
GRAND PRIX WIZARD

In GRAND PRIX WIZARD you control any one of sixteen racing teams. You hire and 
fire drivers and management; design, construct and test cars; and make 
critical financial and race-day decisions. Will you win the constructors' and 
drivers' championships, or will you go bankrupt?  Play the game and find 
out.

STARTING THE GAME

Grand Prix Wizard is designed to be very easy to play, so don't be put off by 
the wealth of information and options available: the computer can do most of 
the work for you, though real success requires a fair bit of intervention and 
experimentation.

KEYBOARD AND MOUSE

Grand Prix Wizard is designed to be played using only 6 keys on the keyboard: 
the 4 cursor keys, enter and esc. All parts of the game can be played using 
only these keys (with the exception of input of names, which obviously uses 
the alphabetic keys).

If preferred, a mouse can be used: the mouse movements maps to the cursor 
keys, with the left button giving enter and the right button giving esc. A 
mouse driver must be loaded for the mouse to work.

The general functions of the keys are as follows: 

cursor keys (or mouse movement): move you about the screen from icon to icon, 
or changes quantities

enter key (left button): select an option or view next item

esc key (right button): escape,backtrack or view previous item

The best way to become familiar with the functions of the keys (or mouse) is 
simply to experiment.

THE ICONS

The game is controlled by the selection of icons. Do not be afraid to explore 
your way around.

The team information panel at the top centre-right of the screen tells you 
which team is current. If this team is one of those controlled by a human 
player then the screen border will light up with the team colour. Select the 
team information panel to change the current team.

You can also use the Tab key to move between teams.

The main (large) icons are as follows: 

- circuit information (circuit diagram)    
- car information (car)
- driver information (helmet)
- management information (spanner)
- team summary (group of people)
- cash statements (dollar bill)
- results (podium)
- graphs (graph) 
- commentary (microphone)
- play on (OK)

The subsidiary (smaller) icons at the top right of the screen are: 

- help (question mark)
- load previous season (clock)
- save game (diskette) 
- quit (DOS)

CIRCUITS

There are 20 circuits in the game : 16 for the championship, and 4 others 
which may be used for testing. For each new season, there is likely to be a 
change in the choice of circuits used for the championship.

Information on holder, qualifying and race lap records is zeroed at the start 
of the game, and will appear as the game progresses.

It is assumed that regulations are altered every year to keep a limit on car 
speeds, so that despite advances in technology, lap times will not get faster: 
thus as the seasons progress it will get more and more difficult to achieve 
new records.

CARS

Performance:

The car displays shows the current performance rating for each car part, for 
both the current cars and the development cars. This does NOT reflect 
reliability, just effectiveness.

Parts:

Part categories are as follows: 

- engine : fuel injection, engine, and exhaust   
- transmission : gearbox, differential and drive shafts   
- electrics and electronics : ignition and computer systems   
- aerodynamics : bodyshell and wings   
- chassis : frame   
- suspension : shock absorbers, springs and steering   
- brakes : disks, pads and hydraulics

Parts shown in brown are those designed in-house, those in magenta are bought 
in, and those in grey are supplied free of charge by the outside manufacturer 
under a promotional deal.

Damage:

The state of completion of each current car is shown on the right of the 
display: any problems and the car cannot be used. The bigger the Engineering 
department (and the better the leadership), the faster cars can be rebuilt.

Number of cars:

This can be selected at the development stage (hit Esc/right button when in 
the parts selection): you can make 2, 3, or 4 cars. More cars mean more work 
for your engineers, but better cover during race meetings for accident damage: 
running with 2 cars makes you very vulnerable - one smash up in qualifying and 
the chances are that one of your drivers will not have a car to race in.

The number of cars to be built must be decided before assembly begins. It is 
wise to build at least one spare car, in case of accident damage or other 
problems during a race meeting, provided your finances allow.

Reliability:

The underlying reliability of car parts is not displayed in the game: it is up 
to you to watch the test reports, and race-meeting reports of reliability 
problems, to get a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your cars in 
this area. This is a major key to success in the game.

Breakdowns indicate a weakness in a certain component of your car, which may 
be the fault of the manufacturer (if it is a bought-in part), or due to a 
weakness by your Chief Mechanic and his department in this area. For example, 
if you repeatedly suffer engine failure, and your Chief Mechanic is good with 
engines, then the manufacturer must be to blame: use a different manufacturer 
next season.

Development cars:

Choose parts for your development cars, by selecting the part required from 
the cars display and choosing from the list of parts offered: the last one 
listed will always be your own (ie develop your own new part) and the second 
last will be your existing own developed part (if you have one).

The competitiveness of every part will deteriorate from the moment it is 
designed: this is true equally of bought-in parts and in-house designs. Thus 
it is important to develop a new car every year. The only justifications for 
using any of the same parts (ie same make and model) on a new car are speed of 
development (no design work will be required) and familiarity ('better the 
devil you know'), but performance will deteriorate unless your design staff 
work miracles.

Once most or all of the parts are chosen, and the majority of the design work 
has been done, assembly will begin. At this point further parts will be bought 
to make the full complement of cars (parts for one car will have already been 
bought for the design stage).

Once parts are chosen, you can change your mind and select alternative 
components, so long as the development process is not complete. You will have 
wasted some design work, and paid for the original part: if assembly has begun 
then you will also have wasted some assembly work and will have paid for 
original parts for each car.

Once the development car is fully designed and assembled, you cannot change 
parts. If you do not like the car at this stage, and would prefer to keep the 
old car and start a new design from scratch, then you can abandon the 
development cars. This is a very wasteful and expensive move, and should not 
be done lightly.

Note that it is not necessary to select fuel and tyre manufacturers until you 
wish to use the new cars.

Once the development cars are completely designed and assembled, you will be 
offered the chance to replace your current cars with them. You may choose to 
wait and test them before putting them into use.

Bought-in parts:

The easiest and quickest way to design and build your own cars is to buy in 
the components 'off the shelf'. Your design staff need only adapt the various 
components to work with each other, and set them up for optimum performance: 
most of the design work has already been done.

Every June, new parts catalogues are published.

Design your own parts:

The top teams like to develop key parts of their cars in-house. This gives 
greater control over the performance and reliability of the parts: if you have 
a top quality Chief Designer and a top quality Chief Engineer, you should be 
able to produce better parts than you can buy in.

In-house development of parts within a reasonable timescale, requires a large 
design department: it is wise to attempt only one or two new parts per season 
unless you are a top team with massive resources. You should monitor the 
design of the parts on the car information screen from month to month during 
development, to get a feel for what your department can achieve.

If you are already using an in-house part, this can be reused, saving design 
work, but performance will not be as good as a new design (unless your design 
department have got much worse at designing that type of part).

As a rough guide transmissions, electronics systems, bodyshells and chassis 
will require double the resources of suspensions or brakes, to develop 
in-house. Engines will require double the resources again.

It is assumed that the actual manufacture of in-house parts is contracted 
outside. The engineers simply assemble them, so their work is not much greater 
than in dealing with bought-in parts (which may have to be modified). Thus the 
bulk of the extra work falls on the design department.

DRIVERS

No matter how good your car, you will not get anywhere in the constructor's 
championship without good drivers.

You can have up to three drivers, but only two can be entered for any single 
race. A third (i.e test driver) is useful as a backup: he can enter races if 
either of the other two are injured, and can do all your testing for you, thus 
preventing the likelihood of your main drivers being injured during testing.

Certain poor drivers are willing to pay money to drive for a team: this is a 
useful option for a second driver for teams with financial headaches. Note 
that you will only be paid if the driver actually gets to drive at the race 
meeting: it is no good sticking him in the test driver's seat (although you 
will have a free test driver!). These drivers will pay at the start of the 
meeting for that race, provided they are fit to drive and there is a complete 
car available for them: if they fail to qualify, or injure themselves or 
damage their car, so that they can not race, then tough luck for them!

Contracts:

Driver contracts are for one racing season and terminate at the end of the 
season. Make sure you resign your drivers at the start of the next season, if 
you wish to keep them, otherwise they will most likely be snapped up by 
another team.

You may "poach" a driver who is under contract to another team, but will have 
to pay substantial compensation to that team for breach of contract.

You can sack any of your drivers: again, compensation must be paid to the 
driver for breach of contract.

Selection:

There are 108 drivers to choose from: repeatedly select the driver icon to 
page your way through them. Select the driver information box for any driver 
you wish to interview. Your choice of driver may agree to join you, or he may 
think he's too good for your team. You can sign a driver at any point in the 
season: he joins you immediately.

Select your own contracted drivers to sack them or swap them about.

You cannot select drivers, swap them, or sack them, while at a race meeting.

Age:

Young drivers generally have better years ahead of them. Old drivers will not 
achieve such high levels of fitness and concentration. Drivers will retire in 
their late 30's or early 40's.

Fitness:

Grand Prix drivers have to be super-fit: they will all work hard to achieve 
and maintain fitness. Younger drivers will achieve higher levels of fitness. 
Injuries received in testing or race-meeting accidents are shown as low levels 
of fitness. Unfit drivers (2 blobs or less) will not be allowed to drive, but 
they should recover soon. The fitter the driver, the better his lap times will 
be (all other factors being equal).

Confidence:

The more confident a driver, the better he will perform.

Contentment:

Treat your driver well and he will be content.

A discontented driver may complain and will want to leave, though his 
performance may not be affected as he will wish to show off his abilities to 
other potential employers.

Temperament:

This ranges from reckless to cool. A reckless driver is liable to thrash the 
car to pieces, wear out his tyres quickly, spin off and the like, but he will 
also overtake in the tightest situations, and generally will get round the 
circuit faster. A cool driver will look after the car, preserve his tyres, is 
unlikely to spin off or crash and he won't overtake in dangerous situations. 
With a reliable car, you can be quietly confident of him finishing the race.

A reckless driver is more likely to provide good qualification times than a 
cool one with the same skill. The cool driver is more likely to finish the 
race than the reckless one, but if the reckless driver does finish he should 
obtain a better placing.

It is advisable to have a cool driver for testing purposes.

Skill ratings:

Each driver's ability is analysed as follows: 

testing - the ability to provide useful feedback to the designers and    
engineers during the testing process.

grid starts - the ability to do a rapid standing start without stalling

dry handling - cornering ability in dry conditions 

wet handling - cornering ability in wet conditions

overtaking - the ability to overtake   

blocking - the ability to legally prevent another driver from overtaking 

concentration - the ability to consistently operate at peak effectiveness and 
avoid errors

Driver skills will tend to increase with experience (races) and with age up to 
a peak age (around 35) from when they will tend to stagnate or decrease.

Do not be misled into thinking that all skill categories are equally 
important. For example, testing ability is irrelevant in a driver who is not 
used for testing; blocking is used less often than overtaking during a race, 
as back-markers must be overtaken but do not block; dry handling is more 
important than wet handling as race conditions are more often dry than wet.

It is up to you to observe and decide which skills are of key importance for 
your drivers.

Rank:

This is calculated after every race: drivers are ranked by championship 
points, where equal by number of wins, then best finishing place, then number 
of poles, then best grid position.

DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS

These are the three guys running the main departments for each team : 
administration, design, and engineering. They each have a budget, and a staff 
level (which is directly related to their budget). The more confident they 
are, and the better they are at leadership, the less staff they will need to 
achieve a given amount of work. The qualities of each manager are reflected in 
his department.

Administration:

The administration department, run by the Assistant manager, looks after the 
team headquarters and workshops, deals with property development and 
maintenance, staff administration, accounting, public relations, and 
fund-raising. It also organises test sessions and race meetings. A poor 
assistant will let costs spiral over budget: everything will still get done, 
but inefficiently and at a high cost. A good assistant will keep costs under 
control, and will obtain better sponsorship offers.

Design:

The design department, run by the Chief Designer, is responsible for the 
design and development of cars for the team. This includes the design and 
improvement of in-house parts, as well as the modification of bought-in 
off-the-shelf parts. You will not require a large design department unless you 
are developing some of your own parts.

The higher your Chief Designer is rated for a given car part, the better the 
part he can design. Also if he is very good, he will be able to improve 
bought-in parts.

Engineering:

The engineering department, run by the Chief Designer, is responsible for the 
assembly, maintenance, and repair of cars for the team. It also provides the 
pit crew for test sessions and race meetings. The larger the engineering 
department, the quicker it can assemble new cars, and repair damaged cars, and 
the more effective it will be at pit-stops.

The higher your Chief Engineer is rated for a given car part, the more 
reliable that part is likely to be, especially for in-house developed parts 
where the engineers can provide feedback to the designers.

Contracts:

Management contracts are for one to four years, and can start and end at any 
point in the season.

You may "poach" a  manager who is under contract to another team, but will 
have to pay substantial compensation to that team for breach of contract.

You can sack any of your managers: again, compensation must be paid to them 
for breach of contract.

Selection:

There are 36 managers of each type to choose from: repeatedly select the 
managers icon to page your way through them. Select the '?' icon for anyone 
you wish to interview. Your choice may agree to join you, or he may think he's 
too good for your team.

Select the '?' icon for your own contracted managers to sack them, or alter 
their budgets.

You cannot select managers, sack them, or alter their budgets, while at a race 
meeting.

When choosing a new Chief Designer or Engineer, remember that a car is only as 
good as its weakest component: look for a good all-rounder, if you want a car 
that will be reliable and perform well on all types of circuit.

Budget and staff:

You control the size of your administration, design and engineering 
departments through the departmental budgets.

Managers are left to hire and fire their own staff, according to the budget 
they are given. If you cut the budget, redundancy money must be found.

Age:

Managers will generally improve with age, at least well into their 40's. They 
will retire in their 50's.

Leadership:

Leadership abilities enable a manager to get more out of his staff. A good 
leader will get more work done for a given budget.

Confidence:

A manager's confidence will reflect his staff's attitude. A team with success 
on the track will produce good staff morale, and a confident manager. Lack of 
success will sap morale.

In addition, cutting a manager's budget will sap his confidence, while an 
increase in budget will give a boost in confidence.

A manager's confidence will be reflected in his performance.

Contentment:

A manager's contentment will reflect his staff's attitude. A team with good 
staff relations and success on the track will have happy people working for 
it. Poor staff relations and/or lack of success will produce in-fighting and 
general discord, resulting in an unhappy manager.

In addition, a manager will not like his budget being cut, or his contract not 
being renewed, while an increase in budget, or a new contract, will cheer him 
up.

A discontented manager may complain and will want to leave.

Skill ratings:

Each Assistant's ability is analysed as follows: 

- fundraising : the ability raise overdraft facilities and attract sponsors 
- purchasing : the ability to purchase supplies economically   
- staff relations : the ability to administrate staff of all departments
- factory administration : the ability to organise the factory efficiently 
- testing administration : the ability to organise testing efficiently
- race meeting administration : the ability to organise racing efficiently 
- public relations : the ability to sell the team to sponsors and suppliers

Managers' skill ratings will tend to increase in early life, and to fall away 
towards retirement age.

Each Chief Designer and Chief Engineer's ability is analysed by the parts of 
the car (see Cars above)

Some skills will be more fundamental to your teams performance than others: do 
not be misled by the fact that they are all displayed the same size. It is 
part of the challenge of the game for you to determine which are the key 
skills (though there are no 'red herrings': every skill has an effect).

TEAMS

Ranking:

This is calculated after every race: teams are ranked by Constructor's 
championship points, where equal by number of wins, then best finishing 
places, then number of poles, then best grid positions.

Team ranking is very important and is an indication of the status of the team: 
it is taken into account by sponsors when deciding whether to make offers, and 
by manufacturers when deciding to make parts available, and by drivers and 
staff when deciding whether they are interested in joining a team.

Statistics:

Championship wins, total race wins and total poles are given. Figures in 
brackets are the corresponding statistics for the current season only. Best 
result and best pole are for the current season only.

CASH STATEMENT

Management of cash flow is the key to success in Grand Prix Management: 
bankrupcy is the only reason for teams to be removed from the championship.

A cash statement is received at the end of every month. Selection of the cash 
statement icon allows you to examine previous month's statements.

Sponsorship:

These are the monthly receipts from sponsors, as per sponsorship agreements 
made at the start of each season. This is the major source of income for a 
Grand Prix team: it is worth while finding an Assistant who is good at PR and 
fundraising, in order to obtain the best deals.

Sponsorship is received at the start of each month.

Prize Money:

Prize money is paid after each race to the top six finishers as follows: 

  1 - 500,000
  2 - 250,000 
  3 - 125,000 
  4 -  64,000
  5 -  32,000
  6 -  16,000

Bonuses:

Bonuses are paid by the main team sponsor after each race, for a top 6 finish, 
or a best finish for the season so far. Amounts paid vary from one sponsor to 
the next.

Compensation:

These are amounts paid to teams when poaching their under-contract drivers or 
management, designed to compensate them for the breach of contract. Also 
amounts paid to drivers and department managers for breach of contract when 
sacking them.

Redundancy payments to staff (which generally arise when budgets are reduced) 
are also included here.

Interest:

Interest is charged at the rate of 2.5% per month on opening overdraft 
balances, and received at the same rate on opening cash balances.

Salaries:

These are the salaries for drivers, Assistant, Chief Designer, and Chief 
Engineer. Driver salaries are paid after each race. Management salaries are 
paid monthly. The wages paid to employees working in each department 
(administration, design, and engineering) are included in Factory costs.

Amounts received from drivers who pay to race (ie negative salaries) are 
deducted here: note that these payments are only received if the driver 
concerned gets a car for the race meeting (whereas paid drivers must be paid 
whether they get a car or not).

Factory costs:

These are the costs of running the team's headquarters and workshops. These 
are budgeted for each department (see management information above), and 
include all property costs, payroll costs (other than salaries as detailed 
above), and miscellanious supplies and administration costs.

Factory costs are a major item on the cash statement, and they will be kept 
under control (ie under budget) by an Assistant who has a strong department 
and is good at purchasing and factory administration.

Obviously, it is important to keep the departmental budgets down as low as 
possible.

Testing costs:

These are the costs of travel for the team, cars, spares, and equipment, 
accommodation for drivers and staff, and track hire charges. The costs are 
similar for every location.

The more drivers involved, and the more staff, the higher the costs. An 
Assistant who is good at test administration will keep the costs down.

Poverty-stricken teams may forgo testing to save money (they will also save on 
parts - see below).

Race meeting costs:

These are the costs of travel for the team, cars, spares, and equipment, 
accommodation for drivers and staff, PR hospitality, and race entry fees. The 
costs are similar for every location.

The more staff, and the more cars, the higher the costs. An Assistant who is 
good at race administration will keep the costs down.

Parts and fuel:

Parts and fuel can be a major expenditure, but deals can be done with 
manufacturers to receive their parts free of charge. Beware however of 
accepting free parts that are inferior to what you can buy in or make 
yourself, unless your financial position forces you into such a move.

Making your own parts may appear to cost less than buying in similar quality 
parts, but you will require more designers and mechanics to create them, and 
thus will suffer higher factory costs.

Requirement for car parts is as follows: 

- Engine, Transmission, Suspension, Brake system : 1 per car for each test 
session, for the whole of practice/qualifying, and for each race.   
- Electronic system, Bodyshell, Chassis : 1 per car per season. Replacements 
will be required for faulty or damaged parts.
- Set of tyres : 1 per car for each test session, for each qualifying session, 
and for each pit-stop in the race.
- Tanker of fuel : 1 per team for each test session. 1 per car for the whole 
of practice/qualifying, and for each race.

When designing a new car, one of each part is bought when part make and model 
is chosen. Further parts are bought when design is complete and assembly 
begins.

RESULTS

This gives you qualifying and race results for each race already run this 
season. It also gives you the current standings for both the drivers' and the 
constructors' championships.

During the course of a race you can obtain the current positions at any time 
from this display.

GRAPHS

These allow you to easily follow the progress of each driver and each team 
during the season.

COMMENTARY

The microphone icon gives you the commentary from the last race (or current 
race if it is still running).

Figures in brackets are the placing of the driver named at that point in the 
race.

TESTING

Testing will (provided your team are competent) improve your car. A new car 
design will not fulfil its potential if you do not test it. However, testing 
is expensive, and involves risk of injury to your driver, and damage to the 
car.

There are four testing sessions each month during the close season (November 
through February), and one before each race meeting. Testing is optional and 
you may wish to avoid it (presumably for financial reasons).

If you choose to test, you are given a Testing options screen before each 
session. You can still opt out of testing at this stage by selecting no driver 
to test.

Testing results give you the best lap time achieved by each driver, and a note 
of any crashes or reliability problems encountered. You can assume the car has 
good tyres and minimum fuel for the times given, so that these are comparable 
to qualifying times, and can be used as a guide to how your car is 
developing.

Choice of parts:

You can opt to concentrate on one or more parts of the car for a given test 
session. These are the areas that are then likely to improve. If you select no 
part to concentrate on then the pit-crew will make their own choice.

Choice of circuit:

The default test circuit is your home circuit (or a fairly local one if there 
is no home circuit), but you may choose to test at any other circuit in the 
game. This allows you to mach the circuit characteristics to the parts you are 
testing (eg a fast circuit to test a new engine).

Choice of car:

If your development cars are fully designed and assembled, but you are still 
racing your old model, then you can choose to test either model. This allows 
you to test and improve your development car until it is better than your old 
model. Damaged cars cannot be used.

Choice of driver:

The better a driver is at testing, the more likely the car will be improved. 
However there is always the risk of accident to the driver, so you may not 
wish to involve your best driver in testing. Selection of more than one driver 
will not increase the testing done, or the improvements achieved: each driver 
will simply do less laps. But you will get lap time information for different 
drivers allowing you to compare their performance. Note that unfit drivers (2 
blobs or less) will not be allowed to test.

RACE MEETINGS

There are 16 races per season. Each race is held at a different circuit and 
each circuit has its own unique aspects (check out the circuit information 
from the circuits icon). Some will favour a powerful engine, others a good 
chassis and transmission, in varying degrees. Also overtaking is more 
difficult on some circuits than others (making qualifying grid positions more 
important). So if you consistently fare badly on a given circuit, that gives a 
clue to the weaknesses in your cars.

Each race meeting consists of the following: 

-  Pre-qualifying practice session (cars in qualifying trim, with minimum     
fuel and new tyres)
-  Friday qualifying
-  Saturday (final) qualifying
-  Sunday warm-up practice (cars in race trim, with race fuel load, so times   
 will be slower than qualifying)
- Race

Driver Selection:

The first two drivers in each team participate in the race meeting: once the 
meeting is underway, you can not alter the driver selection. The only 
exceptions to this is if a driver is unfit to race, or dies or gets injured 
during practice or qualifying, in which case he will be replaced automatically 
by the third driver (if any).

Unfit drivers (2 blobs or less) are not allowed to participate. Also, a driver 
may be prevented from participating by lack of a completed car (eg through 
crash damage from a previous session). If there is only one complete car 
available for a team, that will go to driver 1: thus it is important to ensure 
that your best driver is nominated driver 1.

If a driver is injured, or killed, in the course of a race meeting the spare 
driver (if there is one and if he is fit) will be used in his place: he will 
inherit any pole positions etc. gained by the original driver.

Race:

Points are awarded as follows: 
  1st - 10 pts
  2nd -  6 pts 
  3rd -  4 pts
  4th -  3 pts 
  5th -  2 pts
  6th -  1 pt

Race Tactics:

These are set for each driver at the start of the race, and can be altered at 
any time during the race (by selecting the driver display box). The tactics 
screen will appear automatically whenever a player's driver enters the pits, 
as this is the only time that tyre compounds can be changed: the screen will 
disappear after 10 seconds if no move is made.

Instructions: preserve car, push hard, or flat out: this is similar to the 
driver temperament, telling a driver to play it safe (cool) or take risks 
(reckless). 'Flat out' will produce better times but more accidents and car 
problems. Tell a reckless driver to go 'flat out' at your own peril! If a 
driver has built up a commanding lead, he should be told to preserve his 
car.

Team Orders: none or protect teammate: a driver set to 'protect' his teammate 
will let his teammate overtake him without blocking, and will not attempt to 
overtake his teammate unless he is in trouble. If one of your drivers has a 
chance to win the championship, you may wish to have the other driver set to 
'protect' him.

Pit Stops: one, two or three: the default option will suit the track, but a 
tactical advantage may be obtained by use of a different strategy, especially 
in combination with different tyres, eg softer tyres and an extra stop. This 
option simply sets the amount of fuel the car carries: extra stops mean less 
fuel is required, which in turn makes each stop quicker (assuming no damage 
has to be repaired).

Tyres: 'A','B','C' or 'D' compound slicks, or wet tyres: 'A' compound are the 
hardest, 'D' the softest. Harder tyres last longer but do not give so much 
grip. The default option given will be sensible for the track characteristics 
and the weather conditions, but may not be the best. Tyre wear is indicated on 
a meter in the display. Tyre type can only be changed whilst a car is in the 
pits: selection of this option for a car not in the pits will give you the 
opportunity to call that car into the pits.

You are not permitted to see other teams' tactics.

Pit stops:

Drivers will pit when they are running out of fuel, when their tyres are 
dangerously worn, or when their car has a problem (accident damage, mechanical 
defect, or puncture).

The length of each pit stop depends on how much fuel has to be taken aboard, 
and on the quality of the pit crew: generally, the more staff the Chief 
Engineer has, and the better he is at managing them (leadership), the better 
the pit crew will be, and the faster the pit stops.

If a fault or damage has to be repaired, the pit stop might be quite long, and 
there is a fair chance the problem will be bad enough that the driver will 
have to retire. There is also a possibility of a member of the pit crew making 
a mistake, causing delay, or even retirement, and if you are very unfortunate 
the refuelling rig might spill fuel causing a pit fire, which will certainly 
put your car out of the race (luckily the driver will be protected by his 
fire-proof overalls).

It should be remembered that the real time lost in a pit stop is longer than 
the (displayed) time spent in the pit: there is also the time lost in slowing 
down for the stop, in driving along the pit lane at the regulated restricted 
(for safety) speed, and in accelerating away again.

Race incidents:

The more hot headed (ie reckless) drivers are likely to incur occasional 
penalties. Penalties given in the game are as follows: 

- jumping the start : stop go penalty
- speeding in the pit lane : stop go penalty
- dangerous overtaking manouver : disqualification (ie black flag)

Stop go penalties involve a pit stop where no work may be done: the car simply 
stops in the pit and immediately sets off again. Disqualification is immediate 
exclusion from that race only.

Race display:

We decided when designing this game, that full graphical presentation of the 
races would not be appropriate because the races would then take far too long 
to run: this is a long term strategical game, intended to be played over many 
seasons, as you build your team up and establish a track record. Each race can 
be watched in a few minutes, and all relevant information assimilated easily: 
the race is displayed simply as a pit lane electronic 'location board' showing 
the current location of each car on the track, along with a text race 
commentary, and up to date team and driver information including gaps between 
cars, pit stop times, problem details etc. You can page through the teams 
while watching, thus obtaining up to date information for every driver in the 
race.

The race leader is shown as a filled in blob, the others as circles.

Longer comments will not be fully visible on the main race display: simply 
select the commentary icon to see the complete commentary for the race.

Select the results icon to see the current race positions of all 
competitors.

Race speed:

Six standard race speeds are available, with a seventh 'TURBO' speed for those 
in a hurry. The standard speeds are tied in to the system clock so they should 
be the same regardless of the speed of your computer: however, if your 
computer is not fast enough, the higher speeds will not be achieved. A 66 mhz 
486 (or 33 mhz with fast VGA card), or better, will be required for full 
performance.

The 'TURBO' speed goes flat out, and only updates the team driver information 
once per lap: the faster your machine the sooner the race will be over. This 
is intended for situations where you are not really interested in the race, 
such as where neither of your drivers qualified, or both are out of 
contention.

Alter race speed by selecting the stopwatch icon beside the team race 
display.

The race can be toggled between PAUSED and the current speed, using the 
spacebar.

THE CLOSE SEASON

The close season runs from November to February inclusive. The teams are 
occupied with the hiring of drivers for the coming race season, with testing 
their cars, and with obtaining sponsorship to see them through the race 
season.

It is very important to get off your marks quickly in the search for drivers 
at the start of the close season: resign any drivers you want to keep at the 
earliest opportunity before some other team poaches them.

Most teams aim to introduce their new car during the close season, and testing 
should concentrate on this new car (remember, once assembled, the development 
cars can be tested before they are introduced).

Sponsorship offers will come in throughout the close season (assuming you 
still have sponsorship slots left to sell). Each team has a major sponsorship 
slot and five minor slots to sell. Turning down a poor offer in order to wait 
for a better offer is a good ploy, so long as you are not overestimating the 
worth of your team (and your assistants' PR ability). The process is something 
of a gamble, as you cannot go back to an offer once it has been rejected 
(though occasionally an offer may be made twice). If you are still short of 
sponsors by February, you should consider taking anything offered. Unless you 
have started the season very wealthy, failure to obtain good sponsorship 
(especially a lucrative main sponsor) will likely lead you to bankrupcy.

BANKRUPCY

Team bankers will allow a large overdraft to be built up: bankers like their 
interest payments! The better the team's ranking and the better its' assistant 
is at fund raising, the bigger the overdraft that will be allowed.

Do not be afraid therefore to slip into the red, in pursuit of better race 
results: often 'you have to speculate in order to accumulate'.

Your bankers will warn you every month if you are within a couple of million 
of your current overdraft limit, and if you go over the limit they will warn 
you that your overdraft must be reduced. They will still let you borrow more 
in an attempt to get out of trouble.

Bankrupcy is only declared at the end of each season, and is unlikely to 
happen to a player without prior warning. Bankrupcy means your game is over!

Measures that can be taken to reduce your overdraft include:

- hiring a driver who is willing to pay for his drive (see drivers) 
- reducing department budgets : this is a medium term measure, as immediate   
compensation must be paid to staff made redundant. 
- hiring a better assistant to reduce costs (see departmental managers:   
administration). 
- postponing selection of parts for your development car until offers of   
free parts are received: these offers are made in July and August and will   
not be made for car components where parts are already selected. 
- choosing not to test (see testing)

CREDITS

Design - Sundance and LB 

Coding - Mantra

Artwork - Al Young, Sundance and Silverwitch

Testing -  Al Young, Steven Kelly, Terry Goodchild, Mr Whitee and CS Mann

Distribution - Wizard Games

Thanks to

  Tom and Ethel - for transatlantic support
  Borland International - for Borland Pascal
  Neosoft Corporation - for Neopaint

DEBITS

No thanks whatsoever to Microsoft for their global domination of personal 
computers with machine-crippling operating systems, or to Intel for their 
outrageously complex chip designs.

DEDICATION

This game is dedicated to the memory of Ayrton Senna, who more than any other 
Formula 1 driver, fired our enthusiasm for and interest in the sport.

INFORMATION

For information on other games, contact

  WIZARD GAMES
  PO BOX 498
  WILMINGTON 
  MA 01887-0498
  USA

  1-978-658-2209 (Fax 1-978-657-4339)

wizscot@cris.com
America Online: WizardScot        



