1980 Classic GP Manager

[TTupsi]

What is this thread?
This is a F1 team manager game that started from 1979 and has now progressed into its second season, 1980. Playing is free and requires a relatively little effort by the players. Players choose teams that they wish to try and lead to the glory of becoming F1 World Champion. Gameplay consists of signing drivers, sponsors, engines and tyres and development of chassis.

Check the original 1979 season thread for history etc. here!


How the game works
The race weekends are run on Microprose Grand Prix 2 by the game moderator. Driver and team attributes and values, contract negotiations, events etc. are calculated in OOo Calc sheets, made by game moderator.

Game moderator reserves the right to adjust any unrealistic values or functions at any time.


Race weekends
Race weekends are normally simulated twice a week. However, this is not concrete and the date of the next race will be announced after every race.

Race weekends consist of pre-qualifying, two qualifying sessions and a race. Practice session are not simulated. Best 12 teams ranked by points in the last cut-off (end-of-season/mid-season) advance straight into qualifying. Two remainding team slots are filled by teams that have to go through pre-qualifying. Winner of pre-qualifying and his teammate, plus the team with best combined time will advance and join the best 12 teams in qualifying.

Example pre-qualifying results:

Driver 1 – Minardi – 1.20,000
Driver 1 – Jordan – 1.20,500
Driver 1 – Caterham – 1.20,600
Driver 2 – Caterham – 1.20,900
Driver 2 – Jordan – 1.21,850
Driver 2 – Minardi – 1.23,500

→ Minardi and Caterham advance to qualifying.

28 teams take part in qualifying. There is room for only 26 drivers in the grid so two slowest drivers won't qualify for the race. There is no 107% rule.

Points distribution

Points are awarded for the top-6 finishers on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis.

Note! Only the best five results from the first seven races and the best five results from the remaining eight races could be retained by each driver.

End-of-season prize money

Teams receive prize money depending on their final position in the constructor's championship standings. Below is a list of prize money awarded for each position.

View attachment 85334

How to sign up
You can sign up by replying to this thread. Be sure to include the name of the team you wish to manage. Available teams are listed below. If no teams are available you can sign up to waiting list. There is no limit on the number of sign-ups.

Available teams:
None

New teams become available the season they joined F1 irl.
Next teams to join:
1981 – March, Theodore, Toleman
1983 - RAM, Spirit

Waiting list
@Tim Engberink

Note! By signing you confirm you have read and understood the rules of the game.

 

[TTupsi]

How to play
When a season begins game moderator creates a private conversation with each manager. The conversation can be used for any communication between the manager and game moderator. All team information not meant for public viewing (incl. Budget, development info etc.) will be shared via this route. Every manager can share any information they wish publicly.

Manager's jobs:

1. Each team receives 2-3 sponsor offers via PM. Every manager must choose only one of the available offers before the deadline indicated in the PM.​

2. Available driver and engine and tyre manufacturer lists are released. After signing a sponsor contract each team must bid for drivers, engine and tyres via PM before the deadline indicated in the forum post containing the lists.​

How the bidding works:

Every item (driver/engine/tyre) has a minimum salary/price that has to be met. Each team must make at least three offers for each item (except for tyres) including annual salary/price and length of the contract. Offered contract length can be 1-3 years (only 1 year for pay-drivers).

Note! It is advised to make more than three offers per item, especially if bidding for potentially popular items. There is no limit on how many offers can be made.

Example bid:

Driver 1
1. Mika Häkkinen 5000cr – 2 years
2. David Coulthard 3500cr – 2 years
3. Damon Hill 4000cr – 1 year
4. Pedro de la Rosa 2000cr - 1 year

Driver 2
1. David Coulthard 3000cr - 3 years
2. Eddie Irvine 3000cr – 2 years
3. Damon Hill 3000cr – 1 year
4. Pedro de la Rosa 1400cr – 2 years
5. Jean Alesi 2200cr – 3 years
6. Toranosuke Takagi pay 150cr/race - 1 year *

Engine
1. Cosworth 5500cr – 3 years
2. Mugen-Honda 5000cr – 3 years
3. Mercedes 6000cr – 1 year

Tyres
1. Michelin 3000cr – 2 years
2. Bridgestone 3200cr – 3 years

* Pay-drivers pay for their seat before each race. Each pay-driver has a maximum money he can afford to pay per race. Pay-drivers can be signed only for 1 year at a time.

Note! The highest bidder doesn't always win the bidding contest! There are other factors, including team status, that affect which team's offer an item chooses.

3. Each team decides whether to take part in pre-season test. Testing costs 500cr per team. Each team taking part in pre-season test gets a development boost more efficient than a regular development investment.​

4. Managers decide on the money invested in chassis development and the target of the development (Performance or Reliability). Failure to do so will result in no chassis development.

How the chassis development works:
Chassis development is done on a race-by-race basis. Managers decide on the amount of money used per race to develop the chassis and whether they want to target the development into performance or reliability (current chassis). When building a new chassis the development is general and managers can't target the development. Money invested per race can range from 100cr to 500cr by increments of 50 (150cr is a valid amount, 388cr is not). Teams cannot develop both performance and reliability at the same time. No money invested means no development.

More money used per race means faster and/or better development. With the minimum amount the development usually takes between 3-8 races to complete.
The development money used per race can be determined for the duration of the whole season before first race or changed after every race, however each manager sees fit.
Each car has a randomised predefined amount of times it can be developed. After reaching the development cap the only chance is to build a new chassis.
Note! Development money usage is not linear. 500cr investment per race doesn't equal 5 races à 100cr investment. It is advised to divide development money equally between the races for maximum efficiency, unless a team is in dire need of update of course.

Building a new chassis
Building a new chassis is slower and costs more than developing an existing chassis but can produce better results.
Teams can choose to build a new chassis at any time during the season. Designing a chassis costs an initial 2500cr and building the chassis at least 100cr per every race the chassis is in development. Money invested per race can range from 100cr to 500cr by increments of 50. More money used per race means faster and/or better development. With the minimum amount the development usually takes between 10-14 races to complete.
Note! When building a new chassis managers can't target the development into performance or reliability. Rather, the development is general and requires only monetary investment as explained above.

5. When dealing with team budget, a manager should keep in mind that the team's budget cannot go below zero. If a team cannot afford to sign an engine and/or tyre deal for a season or cannot afford to pay for its existing contracts, it will go bankrupt and fold. The manager of such team is free to rejoin the game with a new team next season.​

Useful notes

• There will not be any videos of the race simulations. Short descriptions of the races are provided by the game moderator. The events mentioned in the commentaries might not have actually happened and be made up by the moderator instead. Players are free to RP any actions on and off the track if they wish (please keep it realistic though).
  
  
• Game moderator will never share any team's budgets, bids or car performance/reliability values publicly. Managers are free to share any information they wish in this thread.
  
  
• Managers will have to rely solely on race weekend results to find out the relative performance differences. No exact BHP/grip/performance values are shared with the managers.
  
  
• Above applies to drivers's attributes too. Drivers's abilities are based (but slightly randomised) on real life levels when they join the game. Driver attributes are updated after ever season. There are multiple things that effect the increase/decrease including age, motivation, general performance during the season and performance against team-mate. To put it shortly, the better a driver performs, the more his skill will increase and vice versa.
  
  
• Driver motivation is a hidden value that effects attribute development and the date of retirement. When motivation goes below zero and a driver doesn't have a contract for next season, he/she will retire and be erased from the files. This means once retired driver cannot make a comeback (like Lauda/Schumacher).
  
  
• Drivers cannot get killed. This means drivers like Villeneuve or Senna are included in the game and will not retire before their RL accidents but instead will be able to race beyond their RL accidents. Game moderator understands this can be a controversial decision but surely the only logical one. This way we can really see what the drivers could have achieved and it is in no way meant to be disgraceful towards anyone.
  
  
• Teams stay in the game as long as they have an active manager and they don't go bankrupt. This means that Lotus for example can race beyond the 1994 season.
  
  
• New drivers join the driver pool the season they joined F1 in real life. Sorry, Schumacher won't be available until 1991.
  
  
• Each team receives 9 free development points (worth 9 races of 100cr development) in the off-season. This means that especially building a new chassis is most profitable when scheduled to mostly take place during the off-season.
  
  
• Signing pay-drivers can be risky business, not everyone has the money to complete a full season! Pay-drivers that run out of money can be sacked immediately (but not automatically).
  
  
• Teams can sack drivers and change engine/tyre manufacturers during the season. No money will be returned by the sacked drivers/manufacturers.
  
  
• Sacking pay-drivers costs 50% of the money the driver has so far paid for the team during the season (if pay-driver is paying 100cr/race and has raced 6 races, sacking him will cost (6*100cr)*0,5=300cr).
  
  
• RNG plays a relatively big part in this game so don't take it too seriously.

Teams and managers
Ferrari - @Joel
Tyrrell - @kedy89
Brabham - @William Néron
McLaren - @Aidan Keranen
Fittipaldi - @Manolis Sigoulakis
Lotus - @Takuma Ishikawa
Renault - @Costello
Shadow - @Omer Said
Wolf - @tigerkart_22
Ensign - @Steven Poirier
Alfa Romeo - @Márk Lintner
Ligier - @airutonpurosuto8912
Williams - @Jimlaad43
Arrows - @Milos
Rebaque - @Diehl
ATS - @Donaldinho105
Osella - @Millsy24

 

[TTupsi]

Teams and drivers and contracts

Calendar
Races are run on an average of 2 races per week.

1. Argentine GP, Buenos Aires
2. Brazilian GP, Interlagos
3. South African GP, Kyalami
4. United States GP West, Long Beach
5. Belgian GP, Zolder
6. Monaco GP, Monaco
7. Spanish GP, Jarama
8. French GP, Paul Ricard
9. British GP, Brands Hatch
10. German GP, Hockenheimring
11. Austrian GP, Österreichring
12. Dutch GP, Zandvoort
13. Italian GP, Imola
14. Canadian GP, Île Notre-Dame
15. United States GP, Watkins Glen

Championship standings

Only the best five results from first seven and the best five from the remaining eight races count towards the final points.

Bottom five teams after 7 races have to go through pre-qualifying in the last 8 races.

Available manufacturers

Unattached drivers

 

[Milos]

ah noooo
well, it was nice hacking the game

ps: FIRST AGAIN YEAH

 

[TTupsi]

wait why am I still this low down?
I thought now my 9th place in last year's championship counted me further upwards

Back in the day teams had fixed numbers

 

[Milos]

really?
I want fixed numbers of 0 and 2 (or 1 and 2 if I sign Carlos )

 

[TTupsi]

really?
I want fixed numbers of 0 and 2 (or 1 and 2 if I sign Carlos )

Yep, only way for your team to get other numbers than 29&30 is to have the defending champion driving for your team

Or you can wait until 1996 when they changed the numbering system

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

I have James Hunt as one of my drivers don't I? @TTupsi

 

[TTupsi]

I have James Hunt as one of my drivers don't I? @TTupsi

Yes, all the info you need regarding your team is found in our conversation.

@ all
Discussions have been updated. I'll start sending sponsor contracts tomorrow morning.

@Jimlaad43
Could you move my reserved results post to third in the thread, thanks

ANY NEW PLAYERS ARE WELCOME TO JOIN! SEE FIRST POST FOR DETAILS.

 

[Milos]

Yes, all the info you need regarding your team is found in our conversation.

see? I told you it was a very nice conversation @tigerkart_22

 

[TTupsi]

To keep you all occupied, here are the current contracts of every team. (driver ages not updated. add +1 to each one)

And the list of unattached drivers. Some quality names out there, including the defending champion!

 

[Joel]

Conversations coming up?

 

[William Néron]

Are sponsor offer up to date?

 

[kedy89]

Looking good, no contracts to worry about . Some interesting new drivers though.

@TTupsi: a question that came to my mind (though not relevant yet), how will you deal with team takeovers, e.g. Toleman->Benetton (should be the first to happen I think). If noone takes Toleman, would that mean that Benetton (and thus Renault, Lotus, ...) will never happen? Just curious

 

[TTupsi]

@TTupsi: a question that came to my mind (though not relevant yet), how will you deal with team takeovers, e.g. Toleman->Benetton (should be the first to happen I think). If noone takes Toleman, would that mean that Benetton (and thus Renault, Lotus, ...) will never happen? Just curious

Takeovers can happen but not nevessarily on the same year or even for the same team as irl. For example Benetton might offer a takeover (meaning increased funds) to some other small but promising team RNG plays a part here too and I have it figured out.

It's the same for engine manufacturers too, Renault for example might start selling customer engines earlier or later than irl, time will tell

 

[Milos]

For example Benetton might offer a takeover (meaning increased funds) to some other small but promising team RNG plays a part here too and I have it figured out.

really?
pls come to Arrows
pretty pls

 

[kedy89]

Takeovers can happen but not nevessarily on the same year or even for the same team as irl. For example Benetton might offer a takeover (meaning increased funds) to some other small but promising team RNG plays a part here too and I have it figured out.

It's the same for engine manufacturers too, Renault for example might start selling customer engines earlier or later than irl, time will tell

Like that a lot

 

[TTupsi]

New sponsor offers sent! You have until Thursday morning to choose your sponsor. After that we'll start bidding for drivers, engines and tyres!

If you haven't received a sponsor offer and feel you should have, please PM me. Wouldn't surprise me if I missed someone

 

[Deleted member 161052]

Any list of available engines?

 

[TTupsi]

Same as last year

Ford, Alfa, Ferrari, Renault and Matra.

(Ferrari and Renault not selling customer engines)