualifying sessions in wet track conditions
Fixed driver entering pit at end of flying lap when taking manual control during qualifying
Fixed fastest lap being awarded to a driver who retires on lap 1
Fixed Track Acclimitisation resetting to 0% after loading a mid-session save
Fixed loss of focus when navigating to the ‘Car Set Up’ during Qualifying
Fixed timing tower losing coloured border after opening menus during a yellow or red flag event
Fixed the data view snapping to top when scrolling down during a race
Fixed affiliate drivers having no position shown in their Driver Panel after setting lap times in practise
Fixed full screen map briefly showing blurry textures
Fixed rear lights on cars not turning on during a race
Fixed cars sometimes appearing to not touch the track
Fixed Create-A-Team cars clipping through safety car

Circuits
Albert Park: Fixed cars driving over the kerb on pit entry
Austin: Adjusted cars’ speed out of pit lane and into turn 1
Hermanos Rodriguez: Fixed missing and incorrectly positioned cars in team garages
Las Vegas: Fixed incorrectly placed 2nd DRS Zone
Monaco: Fixed rare instance of safety car blocking pit exit
Shanghai: Fixed incorrect pit lane marker
Suzuka Fixed possibility of cars going through the barrier on Turn 2

Create a Team
Improved balance when randomising generated staff when beginning a new ‘Create a Team’ career
Fixed car livery model colour not being consistent with colour selected in UI
Fixed incorrect starting budget being displayed for ‘Your Story’ origin
Fixed incorrectly categorised livery sponsors
Removed duplicate ‘Team Name’ header from the Team Branding menu
Removed ‘Undo’ button when no changes present to undo

Presentation
Fixed Charles Leclerc’s career history not showing for 2022 and 2023
Fixed Jack Doohan’s career history not showing for 2022
Fixed Ayumu Iwasa’s career history not showing for 2022
Fixed incorrect race distance listed for Las Vegas and Qatar in the Circuits screen
Fixed the monthly affiliates development email not showing affiliates signed in the previous season
Fixed missing text in Design Centre Improvement email
Fixed the Seasons Remaining value showing ‘-1’ in the Mid-Season Board Review
Fixing ‘Engine Cooling’ not being displayed as a Negative Effect of sidepod and chassis damage
Improved logic prompting notifications in UI
Fixed cancelled projects still incrementing the part number
Various UI improvements to the Facilities screen
Various corrections to strings and formatting
Updated Race Replay difficulty indicators

1.8

Stability & Performance
Improved game performance during wet weather
Fixed UI softlock that could occur during race

Staff, Contracts & Hiring
Fixed staff and facility effects not returning to normal at end of sponsorship engagement period
Fixed drivers or staff with agreed future contracts being poached by another team when entering a new season
Fixed drivers or staff being poached shortly after stating that they had no intention of leaving
Fixed AI teams making contract offers to drivers or staff they have already agreed a future contract with
Fixed AI teams leaving driver or staff positions vacant at the start of second season
Fixed breakout clauses not being paid for poached drivers or staff
Increased likelihood of AI teams promoting affiliates into vacant positions
Fixed ‘Driver/Staff Changes’ email not displaying future contracts
Fixed cases of AI teams replacing drivers already on long-term contracts

Race Weekend
Improved driver confidence balance
Fixed out laps being timed during qualifying sessions
Fixed background animation in race prep screen running at x16 speed
Fixed ‘Grand Slam’ achievement not being awarded correctly
Fixed missing track textures at Marina Bay

Drivers
Fixed both drivers being assigned to the same car at the start of a new season
Fixed email dilemma proposing investment in another teams’ affiliate driver
Fixed Team Roster Update email showing duplicate drivers

Create a Team
Fixed front wing sponsor slot projecting decals onto the side of the nose cone

1.7

Fixed wheels disappearing after a pit stop
Fixed staff survey email including AI teams affiliate drivers

1.6

Mentality
Rebalanced impact and duration of events on Mentality
Fixed overall Mentality rating not always refreshing immediately after changes
Fixed Mentality causes being displayed inconsistently between profile and Mentality Hub
Fixed issue where ‘Mentoring’ showed as a Mentality factor when no affiliates were present

Drivers
Added new affiliate drivers to starting database (this will require starting a new save file)
Hamda al Qubaisi
Amna al Qubaisi
Emely de Heus
Tuukka Taponen
Corrected spelling of Franco Colapinto

Car Development
Adjusted AI teams’ starting expertise (this will require starting a new save file)
Adjusted AI teams’ car starting ratings (this will require starting a new save file)
Improved balance of AI car development
Improved mechanical fault balance for powertrain parts in good condition
Fixed inaccurate ERS durability rating on Car Analysis screen
Fixed inconsistent display of powertrain percentages
Fixed development options being disabled when following email link

Staff, Contracts & Hiring
Fixed Scouts or Engineers remaining unavailable to use after sponsorship engagement activity has expired
Fixed issue where affiliate signed in first season could not drive in FP1 in future season
Fixed issue where contract could not be renegotiated from staff profile screen after acknowledging contract email
Fixed contract length being displayed as one year longer than it should in emails
Fixed previous offer ‘Bonus Threshold’ being displayed incorrectly in counter offer
Fixed free agent contract showing ’empty’ season contract state
Fixed hired driver for future seasons scouting information being listed as ‘Expired’
Improved AI poaching logic
Improved AI affiliate hiring logic

Sponsorship & Finance
Fixed newly created teams spending more money on initial startup than real teams (this will require starting a new save file)
Fixed engagement target payouts not being received in second season
Fixed some sponsor activities providing no engagement gains during first sponsor period of second season
Improved AI financial decision making
Fixed AI teams offering extreme salaries and starting bonuses
Improved accuracy of car development finances area in cost cap
Restyled icons on sponsor plan screen
Improved balance of sponsors’ preferred activities
Fixed sponsor logos disappearing from UI when saving/loading on day of negotiation
Improved balance of factors contributing to Team Marketability
Fixed ‘Balanced’ sponsor package having Race Day icon and colouring during negotiation

Create A Team
Fixed Create A Team decal options list missing icons in Livery Editor
Fixed team branding showroom lighting level darkening when re-entering
Improved ease of sponsor decal placement on driver gloves
Fixed delay to sponsor logos appearing on negotiations screens in Create A Team mode
Fixed created team garage appearing with Ferrari branding at Yas Marina
Fixed placement of drivers feet on livery podium

Race Weekend
Reduced lap time delta between slowest and fastest cars in managed races
Fixed powertrain penalties being applied in Sprint Session when new powertrain is bought and fitted before Sprint Qualifying
Fixed tyre compound allocations at Albert Park and Hermanos Rodriguez
Improved balance of incidents at Jeddah
Improved balance of starting engine temperatures
Fixed car retirement replays showing no or incorrect car when selected
Adjusted DRS zone placements
Fixed empty grandstands at Jeddah
Added night-time icons in weekend overview menu
Fixed every pit stop on post-race report screen being highlighted as positive
Fixed Sprint Qualifying results being empty when loading save made on Sprint preparation screen
Fixed Driver Preparation goal progress and value in bar not matching
(NEW) Added ability to minimise driver panels during a race
(NEW) Added ability to hide UI entirely when paused within a race
Fixed pixelated shadows appearing at Zandvoort
Fixed floating steward at Yas Marina
Fixed misplace shadowing at Bahrain
Fixed overly dark lighting that could occur after loading mid-session save
Medical car now includes a doctor
Fixed empty grandstand at Silverstone (Nintendo Switch only)

Audio & Team Comms
Fixed John Howard calling everyone ‘Pierre’
Fixed incorrect reference to Oscar Piastri finishing 19th
Improved frequency balance of “(driver) has DRS” teams comms
Fixed incorrect voice lines when loading into Australian GP
Fixed onboard engine sounds breaking when saving game whilst in helicam
Fixed a couple of incorrect voice allocations for some engineers & drivers
Fixed a number of issues with incorrect driver names being used in certain conversations
Fixed a number of other team comms issues causing incorrect lines to trigger
Fixed crackling audio that could sound when changing camera focus (Nintendo Switch only)

Race Replay
Adjusted difficulty ratings for Race Replays
Fixed driver podium positions displaying as “undefined”
Fixed Monaco Race Moment race duration
Fixed Race Replay loading incorrect constructor
Fixed drivers inheriting race suits from career save in Race Replay mode

Stability
Fixed issue where cars could freeze on track
Fixed crash that could occur during processing
Fixed crash that could occur when advancing into second season
Fixed crash that could occur during a red flag
Fixed crash that could occur when selecting to watch a crash replay involving multiple cars and an affiliate driver
Fixed crash that could occur when backing out of sponsorship screen into finances screen
Fixed softlock that could occur when interacting with Steam Overlay during race cinematics
Fixed crash that could occur when loading into race (Nintendo Switch only)

Performance
Improved overall game processing speed
Improved performance during race weekend (Nintendo Switch only)
Improved performance during career setup (Nintendo Switch only)(this will require starting a new save file)

Localisation
Added Traditional Chinese translated text

1.5

Stability
Various crash & stability fixes
Fixed softlock when selecting ‘Compare Staff’ on vacant staff member profile

Team Management
Reduced mentality impact on attributes

Car Development
Fixed AI starting races with major powertrain faults
Improved AI assignment of engineers; increasing simultaneous projects in progress
Improved AI utilisation of CFD and wind tunnel allocation
Adjusted start dates for AI research projects

Sponsorship
Fixed secondary sponsor payments not being received
Reduced financial penalty for not meeting engagement targets
Fixed inconsistencies in UI presentation of sponsorship payments

Race Weekend
Fixed strategy being reset when changes made to Pace Mode within Driver Options
Fixed drivers sometimes becoming stuck in garage after a red flag during qualifying

1.4

Team Management
Fixed contract counter offers not being received
Fixed AI teams developing the same car parts through the season
Fixed a PC-only GPU crash
Fixed a Switch-only crash that could occur at start of Las Vegas Grand Prix weeke

Stability
Fixed a crash that could occur when changing and saving liveries in quick succession
Fixed a crash that could occur when randomising team branding elements
Fixed a PC-only GPU crash

Create A Team
Fixed salaries for generated drivers being too high

Race Weekend
Updated Williams steering wheel to represent 2024 model
Fixed instances of incorrectly applied grid penalties when changing powertrain parts
Fixed team comms referencing traffic incorrectly during qualifying

User Interface
Fixed UI lock that could occur when selecting car parts via Rules and Regulations screen

1.3 was Nintendo Switch only.