Test/Reserve Drivers

I know that in the current scheme of things in Formula 1, it's really only the lower teams that actually use their reserve drivers, but I think it would be a decent thing to implement here. Mainly because at the moment it's very difficult to know if you're signing a decent driver or not. The attributes are confusing (as they should be), but it would take a lot of courage to actually get rid of a proven, decent driver to replace them with someone with the completely different stats - especially if you're trying to compete for race wins.

We could have options to pay for them to use the simulator in order to test their ability against our current drivers, and see how they fair, with the possibility of even having them set up the car, or doing a couple of practice runs. 

I think it would add an extra element to the game, in which you're not only competing for the championship in the here and now, but you're also planning ahead for the future.

In fact, thinking about it, this could even turn into an extra facility or programme to train young drivers, like so many Formula 1 teams do. Training them up with a certain amount of attributes, until they reach the age of 18, and can be released into the driver market (obviously with first pick going to the team that trained them up in the first place). This would give managers a lot of scope into how they want their team in the future, as well as giving people the means to test new attributes against proven ones, instead of wasting an entire season with a mediocre or worse driver.

I like the idea - certainly something for the future, as you say Jack!

Good ideas

I just wanted to make these suggestions. I think it is a very good idea and would bring iGP closer to the real world.

I cope with all points Jamie made.

I am afraid that in half a year this game will be to difficult for me. My ass is allready getting kicked as it is (by 16 year olds).

Please install some kind of a cheating posibility as well so you can come up with ways to win races if your not good at the game but good at cheating.
It would'nt even be really unrealistic seeing 2008 (Flavio + Piquet = +1 Alonso)

+1 for Jamie!
@Roeland: you serious? ;p

Glad you all like it :D

Could you detail your suggestion, Jamie?
I like the proposal, but it could mean all or nothing depending on how and what.

A thing I see is that the way of hiring drivers maybe needs changes than, as it is ridiculuouyly affordable to change the driver every now and than.
Thats not too bad though, as that might change, when we are around level 10 or 15 or so, when a long term strategie starts to make sense in terms of developing a driver.

On the other hand, I see, that the driver market goes down, cause if you train your driver over years, you won't let him go, cause you will consider him most likely as your beloved driver. That can be good, can be bad.

These are not really backdraws, but maybe it explains a bit why I would like to hear that proposal more in-depth.

As a highflyer Meta-idea...I like it...there is something in it.

i would like to ask wot you mean by cheating mate? i see no way of cheating round here at the moment. and if you struggling i am more thatn happy offer any help you need to help. i feel am pretty gd at this game now and figured out the things need to be a top team so drop me a PM if you have any questions

I mean cheating like in the example I gave with Piquet, Briatore and Alonso in 2008.

Thx for the offer to give me a hand but I think I do okey. Usely I'll be in the top 3. We just have a player who is kicking everyones asses with one hand on his back. He won 14 of the 15 races allready. So when I get a second place it feels like a victory :).


Also, I think that if you really want to win a lot of races consistantly you'll need to watch all the races and use the 2D feature. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do that, eventhough the 2D thing is quite cool and attracting.

I'll do my best.

As things currently are, we are allowed two drivers, depending on the league. This is all well and good, but if you are in a position when you are more often than not fighting for points, would you really want to risk getting rid of one of your drivers unless you are sure that there is another driver that is better?

The fact of the matter is, that no-one is 100% certain on what attributes make a driver noteably quicker than others. Some probably have a better idea than others, and some are probably working it out as they go along. But if you can't race with different drivers to test different attributes, then it's unlikely that you'll know what attributes will effect different circumstances. 

By recruiting a test/reserve driver, it gives people the option to try out different attributes in drivers, without the risk of letting go of the drivers they already know are decent. This process could be done in different ways though:

1. The reserve driver can be switched into a race seat to give the manager a chance to assess how good they are against a known quantity in the other driver.
2. Having a testing programme set up, which allows you to put two of your drivers on to a track and let them do a number of laps each to assess how each driver does in terms of raw speed, tyre wear, tyre warm up etc. This would enable the manager to evaluate what makes a good driver, meaning that they'd be able to look for better drivers in the future. 

That's basically the test/reserve driver idea. It can be taken alone, or it can be added to with other ideas, which leads me to the second part of my original post.

The second part, which goes on to say about the young driver programme is pretty self explanatory in my view, and doesn't necessarily have to be linked to the first suggestion. But I think it would add something more for higher levels. Maybe between 10-15. However, having said that, once the young driver is old enough to compete, then there would be nothing stopping you recruiting them as a reserve driver to see how they fair against your other drivers.


Also, as an addition. If injuries are ever added as a result of accidents or crashes within races, then reserve drivers would play a vital part in helping your team carry on. No-one wants to be in a situation like Ferrari was in in 2009 :)

Hope this answers your question Hesketh, and if there's anything you'd like to ask, I'd be more than happy to answer.