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F1 Manager 2024 Walkthrough: Start to Endgame

Step-by-step F1 Manager 2024 walkthrough covering every phase from first session to endgame. Complete progression guide with milestones and checklists.

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated .
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F1 Manager 2024 is Frontier Developments' third official Formula 1 management game, released on 23 July 2024 with the full 2024 grid of ten teams and a 24 round calendar. The headline addition is Create A Team, the first time the series lets you build an eleventh outfit from scratch with your own livery, logo, race suits, staff and sponsor deals. Mechanical Failures also arrived, so pushing a car hard for a whole stint now carries a real chance of losing it, and temperature management moved from a background number to something you watch. Underneath that sit the systems the series is actually built on: twelve car performance attributes fed by six part types, ten driver attributes, a five slider setup you dial in during practice, and a mentality system where unhappy staff design worse parts. Steam reviews are Very Positive at around 81 percent and Metacritic lands on 81, which is roughly where the game deserves to be: strong race day, occasionally shallow between weekends.

This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.

Quick Progression Summary

PhaseAreaFocusBuildDuration
1. StartBahrain International CircuitCreate A Team basicsFerrari1-2 hours
2. EarlyCircuit de MonacoMechanical Failures masteryFerrari3-5 hours
3. MidSilverstone CircuitCar part design and research + gearRed Bull Racing or Ferrari5-10 hours
4. LateCircuit de Spa-FrancorchampsBuild optimizationRed Bull Racing5-10 hours
5. EndgameAutodromo Nazionale MonzaMin-maxRed Bull Racing or WilliamsOngoing

See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.


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Phase 1: Getting Started (Bahrain International Circuit)

Round 1 of the 2024 calendar and a heavy braking, rear limited circuit run at night on an abrasive surface. Track temperatures and tyre degradation are both high, which makes it the first real test of your suspension and cooling development.

Level/Difficulty: Round 1 of 24 Key Rewards: Early season form check, high degradation strategy practice, cooling stress test

What to Do in Bahrain International Circuit

  1. Learn Create A Team. New for 2024, this puts an eleventh team on the grid with your own name, livery, logo and race suits, then makes you fill it. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
  2. Pick Ferrari as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
  3. Reaching 100 percent setup knowledge before qualifying is usually worth more lap time than a single part upgrade, so spend practice running the programmes that fill your knowledge rather than chasing headline lap times.
  4. Acquire your first equipment upgrade: Rear Wing or whatever's available.
  5. Clear all main content before moving on.

Phase 1 Checklist

  • Understand Create A Team fundamentals
  • Ferrari selected and functional
  • Bahrain International Circuit main content cleared
  • Ready for Circuit de Monaco

Phase 2: Early Game (Circuit de Monaco)

Round 8, the slowest and narrowest circuit on the calendar, where qualifying position decides the race because overtaking barely exists. Maximum downforce and a front wing biased setup matter far more than engine power.

Level/Difficulty: Round 8 of 24 Key Rewards: Qualifying focused weekend, safety car gambles, low speed downforce payoff

What to Do in Circuit de Monaco

  1. Work on Mechanical Failures. Components now accumulate stress during a race weekend and can fail outright, ending a race that your strategy had won. This system becomes critical from here on.
  2. Farm for Rear Wing if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
  3. Driver setup feedback maps directly onto sliders: oversteer means Front Wing, braking complaints mean Rear Wing, cornering means Anti-Roll Bar distribution, traction means Tyre Camber and straight line pace means Toe-Out.
  4. Complete all objectives before pushing to Silverstone Circuit.
  5. Consider whether Red Bull Racing might suit your playstyle better than Ferrari.

Phase 2 Checklist

  • Mechanical Failures integrated into gameplay
  • Rear Wing acquired
  • Circuit de Monaco fully cleared
  • Ready for Silverstone Circuit

Phase 3: Mid Game (Silverstone Circuit)

Round 12 and a high speed flowing circuit where Copse, Maggotts and Becketts reward high speed downforce and Airflow Middle. British weather in the game engine also makes it one of the most likely races to turn wet mid session.

Level/Difficulty: Round 12 of 24 Key Rewards: High speed downforce payoff, weather gamble opportunities, driver adaptability test

What to Do in Silverstone Circuit

  1. Master Car part design and research. Six part types each drive specific slices of the car's twelve attributes. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
  2. Start working toward Front Wing. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
  3. Underfloor is the only part that raises low, medium and high speed downforce at the same time, which makes it the best single development target when your budget only covers one programme.
  4. This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
  5. Start investing in Practice programmes and the five slider setup for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.

Phase 3 Checklist

  • Car part design and research mastered
  • Front Wing acquired or in progress
  • Silverstone Circuit fully cleared
  • Ready for Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

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Phase 4: Late Game (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps)

Round 14 and the longest lap of the year, mixing a long uphill run through Eau Rouge and Raidillon with a technical final sector. It punishes a wing setup chosen for one sector and rewards a compromise, and rain in one part of the circuit while another stays dry is a regular event.

Level/Difficulty: Round 14 of 24 Key Rewards: Split sector setup decisions, mixed weather strategy, DRS Delta value on the Kemmel straight

What to Do in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

  1. Finalize your build. You should be running Red Bull Racing or Ferrari with optimized gear.
  2. Front Wing should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
  3. Airflow Front multiplies low and medium speed cornering while Airflow Middle multiplies medium and high speed, so a car with high raw downforce and poor airflow numbers will still feel slow through corners.
  4. Mentality and team morale optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
  5. Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Phase 4 Checklist

  • Build fully optimized
  • Front Wing upgraded to max
  • Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps fully cleared
  • Ready for Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Phase 5: Endgame (Autodromo Nazionale Monza)

Round 16 and the lowest downforce weekend of the season, where drag reduction and DRS Delta outweigh cornering grip. Slipstream effects are strong enough that qualifying order can be decided by who follows whom, and brake temperatures spike into the first chicane.

Level/Difficulty: Round 16 of 24 Key Rewards: Low drag setup practice, slipstream qualifying, brake temperature management

What to Do in Autodromo Nazionale Monza

  1. Autodromo Nazionale Monza tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
  2. Mechanical Failures build from sustained stress, so watching brake and engine temperatures during a stint and backing off a notch before a component enters the danger band saves races.
  3. The endgame loop: run Autodromo Nazionale Monza, optimize gear, push harder content.
  4. Experiment with Williams for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
  5. This is where Mentality and team morale mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.

Phase 5 Checklist

  • Endgame content on farm
  • Best-in-slot gear acquired
  • Autodromo Nazionale Monza fully cleared
  • Ready for challenge content

Common Progression Mistakes

  • Skipping practice programmes to save time, then qualifying on a setup that is only 60 percent complete and losing several tenths every lap.
  • Reacting to an oversteer complaint by changing Anti-Roll Bar distribution instead of Front Wing Angle, which pushes the setup further away from the target.
  • Running an aggressive pace setting for a full stint in 2024, where Mechanical Failures now turn sustained stress into a retirement.
  • Spreading design slots across all six part types instead of finishing an Underfloor programme, so no single area of the car improves enough to matter.
  • Issuing team orders to swap drivers for a single position, which damages the mentality of the driver who gave up the place for the rest of the season.

Key Tips for Smooth Progression

  1. Reaching 100 percent setup knowledge before qualifying is usually worth more lap time than a single part upgrade, so spend practice running the programmes that fill your knowledge rather than chasing headline lap times.
  2. Driver setup feedback maps directly onto sliders: oversteer means Front Wing, braking complaints mean Rear Wing, cornering means Anti-Roll Bar distribution, traction means Tyre Camber and straight line pace means Toe-Out.
  3. Underfloor is the only part that raises low, medium and high speed downforce at the same time, which makes it the best single development target when your budget only covers one programme.
  4. Airflow Front multiplies low and medium speed cornering while Airflow Middle multiplies medium and high speed, so a car with high raw downforce and poor airflow numbers will still feel slow through corners.
  5. Mechanical Failures build from sustained stress, so watching brake and engine temperatures during a stint and backing off a notch before a component enters the danger band saves races.

For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.

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