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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'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.