As any fans of Formula 1 will know, a driver's teammate can be his best friend or his worst enemy. Offering a benchmark of performance by operating in equal machinery to the players, it can be a difficult balance finding a teammate who performs well but doesn't outshine the main driver too much week-to-week. F1 23 is no different, and players will have to keep a number of things in mind when choosing their first teammate, as well as when looking to sign a replacement.
If a driver is not performing up to the required standard, or perhaps if there are simply better options available, players may wish to change their teammate at some point throughout the course of their MyTeam Career. Fortunately, the process is relatively simple and carries over from previous titles in the F1 series.
How to Change Teammates in F1 23
Contracts
Each teammate will have a contract agreed upon when they first sign with the team; this will determine their wages and how many points they will have remaining to spend on personal bonuses such as Development Feedback and a Social Media Team, which affects Acclaim. Contracts can be negotiated twice throughout the season, once at the beginning/end and at the midway season interval.
Opting for Lower Risk contract negotiations will give the 2nd driver more opportunities to upgrade their personal development, aiding them with the racing simulator and fitness upgrades. At the end of a season, or the season interval roughly halfway through, players will get the option to either renew their current contract with their teammate or look to sign a new one from the available options on the Driver Market.
Driver Market
The Driver Market contains a list of all available drivers players can sign during a negotiation window. These will include drivers from the current grid, including the best drivers available, as well as newcomers and F2 rookies.
While the more experienced drivers will inevitably be a better short-term option, they come at a significantly higher price. They may have more extensive contract demands and wages than the younger or lesser-known drivers.
From this screen, players will be able to see all the statistics as well as costs for any given driver and can compare them to the currently hired driver too. The higher a driver's Acclaim level, the more they will cost to hire. Be warned when signing some more experienced drivers, too, since it is possible they might retire sooner than expected.
Improving Current Drivers
Drivers can always be improved in various ways, most notably through the Personnel center among the team's Facilities. This will enable players to improve all aspects of their 2nd driver, from their Pace and Racecraft stats to their Focus and Experience. The new Pit Equipment upgrade feature can also facilitate faster pit stops, thus increasing the chances of good results for both drivers in the team.
In addition to this, various Activities and Department Events will offer players dilemmas in which their teammates' stats might be improved. Giving credit to a teammate in interviews when they perform well is also likely to help improve future performances, while publicly criticizing them might cause them to lose confidence and perform worse.
F1 23 is available on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.