PC/CD Gamer UK 43/PCGAMER43.bin/walkthru/gpman.txt

Text File | 1997-01-27 | 11KB | 181 lines

Grand Prix Manager - Strategy Tips

Behind the scenes

Team selection and contracts
Although it can be quite rewarding nurturing a small team over many seasons, itÆs
initially worth selecting one of the four big guns (Williams, Tyrrell, Benetton or
McLaren) as youÆll start with better technology, attract more money and stand a
greater chance of success. Overall Williams is probably the pick of
the bunch, as it just shades the others in terms of drivers (hooray for Damon) and
design technology.
When it comes to negotiating your opening contracts, sign early and pick the best
engine available. Providing youÆre successful, you should impress the makers
sufficiently to keep them supplying you with free engines in subsequent seasons.
Spare parts and tyre contracts should always be of the highest quality available,
but when it comes to fuel, sign with the manufacturer whose juice is most
compatible with your engine.

Design
Your team should always strive to stay as close to the cutting edge of car design
as is humanly and financially possible, but youÆll need to maintain a strict balance
between overall design allocation and developing a new chassis for next season.
Last yearÆs model really wonÆt cut any ice out on the circuit.

Manufacturing and facilities
When you do begin developing facilities, plan well in advance and make sure that
the cost wonÆt bankrupt the team. The relatively cheap technologies such as CAD
and CAM will improve design and engineering capabilities at comparatively little
cost, while the testing rig will provide good overall performance enhancement.
All of the great teams build their carÆs components in-house and you should aim
to do the same. In-house parts always out perform their commercially available
rivals, but for the first season or two, the cost is prohibitive, so youÆll have to
make do with mainly off-the-shelf components. When you do bite the financial
bullet and build carbon fibre and manufacturing units youÆll see a radical
improvement, and these facilities will actually save you money by cutting
manufacturing costs while improving component quality. Remember, in-house
technology is superseded by off-the-shelf parts at the end of a season, so youÆll
have to start all over again to maintain your competitive edge.

R&D
Investing some time in developing driver aids can pay remarkable dividends, but
you must balance this with FIA rule changes. Frankly, itÆs a gamble building
expensive, time-consuming systems which you may not be able to use, so instead
concentrate on legal driver aids, but be prepared to respond when the FIA does
change its mind.
Each driving aid is a collaboration between the Design, Mechanics and
Engineering divisions and you should co-ordinate their efforts to ensure projects
come in on time. Some departments work at faster rates than others, so check your
mail regularly to monitor project status, and the moment a department finishes
work on one project, concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

Commercial considerations
Money is the bottom line to success in Formula One and youÆll need lots of it. A
good commercial manager and his team will make all the difference, so donÆt be
afraid to splash out and poach successful rivals if the opportunity arises.
Merchandising is a nice sideline but sponsorship is where the big bucks are, and
you should invest large amounts of time and effort into wooing potential sponsors.
Remember success on the track breeds success elsewhere, and itÆs always easier
to market a winning team.
How well you do with sponsors is determined by both the time you spend with
them and the quality of your commercial staff; considerations like team
nationality, profile raising merchandise and location of the next race can be used
to your advantage. Finally, protect your investment with adequate security and
donÆt be afraid of using espionage to see what the other teams are up to. You
might get the occasional slapped wrist from the FIA, but the benefits far outweigh
the risk.


Out on the circuit

Testing
The key to success in Formula One is experiment, experiment and experiment
again, and youÆll need to perform exhaustive testing to wring every last ounce of
performance from your drivers and cars. The wind tunnel is a must for assessing
aerodynamic profiles and essentially what youÆre trying to find is a good
compromise between speed and handling. ItÆs definitely worth noting down the
results of using different wing profiles, then bringing that knowledge to bear on
race day. Hockenheim, for example, is all about power on the straight, while
winding courses like Monte Carlo require extra downforce and cornering.
Try to schedule a test day before every single race and use it to develop areas
where your team is under achieving. At first itÆs probably not worth venturing too
far from home base, as this increases costs significantly. However, track
familiarisation routines on nearby circuits can sometimes prove worthwhile.
Again, this is a chance to test your car in race conditions and you should pay
particular attention to the internal and external set-ups. ItÆs vital to try out new
components and driver aids during test days, otherwise they wonÆt perform
efficiently in the actual Grand Prix. The test drivers can be particularly useful in
this area, allowing you to tinker with more exotic and experimental design set-ups
- this is a good role for grooming younger drivers.


The race

Pre-race strategy
Although you can choose to take part in every single phase of the race, you should
always compete in the testing and qualification stages. Pre-qualifying testing gives
you the chance to gauge the general speed and conditions of the track and fine-
tune your carÆs performance to match. DonÆt worry too much about times, but use
this phase to check how the other teams are doing and to set realistic targets for
qualifying. Pay special attention to the weather and track conditions and try out
the actual tyre sets youÆre likely to use in the race to gauge their wear factor.
DonÆt forget, you can use these tyres again if wear isnÆt too excessive.

Qualifying
The two qualifying stages are vital and you should concentrate your efforts on
getting the best qualifying time you can attain. ItÆs important for your overall race
strategy to get as near to pole as possible and any lap records you set in the
process will bring financial rewards from the FIA, a useful bonus in the quest for
solvency. A commanding position on the grid (ideally first row) means you can
dominate the race and dictate strategy to the other teams, rather than following
their lead.

Use qualifying tyres and put in a light fuel load so that you can concentrate on raw
speed. Aim to record your æhot lapÆ (i.e. best qualifying time) on the first or
second circuit after youÆve gone out, when your qualifiers are warmed up and in
their best condition.
DonÆt be afraid to use æstep on itÆ and ædo or die ordersÆ to improve
your times.
Keep an eye on the other teamsÆ qualifying times, so that youÆre not tempted to
take unnecessary risks and write off a very expensive chassis in the process.
DonÆt forget youÆre allowed only seven sets of tyres for the whole Grand Prix, so
donÆt blow the lot trying to qualify. YouÆll need an absolute bare minimum of
three tyre sets for the actual race.

Pit and fuel strategy
Pit and fuel strategy is critical to winning a Grand Prix and your first
consideration should be the size of your fuel tank. A bigger tank is going to make
the car heavier, but as you progress the fuel load will lighten and allow you to stay
out much longer. How many stops? Well, thatÆs an eternal dilemma even for the
real Formula One teams, but as Murray Walker maintains, the longer you can stay
out there, the better your chances. You might try a one-stop strategy on some of
the shorter circuits, but on the whole, a two-stop race is probably preferable.
Tyre sets are graded A, B, C, D, which is hard to soft, but also slow to fast. AÆs
and BÆs are durable but provide least traction and therefore less speed, while the
C and D compounds are certainly quick, but tyre wear becomes a real problem.
Respond to the race situation and make sure the tyres youÆve chosen will last the
distance. Even in slightly rainy conditions, always use wet sets.

Driving strategies
You should be aware that choosing higher risk driving strategies causes more tyre
wear and pushes up fuel consumption considerably. Allow three to five laps extra
per refuelling so that you can challenge for places. And on your final pit stop,
consider the merits of a æsplash and dashÆ. Fill the car with as light a fuel load as
you can risk and use softer tyres to make your final laps your fastest. You should
make use of all the reports and telemetry to monitor the progress of both your own
cars and those of the other teams. The TV coverage is extremely handy for
keeping track of your nearest rivals.
Above all, be flexible in your strategy and tailor your tactics to the race situation.
Weigh the risks and donÆt sacrifice certain championship points by trying to chase
a place which is beyond you. On the other hand, when you are in a strong position
be ruthless and press home any advantage youÆve created. Finally, although
thereÆre bucketfuls of glory if one of your drivers wins a race or even the
championship, youÆre the GP manager and the constructors title is of the utmost
importance. Every race should be run with this in mind; itÆs the overall team
performance thatÆs counts, not the individual drivers.

Top money-making tips
Expand your commercial department ASAP. Excellent grade assistants can do
twice the work of very good ones, and the money a successful commercial
department can earn you will more than offset any additional wage costs.
You land sponsors by earning liaison points based on the time youÆve spent with
them, how well your team is doing and the result of any promo material. Once
youÆve gained a sponsorÆs confidence, always keep your people working on them,
even if itÆs only a 5% allocation
Top wealth sponsors may take over ten races to come up with big money, so keep
working on them. In the meantime, sign shorter deals with smaller companies to
tide you over.
Sponsors will offer up to 45% of their wealth for high cost locations, 25% for
second rate areas and 15%, 10% and 5% for the remaining three. Use this to
gauge how much money theyÆre holding and if itÆs worth investing more time with
them.
When you view sponsors offers, try to hold out for a four- to six-race deal. If you
build up enough liaison points with a company, theyÆll eventually offer you more
money for less time! Always deal with sponsors direct, rather than by e-mail, as
theyÆll always stump up
more cash that way.
Bigger sponsors demand success. æBrilliantÆ wealth companies wonÆt deal with
anyone who finished lower than 6th last year, æSuperbÆ companies draw the line at
8th, æExcellentÆ companies at 10th, and æHighÆ and æAverageÆ 12th and 14th
respectively. DonÆt waste time with a sponsor you canÆt land.