Player Guide

Account Setup

Any new player will start by clicking Sign Up to create a Formula Matchup Account. Go through the prompts to choose a username, password and even select some racing favorites to complete your profile. Next, click the link in the email sent to the address entered at sign up to verify your email and finalize your account. On return visits, players will Log In with their existing username and password to access the game.

Once an account has been created, players may either create a new league or join an existing league...

How to Create a League

Note: Only FM Plus users may become a League Director and create a league. If you select “Create a League” and are not yet an FM Plus member, you will be prompted to unlock FM Plus. Follow the prompts to level up your account!

1. With FM Plus status activated, select “Create a League” from the dropdown menu.
2. Read the “Before You Create A League” details and choose Continue.
3. Go through the steps to create a league. You will get to choose between creating a public league where anyone in the world can view the league and join, or a private league where you invite your own private group of players using a join code. Complete league setup.
4. Congrats! You are now a League Director! If you chose a private league, you may now share the join code with your favorite people. Please note, league sizes must be either 6, 8, 10 or 12 participants.
5. You’ll now see your new league in the drop down menu! Visit the League Hub and check out all the things to see and do, including creating your own team for your league! Select “Join with New Team” to create a team for your new league.
6. The League Hub page will display a list of all participants who have joined. Once this list is complete according to the League Director…
7. The League Director clicks "Activate League" and the matchup schedule for the season will be set!

Note: You may join Formula Matchup and start playing at any time. If your league is a bit late to the grid, no problem! You'll start playing and scoring points during the next scheduled Grand Prix weekEND.

How to Join A League

Note: Free accounts are limited to 1 team. Upgrade to FM Plus to unlock up to 3 teams.

1. Select "Join a League" from the dropdown menu
2. If you want to join a public league, browse the list of available public leagues who are “Recruiting” and click Join with New Team. Follow the prompts to create your team.
3. If you want to join a private league, enter the Join Code shared with you by your League Director.
4. You’ll now see your new league in the drop down menu! The League Hub page will display a list of all participants who have joined. Once this list is complete according to your League Director…
5. The League Director clicks "Activate League" and the matchup schedule for the season will be set!

What sets Formula Matchup apart from other fantasy racing sites, is that any player has a chance to win and climb the standings each and every race weekEND. Each round, your team will battle a different opponent's team from your league. The team that scores the most points between the two earns a point in their win column, and the losing team records a loss. If the points are the same, it is considered a tie. The league standings then reflect a team's overall win percentage and record, with a team's overall points accumulated serving as a tiebreaker between teams with identical win percentages.

Check the League Schedule to see which team you will be playing against each race weekEND. Due to the variation in the number of teams and races available, it is possible that you won't play every team in your league the same number of times. Also note, if a race is cancelled and not rescheduled, that week's matchup is skipped and the rest of the schedule continues as previously determined.

Team Makeup

So you start with 100 million dollars. And with that virtual cash burning a hole in your pocket, you get to purchase any 5 drivers and 2 constructors of your choice to build your team, provided you're able to afford them! Every round, you’ll also nominate one "Turbo Driver" from your roster. This lucky individual will have their points doubled for that round, giving your score a serious shot of adrenaline. Just keep in mind that this mathematical magic only applies to the driver and not their constructor as well.

Price Updates

After each round, the prices for all drivers and constructors are updated to reflect their recent performance on the track. These valuations will then remain fixed until the conclusion of the following race weekEND. Consequently, your total team budget will fluctuate based on the shifting market value of the specific drivers and constructors currently in your lineup.

The total of every player's price in your lineup + your leftover cash = your budget.

Transfers

Keep your team fresh and your opponents guessing by taking advantage of your transfer window. You are allotted two free transfers between every round before the team lock deadline at the beginning of qualifying (or at the start of the sprint if it's a sprint weekEND). Just know that if you get overzealous and exceed that limit, each additional swap will cost your team a 10 point penalty.

The good news is that playing musical driver seats with your Turbo Driver doesn't count toward your transfer quota. Plus, if you're feeling frugal, one unused free transfer will carry over to the next race. This means that if you use 0 or 1 transfers one round, the next round you will have 3 at your disposal!

Playoff Overview

To conclude a league's season, the excitement ramps up as the top-ranked teams enter a single-elimination bracket where they will face off in weekly head-to-head matchups. If a team outscores their opponent that week, they advance to the next round; if they lose, they are eliminated from championship contention but may still play another team for a lower final placement in the standings. Final season standings are determined by these playoff outcomes. It is important to note that a team may not use any "Upgrades" (see below) for the playoffs. If you fail to use one of your upgrades during the regular season, once your league's playoffs begin it will be lost and gone forever. If there is a tie in the playoffs, the overall points thus far for each team will be the tiebreaker.

Bracket Structure

Traditional single elimination bracket style. (Ex: 1st vs. 4th, winner advances) All teams participate, though some rounds may see your team earning a bye week. Depending on the number of teams in your league, one of the following playoff scenarios will apply to your league:

• 6 Teams: final 2 races used for playoffs, championship bracket - top 4 teams, backmarker bracket - bottom 2 teams
• 8 Teams: final 2 races used for playoffs, championship bracket - top 4 teams, backmarker bracket - bottom 4 teams
• 10 Teams: final 3 races used for playoffs, championship bracket - top 6 teams (top 2 get 1st round bye), backmarker bracket - bottom 4 teams
• 12 Teams: final 3 races used for playoffs, championship bracket - top 6 teams (top 2 get 1st round bye), backmarker bracket - bottom 6 teams

Note: If your team has a bye week during the playoffs, you may choose to change your team to potentially build your budget and overall point total, but you won't face off against another team.

In addition to trying to build the best team each week within your budget, teams have an arsenal of 6 different strategic plays that managers may choose to deploy throughout the season. Just as real racing teams introduce upgrades to improve car performance, these six boosts allow you to strategically improve your team’s results in different ways, at key moments and in important matchups.

Choose wisely when to use your upgrades! There are 6 different types available, and each one may be used only once. You are only allowed to use one upgrade per race, and once an upgrade has been played, the action cannot be reversed.

Three of the six upgrades are ready to use for your first race weekEND - the Turbomatic, the Triple Threat, and the Y.O.L.0. After this first race, all six become available and will remain so until the playoffs begin. Upgrade usage isn't permitted in the playoffs, so if you don't use them in time, you risk losing them!

Turbomatic

Turbomatic will automatically assign a team's Turbo Driver selection to the highest scoring driver on your team, regardless of who you assigned originally. If it happens to be the same as your original selection, well then you had good instincts!

Triple Threat

Activate this upgrade to transform a driver of your choice into a Triple Threat! Doing this probably won't make them an amazing actor, singer and dancer, but it WILL triple that driver's total points for the entire race weekEND! Once you select a driver to be your Triple Threat, you are still able to choose a different driver to receive Turbo status and collect double points per usual.

Y.O.L.0

Want to take a big risk this race? Or is the threat of rain or a tight street track making potential DNFs loom large in your team selection? Throw all that stress out the window with the Y.O.L.0! With this upgrade, You Only Lose... 0, Zero, Nothing! Good Day, Sir! While playing it, if any driver or constructor accumulates negative points, your loss is limited at zero for that scoring category. Note: If you go over your transfer allowance for the week, you will still lose points. This upgrade doesn't help with that tiny little detail, pal.

Overhaul

Think of the Overhaul upgrade as your "total reset" button. It lets you make as many transfers as you want without any penalties - just make sure you stay under the cost cap!

Unlimited!

For one race only, the sky isn't even the limit when you bring this upgrade. With Unlimited!, both the transfer limit and cost cap are temporarily lifted, allowing you to select any combination of top-tier drivers and constructors regardless of their price. But remember, once the race weekEND concludes, your previous team and budget constraints will be automatically restored. Also, any gains or losses in overall team budget at the end of this week will be calculated by the drivers and constructors you had in the previous race and NOT by the dream team you used temporarily.

Parc Ouvert

Parc Fermé (French for "closed park") is a term referring to the time between qualifying and the race in which teams are not allowed to modify their cars. In this Parc Ouvert ("open park") upgrade however, you ARE allowed to make a single swap of one driver for another provided you can afford him. This swap can happen either between the sprint race and qualifying, or between qualifying and the race. You will keep all points already earned by the driver at the moment you replace him. Your new selection will begin scoring points starting from the next track session through the end of the race weekEND. Parc Ouvert doesn't allow you to just change who you've selected as a Turbo driver, although if you swap out the driver you had selected as the Turbo, then your new driver will automatically earn that moniker and double points for the rest of the remaining sessions. Your original team will be restored following the race, and any gains or losses in overall team budget at the end of this week will be calculated by the driver you had in your lineup before you swapped them out.

Please visit the Scoring page for a full list of how points are earned. Your team's score will change and update throughout the weekEND as scoring sessions (sprint, qualifying & the race) conclude. Some results are more immediate, with others (like fastest pitstops) needing a bit more time to tally. Occasionally, drivers and/or constructors may incur post race penalties or disqualifications which could swing matchup results one way or the other. Until a round has been finalized, take preliminary matchup results with a grain of salt.