Review | Golden Lap - Minimalist Management Sim Needs Further Balancing

Considering sports titles often launch under the pressures of an annual schedule, finding games not beholden to this cycle is undoubtedly nice. Racing management sims like Frontier's F1 Manager series are not exempt from such yearly pressures, so it's pleasing to see Funselektor's Golden Lap join the competition with a different approach. Minimalist gameplay and appealing visuals mean it's an easy entry point for newcomers, though the difficulty balance needs work to truly shine.

You won't find much beyond the career mode, though integrated mod support is a nice surprise. Career mode takes place in the '70s, and it's basically a stripped-back version of F1 Manager. There's no inbox filled with queries from your team, approval ratings from a board, facility upgrades, or R&D for new components. Simply choose one of ten hilariously obvious parodies inspired by Formula 1 constructors like Lotus and Ferrari, followed by two drivers, an engineer, and a pit crew head. Golden Lap adds some welcome strategy to your choices beyond budget considerations by assigning everyone traits, too. Some drivers can better optimise fuel while racing, whereas others are hard to work with or struggle to defend.

Deciding how much to invest in your car is another big consideration for long-term planning. Do you want reliability with less speed, a balanced middle ground, or an experimental car that's more likely to break down during races? While comparatively minor, the sponsor system also encourages a risk vs. reward mentality. You could choose higher income after each race with a smaller bonus depending on where you rank or aim for a higher bonus that ultimately earns you more if you secure better finishing positions. 

Beyond repairing your car for enhanced reliability, you won't find much else to do before starting a race weekend, just one long qualifying session and the race itself. Golden Lap streamlines your team principal duties by only focusing on a handful of factors: fuel consumption that affects acceleration, tyre management to control speed and how fast they wear down, and the weather. It's straightforward to learn, and forgetting to pit each driver for new tyres rightly punishes your negligence with a puncture.

What's unique about Golden Lap is its portrayal of the "golden age" of motorsport, an ambiguous phrase that means different things depending on who you ask. That's arguably most evident through injuries after crashes, something that F1 Manager never accounts for despite the accident severity, and a red flag usually means a severe crash. The affected driver could sustain serious injuries, sidelining them for multiple races, or worse, it could be fatal. Seeing this during the demo stuck with me, and that feeling doesn't diminish as you proceed. Motor racing safety is thankfully leagues better than 50 years ago, but these moments offer a sobering reminder of how many drivers died during races back then.

So far, I've played through three seasons with Vernier, a team that targets 8th in the constructors. I prefer building up a less competitive team to starting at the top, and by the time year two rolled around, getting our team's first win felt rewarding. Despite the car's relatively mid-range performance, my top driver will often push for 6th or 7th place, even taking a podium on one occasion after a late red flag. 

Here lies my biggest problem. Despite your team choice seemingly determining essential factors like your bank balance and car development, your chosen team barely seems to make any difference in the long run. Your selected driver determines your performance, and even with minimal upgrades to the car, choosing the most expensive driver for my third season instantly took me to the top. Suddenly, a car that could barely fight for podiums begins repeatedly winning races.

Motor racing would reflect a driver's skill alone in an ideal world, not only the car they're using, but that's not how it works. You won't see Max Verstappen or Lando Norris regularly scoring points if you put them in this year's Sauber or Alpine, nevermind fighting for any wins. But this isn't an equal performance setup and if you don't employ the best drivers, AI difficulty feels unfairly balanced. What's surprising isn't seeing the top driver in the highest-ranking team winning - it's seeing them three seconds a lap quicker than the nearest rival, never mind the rest of the field. It makes me question why I'm even trying.

Golden Lap offers pleasing simplicity that newcomers to racing management sims will find welcoming. The minimalist approach eliminates some tedious micromanagement, but anyone after more in-depth gameplay mechanics won't find that here. I wish team choices feel like they matter, and with difficulty dependent on your chosen driver, it's either too hard or too easy. Some balancing adjustments are needed but for now, it's off to a good start.