GPRM FAQ version 1.

[jph27]

I have a few questions about new teams and engine suppliers.

1. Which Teams will try to enter?

2. Which Engine Suppliers will try to enter?

3. Can you lure Suppliers into the sport by offering them contracts?

[minardi22]

Hi again, i don't know if this has been asked anywhere.

1) in the game there are a number of different racing series which will be included in the game so you can choose drivers. In the editor which will be with the game can you add drivers from series other than those released with the game.

2) Same as above but about adding sponsors

3) also about sponsors it seems from the reply from my last question that sponsors are rated from 1-5*. Does this suggest that it is not worth putting small sponsors (sorry for using another minardi example) like Beta, Allegrini, Cimatron, COCIF, Gericom in the game because they would only probably pay $100,000 to $200,000 per race so would not give you much of a sponsorship base.

[Dave Ryan]

Re 3): The rating system comes from the nature of the "slots" on the car that the sponsor is paying for, as well as their overall ability to pay. To use real world examples for the sake of clarity, a large company like Shell or Red Bull is not going to pay millions of dollars just for their name to be put on the rear wing endplates only - they would expect a lot more for their money, so won't be interested in that slot. Likewise, a smaller company will not be able to fork out the sums a team will be expecting for something like title sponsorship so they won't bother with negotiations like that either. Certain slots on a car can only be realistically marketed for a certain amount, so even if you approach a 5* sponsor you may only get a 2* amount if it's a 2* slot. They may not even bother at all. It's on that basis that smaller companies are included in the game, because in real life they'll be the companies who pay for the smaller spaces on the cars. The side of the Ferrari is a good example of it. You won't be able to replicate something like that in the game, but with the smaller slots it makes more sense to go for a company that it will appeal to.

Hope that makes sense.

[BioBiro]

I got a few questions - I hope they're not tedious or have already been asked. I'm can't wait for GPRM to come out!

What's it like be a small, underfunded team in GPRM? I know the days of privateer, prequalifying-failing teams are gone for the time being but with mods simulating the 80's and 90's, players could again re-live the fun of controlling teams like EuroBrun, Life, and Simtek!

I think one of the major downsides to playing GPW with a small team is that there is no money to develop anything. So I ask - are tailender's able to have works deals with equally small/underfunded suppliers? E.g. Minardi might not be able to achieve a works deal with a top supplier like Mercedes or Goodyear, but could achieve a works agreement with someone like Judd or Repsol, and be able to have some say in what goes on.

Will a small team be financially able to develop new parts such as the front wing or electronics for their cars?

Could a small team be unable to manufacture new parts and have to reuse or fix old ones (e.g. I remember Murray Walker saying at Spa 1992 that the Fondmetal team could not afford new parts, and had told their drivers to go slower not to crash, because if they broke a wing or something there would be no spares awaiting them!), or even be unable to enter their second car at a race weekend?

Can you run a team so bad that it's hard work to even qualify for a race?

[Jops]

I have a few questions about new teams and engine suppliers.

1. Which Teams will try to enter?

2. Which Engine Suppliers will try to enter?

3. Can you lure Suppliers into the sport by offering them contracts?

1. At The minute the current teams attampeting to enter in my game are: Force India, Arden, DubaiF1, Hyundai Racing, Prodrive, Volkswagen, Minardi and MidlandF1. However, these names may be changed before release, and there may be additional teams that will try to enter but haven't begun negotiations yet. And those i don't know, but you can already see there is a huge range of spare teams to keep things interesting.

2. Well at the minute spare engine suppliers are Asiatech and VW.

3. Yes, there are spare suppliers in each area without teams, and by offering contracts you can lure them back into the sport. For example spare tyre suppliers that you can lure back on the 07 set are Michelin and Goodyear.

Hi again, i don't know if this has been asked anywhere.

1) in the game there are a number of different racing series which will be included in the game so you can choose drivers. In the editor which will be with the game can you add drivers from series other than those released with the game.

2) Same as above but about adding sponsors

3) also about sponsors it seems from the reply from my last question that sponsors are rated from 1-5*. Does this suggest that it is not worth putting small sponsors (sorry for using another minardi example) like Beta, Allegrini, Cimatron, COCIF, Gericom in the game because they would only probably pay $100,000 to $200,000 per race so would not give you much of a sponsorship base.

1. I think so, but im not certain you can edit the series names. I shall gfind out.

2. same as above

3. No i think you have missed the point. If there is a 5* sponsor, and you try and negotiate for a 1* slot. They will come back and say "(Sponsor) does not know why you have approached them as this is blantently NOT the correct budget for them". So essentially if you try to negotiate a big sponsor with the small slot. They won't speak to you. So for smaller teams, you need those small sponsors or you wont get anyone.
For a small team like super aguri, your top spot on the car, may only be a 3* spot, whereas on a ferrari that same slot would be a 5*. However if you perform well as super aguri, its possible after a season or 2 that 3* sponsor may increase to a 4* sponsor and you will be able to attract more money for that spot.
Do you see now?

I got a few questions - I hope they're not tedious or have already been asked. I'm can't wait for GPRM to come out!

What's it like be a small, underfunded team in GPRM? I know the days of privateer, prequalifying-failing teams are gone for the time being but with mods simulating the 80's and 90's, players could again re-live the fun of controlling teams like EuroBrun, Life, and Simtek!

I think one of the major downsides to playing GPW with a small team is that there is no money to develop anything. So I ask - are tailender's able to have works deals with equally small/underfunded suppliers? E.g. Minardi might not be able to achieve a works deal with a top supplier like Mercedes or Goodyear, but could achieve a works agreement with someone like Judd or Repsol, and be able to have some say in what goes on.

Will a small team be financially able to develop new parts such as the front wing or electronics for their cars?

Could a small team be unable to manufacture new parts and have to reuse or fix old ones (e.g. I remember Murray Walker saying at Spa 1992 that the Fondmetal team could not afford new parts, and had told their drivers to go slower not to crash, because if they broke a wing or something there would be no spares awaiting them!), or even be unable to enter their second car at a race weekend?

Can you run a team so bad that it's hard work to even qualify for a race?

1. Great fun but very hard, it often means you have to micro-manage more than you do at the top teams, and there is often very little reward for anything you do.

2. Its unlikely, because a supplier, regardless of size, wouldn't want to give a small team a works deal, as the supplier then gets no money. I've tried it, most suppliers say they aren't interested in a works deal with your team. But i think it is possible, just unlikely.

3. Yes, but not on the scale of a big team, Ferrari may be able to run 3 concepts at a time for a new front wing, whilst developing parts for every other bit of the car. Super Aguri may only be able to develop one front wing concept, and may be unable to develop all parts of the car at the same time. Also, super aguri, as a result of less staff, will get far less concepts to be developed.

4.No, you can always manufacture new parts, but if it got to the stage as bad as you're thinking, that would mean you have run over budget, and would probably mean you get the sack at the end of the season anyway.

5. No, i dont think so.

[99shill]

what is the name of the organisation in charge as it isnt FIA what will it be?

[Simul810]

The organisation in charge is called "GPRM".

[minardi22]

as of current beta, believe me, lots and lots of data. suppliers, drivers, sponsors, teams, staff, engine info.. the various kind on information that could be provided to make this game realistic

Does this i can enter the details of any drivers i want including those who did not race in the racing series already in the game like GP2, F3 Euro Series, British F3. So because the F2 championship started again in 2009 where would these drivers go if i were to make a 2009 or 2010 mod.

The same applies to the sponsors can you just keep adding sponsors into the game over time?

[minardi22]

Sorry, another question on finance/sponsorship.

in the original FAQ it says you can get finance from corporate investment, especially car manufacturers, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes etc. Would this work in the same way for an independent team like Virgin Racing this year, as Virgin boss Richard Branson has put his own money into the team with Virgin logos over the rear and front wings.

[Jops]

as of current beta, believe me, lots and lots of data. suppliers, drivers, sponsors, teams, staff, engine info.. the various kind on information that could be provided to make this game realistic

Does this i can enter the details of any drivers i want including those who did not race in the racing series already in the game like GP2, F3 Euro Series, British F3. So because the F2 championship started again in 2009 where would these drivers go if i were to make a 2009 or 2010 mod.

The same applies to the sponsors can you just keep adding sponsors into the game over time?

i dont really understand this question, but i think the answer is yes, you can basically change everything related to drivers with the editor. Ad i think you may be able to change sponsors. Its doubtful you'd bother with that though, there was so many (F1 and non-f1) included.

Sorry, another question on finance/sponsorship.

in the original FAQ it says you can get finance from corporate investment, especially car manufacturers, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes etc. Would this work in the same way for an independent team like Virgin Racing this year, as Virgin boss Richard Branson has put his own money into the team with Virgin logos over the rear and front wings.

There are no plans to include that form of corporate investment at the moment.
Essentially for the minute it is funding from engines/car companies, and the sponsors you can sign.
For example, Toyota get around 150m from their hq in the game.

[Bobbo]

How much money do you get when you start a new team?

[Jops]

How much money do you get when you start a new team?

Depends. Depends on your corporate investment and how much you had left over from last year.

For example, Ferrari may start the season with around £35M, as this is how much they had left over from last year, then after a month their engine supplier (Ferrari, so its like a company injection here), will give them a budget of £150M. So essentially you may start the season with £190M. Your aim financially is not to spend all that, if you include sponsors your whole seasons budget may be 250M+

[Ratel]

1. About young drivers and other series. I know about "You can create links with teams in other series. This is a crucial way of developing young talent." But say if you get a promising young driver, and get him a good seat in F3000/GP2, will you also be able to have him as a test driver at the same time? To develop him even more but mostly just reserve him so another team doesn't pull him from under you while your letting him develop

2. Suppliers.  Will you be able to try get better suppliers of parts, tyres, engine, fuel etc. By giving them sponsorship space?

3. You can create you're own team in the beginning right. However what if say you run Williams for 2 years, then decide to make your own team, and where would you funds come from? Could you do that or is it strictly from the game start?

4. If you create you're own team or even just have a team that isn't tied to any big constructors (e.g Force India, Williams, etc) . Will you be able to make a connection with some, say for example with VW? or obtain any corporate backing?

Great work on this guys, it looks like a master piece from all angles, really it does. You have so many dream features that I thought I could only dream of. And on top of that you came through all the criticism for so many years, to keep going through that for so long is commendable. 


Edit:  Another question but sort of answer here.
http://www.gprm.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=5290.0 

Well looking at the news screen.  There is some stuff that needs to be scrapped.  Useless things like the component development news.  All that is is just some irrelevant commentary.
From a realistic stand point how would a F1 news site know about a team's components in the technical analysis parts?  And you don't see F1 news sites reporting that.
Just need to find a good trade off for a realistic news site and one suitable for a game I suppose.

Thats not really right. Autosport often go quite deep into technical insight after every test session and race and even developed a very good theory on Mclarens, F-Duct system weeks before the first race, and they where damn close.

I'm not saying that we must have something to that extent but a news report saying e.g "Team X have a new front wing package for Monaco" .  And in actual fact we knew Merc where bringing a new diffuser and general aero update for the first race last weekend.  It would put a nice immersive touch on the game.

Sorry for derailing a bit onto a suggestion/discussion, but my question is,
5. will the news notice our teams pushing development and having new developments that we hope to use to make a leap up the grid.

[minardi22]

In GPRM if you managed a back of the grid team on a shoestring budget, what would be the lowest budget you could have for a season, as when reading the Forza Minardi book in 2002 & 2003 the budget was as little as $22million for a season.

Secondly in the original FAQ it said i think that Asiatech would be in the game. Would this engine company be classed as a manufacturer? Also if it was, because it would not be able to pay a team the millions of dollars Ferrari, Mercedes and Toyota could, will the team contracted to Asiatech just get free engines as Arrows and then Minardi did in 2001 and 2002?

[Jops]

1. About young drivers and other series. I know about "You can create links with teams in other series. This is a crucial way of developing young talent." But say if you get a promising young driver, and get him a good seat in F3000/GP2, will you also be able to have him as a test driver at the same time? To develop him even more but mostly just reserve him so another team doesn't pull him from under you while your letting him develop

2. Suppliers.  Will you be able to try get better suppliers of parts, tyres, engine, fuel etc. By giving them sponsorship space?

3. You can create you're own team in the beginning right. However what if say you run Williams for 2 years, then decide to make your own team, and where would you funds come from? Could you do that or is it strictly from the game start?

4. If you create you're own team or even just have a team that isn't tied to any big constructors (e.g Force India, Williams, etc) . Will you be able to make a connection with some, say for example with VW? or obtain any corporate backing?

Great work on this guys, it looks like a master piece from all angles, really it does. You have so many dream features that I thought I could only dream of. And on top of that you came through all the criticism for so many years, to keep going through that for so long is commendable. 


Edit:  Another question but sort of answer here.
http://www.gprm.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=5290.0 

Well looking at the news screen.  There is some stuff that needs to be scrapped.  Useless things like the component development news.  All that is is just some irrelevant commentary.
From a realistic stand point how would a F1 news site know about a team's components in the technical analysis parts?  And you don't see F1 news sites reporting that.
Just need to find a good trade off for a realistic news site and one suitable for a game I suppose.

Thats not really right. Autosport often go quite deep into technical insight after every test session and race and even developed a very good theory on Mclarens, F-Duct system weeks before the first race, and they where damn close.

I'm not saying that we must have something to that extent but a news report saying e.g "Team X have a new front wing package for Monaco" .  And in actual fact we knew Merc where bringing a new diffuser and general aero update for the first race last weekend.  It would put a nice immersive touch on the game.

Sorry for derailing a bit onto a suggestion/discussion, but my question is,
5. will the news notice our teams pushing development and having new developments that we hope to use to make a leap up the grid.

1. Yes, you can put them in a "linked" team in another series and have them as a test/reserve driver.

2. No, but its a nice idea.

3. No, if you wanted to do that, essentially the principle would be the same, you wait to see a new team join, when they get access granted, you could leave williams and apply for that new team, and essentially would be building them from there. So it is actually, exactly the same process    So my answer is actually yes, but you cant do it from a whim.
I add that you are a technical director, not a team principle, so with the new team, the principle would put up the money. You then have to get sponsors, staff etc.

4. Yes you will be able to get big corporate backing, but you really need a bit of success for them to be interested in that kind of deal.

5. Im not sure, i don't think so, i will check. There is a screen which notes all teams car performance imrpovements each race. (in terms of lap time)