The cost limit is destroying the game...

[pepsi50]

..in its current state!
I have played all the previous games and was actually quite happy with the game. But now I'm wondering what this is all about. I founded a new team and reached the COST LIMIT before the race in Spa and the game basically ended there, even though I still had 15 million in my account and the board was happy with me. I couldn't understand why I reached the cost limit, as "?"s were constantly displayed, sponsor payments were not offset and a minus of 192 million was displayed at the start of the session. I can perhaps understand that my two crash pilots threw away the cars several times and I had to produce so many chassis, but not that I can only screw parts onto the cars in an emergency purchase - what is this nonsense? That would punish me even more and is not at all provided for in the F1 regulations; it is a very bad game decision by the developers. My game is over and I am very annoyed. In the two predecessors the cost limit was never a problem but with the current bugs... :-(

[La Susu]

It's as realistic as it gets, new team in the sport will have to spend tons more money just to get a car in Bahrein than the rest of the existing teams. You'll have to chill no matter what on your first season because of the cost cap, that's how reality and the game works.

[RaelM]

The first years are harder to manage but once you start getting good marketability the cash just flows in. I can develop 3-5 of each part with 8 of these being intense per season. My cars are competitive enough at the start of the season that I don't need to actually manufacture the newly developed parts which saves a lot of money.

Here are some tips for early game;

Instead of refurbishing the buildings that improve marketability, upgrade them instead, marketability is king.

Set an achievable race target and not the highest paying one. It's better to earn 350k per driver instead of 500k from only one.

When selecting sponsors, I personally aim for as much initial payout as possible, same goes for race day payout to help the above tip. I'm currently not getting the correct payout for engagements but once they sort that out it can be a better option.

You don't need to manufacture every part you develop, it's okay to skip one or two before finally manufacturing a part and even then it might be better to only produce enough for 1 + spares instead of enough for 2 cars + spares. I personally produce enough for 1 + spares and then produce more as the previous stock is used up by car 2. If I can get my old parts to reach 0 stock then I've done really well.

A good policy to adhere to is to produce better parts once you start losing the old ones and only build enough spares for 1 car, then you start developing better parts when they start dwindling away and transition car 2 to the old car 1 parts while car 1 uses the latest parts.

Speaking of developing parts, don't always do intense, it's expensive and early on you can't afford it. You can't even afford it later on either, I can do at most 8 per season if I don't want to go over my cap and that's with very good income. Early on, while you're struggling to get a good revenue stream coming in, try and aim for intense on all but the wings, wings cost 5.4 million per intense development, that's a lot. Why pay !0.8 million for two parts when you can do 3 for 9 million?

Another tip on developing parts, dropping durability for weight saving and better performance is a double edged sword early on. Yes you'll gain performance but your parts will last 1-3 races less, it might be better economically to stick with more durable parts instead.

Use your old power unit parts on races like Monaco instead of buying a new one and getting both a grid penalty and a cost cap hit.

Upgrade and refurbish facilities at the start of a season after selecting your sponsors, this means you have prize money and sponsor money in the bank so you have a better idea on how much you can spend.

Don't go over the cost cap!!! You'll be hit by a fine for every month you're over, the fine is equal to how much you've overspent. So if you overspent by 2 million, that's 2 million per month + any extra you overspend after the initial fine for the month after and so on. It adds up really quickly and will ruin your career.

Once you get past the early game though it's really easy since the AI sucks at developing a good car and you'll have good marketing so you get more sponsorship money.

[pepsi50]

Originally posted by La Susu:

It's as realistic as it gets, new team in the sport will have to spend tons more money just to get a car in Bahrein than the rest of the existing teams. You'll have to chill no matter what on your first season because of the cost cap, that's how reality and the game works.

Sorry but that is simply wrong.
1. Red Bull Engines is investing millions of pounds in their new engine project independently of Red Bull Motorsport. Williams recently pushed through a significant discount for investments for smaller teams and new teams.

2. I earn 70 million in the first year but only have 52 million for the cost limit - why? This is probably the expenditure on personnel and the like - but I cannot understand the number because the number alternates with a "?" and is sometimes not updated.

[pepsi50]

Originally posted by Robique:

Step 1: Start game and run 4 intense design projects constantly.
Step 2: Take the design centre upgrade event for 2 extra design slots.
Step 3: Run 6 intense design projects at the same time.
Step 4: Complain on forums about the cost cap "destroying the game".

You are absolutely right for a normal team, but for a new team, so many "bonuses" are missing. As already described, Williams was the first to push through the discount for investments. Smaller teams can invest more cheaply. And money always disappears somehow. Sometimes the sponsor doesn't pay, sometimes the AI ​​drivers tear the cars apart race after race (Magnussen and Doohan), but that's fine. Don't get me wrong, it's fun with the cost limit, but it has to be more logical and understandable than it is now.

[pepsi50]

Originally posted by The Met4l God:

Originally posted by pepsi50:

..in its current state!
I have played all the previous games and was actually quite happy with the game. But now I'm wondering what this is all about. I founded a new team and reached the COST LIMIT before the race in Spa and the game basically ended there, even though I still had 15 million in my account and the board was happy with me. I couldn't understand why I reached the cost limit, as "?"s were constantly displayed, sponsor payments were not offset and a minus of 192 million was displayed at the start of the session. I can perhaps understand that my two crash pilots threw away the cars several times and I had to produce so many chassis, but not that I can only screw parts onto the cars in an emergency purchase - what is this nonsense? That would punish me even more and is not at all provided for in the F1 regulations; it is a very bad game decision by the developers. My game is over and I am very annoyed. In the two predecessors the cost limit was never a problem but with the current bugs... :-(

The cost cap, according to the tutorial, is a season-long pool of funding your team is allowed to spend on things such as salaries and car development.

Yes, I know...so?

[pepsi50]

Originally posted by Filokwarq:

Ok, will not try it :D I have money, but no budget. No Problem, but I cant make parts, so I cant replace em, but I cant withdraw my Car unless its in the race. So simply give up in training doesnt work, so I cant play the season to an end, even if I would have a car. Very strange. I could pay the fines :D Enough Money to finish the season with fines.

This is odd, I doubt that this would happen in a real season, they would have to pay the fine and race, the show is more important.

I would consider this buged.

That's another point that just doesn't fit the game. You're simply thrown out of the game, which would never happen in reality. You saw how the FIA ​​dealt with Red Bull - hardly anything happened. In addition, my very expensive but useless staff would have to intervene and say "Stop! From now on there's only one expense per month of xx pounds!" BEFORE you hit the cost limit or are close to it.
Currently you get the penalty per month and can only produce emergency parts, which is even more expensive and therefore pushes the cost limit even further.

[Filokwarq]

Originally posted by La Susu:

It's as realistic as it gets, new team in the sport will have to spend tons more money just to get a car in Bahrein than the rest of the existing teams. You'll have to chill no matter what on your first season because of the cost cap, that's how reality and the game works.

Yes, but the question is: Will those costs they have in advance be added to the cap? It makes no sense. They develop their car pre-season and then have the same costs within the season as others have, or the same limits.

When new Teams join the F1 soon, I doubt they will have a disadvantage on the cap compared to others. If there is a difference, I would consider this to be a bug. There might be costs like building costs that may go in, but thats another story, havent heard that this makes a difference in the game so far.

If there are costs in advance of the season for a new team, that should go vs. the overall budget and not the cap, so they all start at the same level. Thats exactly why they introduced the cap.

[Filokwarq]

Originally posted by pepsi50:

Sorry but that is simply wrong.
1. Red Bull Engines is investing millions of pounds in their new engine project independently of Red Bull Motorsport. Williams recently pushed through a significant discount for investments for smaller teams and new teams.

Unfortunately a bad example, because the development of the engine and the power unit etc, the 3 components you can only buy, are not in the cap of any team, they pay this through their contract with Mercedes, Ferrari etc. for the Motor you choose for each season.

What may be wrong, I am not sure about that, is that those parts in RL count vs. the cap if they are broken etc.

That, to me, is a big problem in some seasons where I had gear boxes and motors breaking down even without a crash at high percentages. I had 3 Motors above 50% that were broken within the first half of the season, that really sucks for your cap then.

[Filokwarq]

Originally posted by pepsi50:

You are absolutely right for a normal team, but for a new team, so many "bonuses" are missing. As already described, Williams was the first to push through the discount for investments. Smaller teams can invest more cheaply. And money always disappears somehow. Sometimes the sponsor doesn't pay, sometimes the AI ​​drivers tear the cars apart race after race (Magnussen and Doohan), but that's fine. Don't get me wrong, it's fun with the cost limit, but it has to be more logical and understandable than it is now.

Yes, I would love to see an indicator for everything you pay for if it goes vs. the cap or not. Which salary is "free", which is not. If I produce a part, it should clearly say "this goes vs. your cap, XY remaining if you do this". Not as a pop-up, simply have it in the same windows you press "OK" to order. That would be important at the beginning, so players can learn it that way. It is not transparent enough, and there should always be a way out back to a season and no lock-up.

[Khotec]

Originally posted by RaelM:

The first years are harder to manage but once you start getting good marketability the cash just flows in. I can develop 3-5 of each part with 8 of these being intense per season. My cars are competitive enough at the start of the season that I don't need to actually manufacture the newly developed parts which saves a lot of money.

Here are some tips for early game;

Instead of refurbishing the buildings that improve marketability, upgrade them instead, marketability is king.

Set an achievable race target and not the highest paying one. It's better to earn 350k per driver instead of 500k from only one.

When selecting sponsors, I personally aim for as much initial payout as possible, same goes for race day payout to help the above tip. I'm currently not getting the correct payout for engagements but once they sort that out it can be a better option.

You don't need to manufacture every part you develop, it's okay to skip one or two before finally manufacturing a part and even then it might be better to only produce enough for 1 + spares instead of enough for 2 cars + spares. I personally produce enough for 1 + spares and then produce more as the previous stock is used up by car 2. If I can get my old parts to reach 0 stock then I've done really well.

A good policy to adhere to is to produce better parts once you start losing the old ones and only build enough spares for 1 car, then you start developing better parts when they start dwindling away and transition car 2 to the old car 1 parts while car 1 uses the latest parts.

Speaking of developing parts, don't always do intense, it's expensive and early on you can't afford it. You can't even afford it later on either, I can do at most 8 per season if I don't want to go over my cap and that's with very good income. Early on, while you're struggling to get a good revenue stream coming in, try and aim for intense on all but the wings, wings cost 5.4 million per intense development, that's a lot. Why pay !0.8 million for two parts when you can do 3 for 9 million?

Another tip on developing parts, dropping durability for weight saving and better performance is a double edged sword early on. Yes you'll gain performance but your parts will last 1-3 races less, it might be better economically to stick with more durable parts instead.

Use your old power unit parts on races like Monaco instead of buying a new one and getting both a grid penalty and a cost cap hit.

Upgrade and refurbish facilities at the start of a season after selecting your sponsors, this means you have prize money and sponsor money in the bank so you have a better idea on how much you can spend.

Don't go over the cost cap!!! You'll be hit by a fine for every month you're over, the fine is equal to how much you've overspent. So if you overspent by 2 million, that's 2 million per month + any extra you overspend after the initial fine for the month after and so on. It adds up really quickly and will ruin your career.

Once you get past the early game though it's really easy since the AI sucks at developing a good car and you'll have good marketing so you get more sponsorship money.

Your guide is really useful for me. In fact, that is the tactic I try to apply to maintain an economic balance at the end of the season adjusted to the available budget.

After having tested the creation of new teams a few times, I have seen that the economic issue is quite real in F1 2024, but difficult for those who are used to the old format of 2022, 2023. At first I was confused because I did not understand the new economic structure, but now I realize that everything depends on the expense/income ratio, much tighter in F1 Manager 2024 than in previous versions.

In 2022, people were used to the madness of uncontrolled signings, even paying 20 times more than the real value of drivers and engineers, and luckily, that is not possible with the new team creation mode. They were also used to spending on design and manufacturing as if it were the team of a multimillionaire who doesn't know how to spend money.

To maintain an economic balance it is important to initially hire 2-star pilots and engineers with the sole aspiration of maintaining the 6th position in the teams in the first season.

Reading the comments of the most clueless, I thought that perhaps it was not worth investing time in this game, but I am glad to have found your comment to continue with the development of my own team knowing that I can continue managing it in the next seasons.

A cordial greeting to you.

[Filokwarq]

Originally posted by Khotec:

To maintain an economic balance it is important to initially hire 2-star pilots and engineers with the sole aspiration of maintaining the 6th position in the teams in the first season.

Reading the comments of the most clueless, I thought that perhaps it was not worth investing time in this game, but I am glad to have found your comment to continue with the development of my own team knowing that I can continue managing it in the next seasons.

A cordial greeting to you.

Well, the drivers salary should not even go vs. the budget, so do the 3 highest salaries of the rest of the Team, at least if I am up to date here with the budget-rules.

It is possible to hire Pilots in the 80s with a new team, but it looks like a lot of other things are out of balance compared to other teams.

I only played F1 Manager 22 before and struggled the way you described a lot, but even after attempting to adopt a lot of things are odd.

I really hope they fix that stuff, but talking about budgets and the last financial reports of Frontier, I have doubts. Maybe they cant develop new stuff as well now? :D

[MarvinEhre]

With create a team, the first season seems to be a conservative one in terms of spending, as the 70M used from the cap is probably simulating your team having to develop everything from scratch, so develop new parts sparingly.

[RaelM]

Originally posted by Khotec:

Your guide is really useful for me. In fact, that is the tactic I try to apply to maintain an economic balance at the end of the season adjusted to the available budget.

After having tested the creation of new teams a few times, I have seen that the economic issue is quite real in F1 2024, but difficult for those who are used to the old format of 2022, 2023. At first I was confused because I did not understand the new economic structure, but now I realize that everything depends on the expense/income ratio, much tighter in F1 Manager 2024 than in previous versions.

In 2022, people were used to the madness of uncontrolled signings, even paying 20 times more than the real value of drivers and engineers, and luckily, that is not possible with the new team creation mode. They were also used to spending on design and manufacturing as if it were the team of a multimillionaire who doesn't know how to spend money.

To maintain an economic balance it is important to initially hire 2-star pilots and engineers with the sole aspiration of maintaining the 6th position in the teams in the first season.

Reading the comments of the most clueless, I thought that perhaps it was not worth investing time in this game, but I am glad to have found your comment to continue with the development of my own team knowing that I can continue managing it in the next seasons.

A cordial greeting to you.

I'm glad my tips can prove useful to you.

It's a lot tighter this year at the beginning, especially with the create a team feature but as you increase your marketability it becomes a lot easier to manage.

One tip I forgot to mention, when it's getting towards the end of the season, make sure you check how many months are left, how much your monthly spending is and factor that into how much cost cap you have left. It's not a 100% accurate since not all expenditure counts towards the cap but it'll give you a rough ballpark on how much you have left to spend on development.

-edit-

Oh and another good way to save money in the long run is to offer big signing fees but small salaries. Lets say you're offering Carlos Sainz £5 million a year but you could instead give him £1 million a year and offer him a signing fee of £5 million instead. Over 5 seasons you're saving £15 million!

Do that with every staff member and driver and you can really knock down that monthly salary. I'm paying around £500k a month on salaries, facilities is around £2 million. I'm currently receiving around £12.5 million a month so my monthly balance is + £10 million a month.

[Khotec]

Originally posted by Filokwarq:

Originally posted by Khotec:

To maintain an economic balance it is important to initially hire 2-star pilots and engineers with the sole aspiration of maintaining the 6th position in the teams in the first season.

Reading the comments of the most clueless, I thought that perhaps it was not worth investing time in this game, but I am glad to have found your comment to continue with the development of my own team knowing that I can continue managing it in the next seasons.

A cordial greeting to you.

Well, the drivers salary should not even go vs. the budget, so do the 3 highest salaries of the rest of the Team, at least if I am up to date here with the budget-rules.

It is possible to hire Pilots in the 80s with a new team, but it looks like a lot of other things are out of balance compared to other teams.

I only played F1 Manager 22 before and struggled the way you described a lot, but even after attempting to adopt a lot of things are odd.

I really hope they fix that stuff, but talking about budgets and the last financial reports of Frontier, I have doubts. Maybe they cant develop new stuff as well now? :D

I agree. Also, I think the interface of the economic section is designed to simplify the data, but I think it is confusing and gives rise to personal economic interpretations.

Perhaps only when we understand the economic structure as a whole, it may seem too easy to manage funds. What really worries me is precisely that the game ends up being easy in the medium and long term. In F1 Manager there is no micromanagement at all, everything is simplified in 4 parameters that should be easy to understand, but a part of the costs are in the (Other) category and perhaps this category is the key to being able to manage the relationship between expenses/income/profits.

I remember that in F1 Manager 2022 it was ridiculously easy to manage the economy, you got rich by adding up all kinds of expenses without the possibility of spending your financial surplus. That is why (among other things) I stopped playing it.

[Khotec]

Originally posted by RaelM:

Originally posted by Khotec:

Your guide is really useful for me. In fact, that is the tactic I try to apply to maintain an economic balance at the end of the season adjusted to the available budget.

After having tested the creation of new teams a few times, I have seen that the economic issue is quite real in F1 2024, but difficult for those who are used to the old format of 2022, 2023. At first I was confused because I did not understand the new economic structure, but now I realize that everything depends on the expense/income ratio, much tighter in F1 Manager 2024 than in previous versions.

In 2022, people were used to the madness of uncontrolled signings, even paying 20 times more than the real value of drivers and engineers, and luckily, that is not possible with the new team creation mode. They were also used to spending on design and manufacturing as if it were the team of a multimillionaire who doesn't know how to spend money.

To maintain an economic balance it is important to initially hire 2-star pilots and engineers with the sole aspiration of maintaining the 6th position in the teams in the first season.

Reading the comments of the most clueless, I thought that perhaps it was not worth investing time in this game, but I am glad to have found your comment to continue with the development of my own team knowing that I can continue managing it in the next seasons.

A cordial greeting to you.

I'm glad my tips can prove useful to you.

It's a lot tighter this year at the beginning, especially with the create a team feature but as you increase your marketability it becomes a lot easier to manage.

One tip I forgot to mention, when it's getting towards the end of the season, make sure you check how many months are left, how much your monthly spending is and factor that into how much cost cap you have left. It's not a 100% accurate since not all expenditure counts towards the cap but it'll give you a rough ballpark on how much you have left to spend on development.

-edit-

Oh and another good way to save money in the long run is to offer big signing fees but small salaries. Lets say you're offering Carlos Sainz £5 million a year but you could instead give him £1 million a year and offer him a signing fee of £5 million instead. Over 5 seasons you're saving £15 million!

Do that with every staff member and driver and you can really knock down that monthly salary. I'm paying around £500k a month on salaries, facilities is around £2 million. I'm currently receiving around £12.5 million a month so my monthly balance is + £10 million a month.

Again, your tips are really helpful to me.

Thanks.