Grand Prix Expert : Managing a F1 team : what does it mean (the rules and pieces of the game are also in English)

Not everyone can afford managing a F1 team. Considering the costs and the technical difficulties at stake, only a few wealthy and priviliged people, not to say major industrial groups, can try their luck in this area.

Still, GD PRIX EXPERT brings this dream within everybody’s reach : based on a consistent and simple game system, it makes it possible to simulate both the technical and financial managing of a F1 team, and to compete in the championship races while trying to benefit from the upgrading of the car during the interrace phase.

The game takes numerous and interactive parameters into account : chassis, parts, engine, tyres, fuel, drivers’strengths and weaknesses, cost of technical improvements, hazards and peculiarities of the tracks, consequences of weather conditions, racing strategies... Yet the game remains fluid: 30 mn may be enough for a normal interracing phase, and a mere 1H30mn to complete a race.
Playing GD PRIX EXPERT requires only one thing: keeping in mind the technical data listed below, failing which the game will seem abstract and inconsistent.

A F1 team is made of a complex set of elements, both human, financial and technical, which are are all integrated in the game.
First of all, one must rely on a technical team of designers, specialized engineers and mechanics. This team designs the chassis of the car for each season, although it will not be known before the tests, and above all before the race, whether it is suitable or not. It designs and/or intalls the very “parts” of the car: body bottom, spoilers, wings, transmission, suspension, gearbox and electronic systems, brakes (nb: the latter are in fact made by another manufacturer). It also integrates the engine, which is usually supplied by an external firm, the tyres, and is provided with a more or less adapted fuel which has also to be taken in account with.These variables evolve along with the season.This evolution may be either significant or marginal for the car’s performance. It may even prove rather useless in the end! The game takes all these factors into account.

Secondly, one must have a good pilot, best suited to fit the characteristics of the car. It is also necessary to set up consistent racing strategies according to the track : should one, two or three pit stops be required ? Should one risk it all, decide to strain the tyres or push on the engine, or rather wait for the right time to attack ? Should one stop immediately in case of rain, or decide to wait for better conditions (a short downpour) even if that means losing time on other competitors who have changed for tyres better suited for rain ?
Lastly, it all costs a lot of money. To increment its own initial funds, a team can only count on the prizes paid by the Federation, depending on the results of the race, as well as on TV royalties or sponsors who sometimes pay large sums of money to have their logo shown on the car or on the paddocks.

To play GD PRIX EXPERT, one must therefore integrate all these variables and get the best out of them. The game itself makes it easy to understand all these mecanisms, and there remains the most important thing: the thrill of victory after successfully configuring a good car and managing the race at best ; if unlucky, the will to improve for the next race ; and the eagerness and tenacity to catch up on technical backwardness. For such is the quality of GD PRIX EXPERT : losing one race is not decisive ; what counts is the final result at the end of the season, that is after 16 races in a row or even after several seasons, should the players decide it so !