diff --git a/R/clear_f1_cache.R b/R/clear_f1_cache.R
index a904e58f..24b4b890 100644
--- a/R/clear_f1_cache.R
+++ b/R/clear_f1_cache.R
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ clear_f1_cache <- function() {
   if (reticulate::py_available(initialize = TRUE)) {
     if ("fastf1" %in% reticulate::py_list_packages()$package) {
       reticulate::py_run_string("import fastf1")
-      if (get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+      if (get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
         try(
           reticulate::py_run_string(glue::glue("fastf1.Cache.clear_cache('{cache_dir}')",
             cache_dir = normalizePath(getOption("f1dataR.cache"))
diff --git a/R/load_driver_telemetry.R b/R/load_driver_telemetry.R
index 26a0bf5d..c89b456c 100644
--- a/R/load_driver_telemetry.R
+++ b/R/load_driver_telemetry.R
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ load_driver_telemetry <- function(season = get_current_season(), round = 1, sess
   # Param checks
   if (!(laps %in% c("fastest", "all"))) {
     if (is.numeric(laps)) {
-      if (get_fastf1_version() < 3) {
+      if (get_fastf1_version()$major < 3) {
         cli::cli_abort("{.var laps} can only be a lap number if using fastf1 v3.0 or higher")
       }
       if (as.numeric(laps) != as.integer(laps)) {
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ load_driver_telemetry <- function(season = get_current_season(), round = 1, sess
     }
   )
 
-  if (get_fastf1_version() < 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major < 3) {
     add_v3_option <- ""
   } else {
     add_v3_option <- ".add_driver_ahead()"
diff --git a/R/load_race_session.R b/R/load_race_session.R
index 604baaeb..bba52062 100644
--- a/R/load_race_session.R
+++ b/R/load_race_session.R
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ load_race_session <- function(obj_name = "session", season = get_current_season(
   }
 
   reticulate::py_run_string("import fastf1")
-  if (get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     reticulate::py_run_string(glue::glue("fastf1.set_log_level('{log_level}')", log_level = log_level))
   }
 
diff --git a/R/load_session_laps.R b/R/load_session_laps.R
index 5c00bf06..a7e771b5 100644
--- a/R/load_session_laps.R
+++ b/R/load_session_laps.R
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ load_session_laps <- function(season = get_current_season(), round = 1, session
     round <- race
   }
 
-  if (get_fastf1_version() < 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major < 3) {
     cli::cli_alert_warning("An old version of FastF1 is in use. Additional data is provided if using FastF1 v3.0.0 or later.")
   }
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ load_session_laps <- function(season = get_current_season(), round = 1, session
     ))
   }
 
-  if (session == "Q" && get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (session == "Q" && get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     # prepping for Q1/Q2/Q3 labels - this has to happen before timedelta64 is converted to seconds
     reticulate::py_run_string(paste("q1, q2, q3 = laps.split_qualifying_sessions()",
       "q1len = len(q1.index)",
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ load_session_laps <- function(season = get_current_season(), round = 1, session
   laps <- laps %>%
     dplyr::mutate("Time" = .data$Time)
 
-  if (session == "Q" && get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (session == "Q" && get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     # pull the lengths of each Quali session from the python env.
     q1len <- reticulate::py_to_r(reticulate::py_get_item(py_env, "q1len"))
     q2len <- reticulate::py_to_r(reticulate::py_get_item(py_env, "q2len"))
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 980d77c1..102e609f 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -120,14 +120,16 @@ get_fastf1_version <- function() {
     cli::cli_warn("Ensure {.pkg fastf1} Python package is installed.\nPlease run this to install the most recent version:\n{.code setup_fastf1()}")
     return(NA)
   }
-  if (as.integer(substr(ver, start = 1, 1)) >= 3) {
-    return(3)
-  } else if (as.integer(substr(ver, start = 1, 1)) <= 2) {
+  major <- as.integer(unlist(strsplit(ver, ".", fixed = T))[1])
+  minor <- as.integer(unlist(strsplit(ver, ".", fixed = T))[2])
+  if (major < 3 | (major == 3 & minor < 1)) {
+    lifecycle::deprecate_warn("1.4.1",
+      what = I("fastf1 version < 3.1"), with = I("fastf1 version >= 3.1"),
+      details = c("Hard deprecation will occur between 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons")
+    )
     cli::cli_inform("The Python package {.pgk fastf1} was updated to v3 recently.\nPlease update the version on your system by running:\n{.code setup_fastf1(newenv = TRUE)}\nFuture versions of {.pkg f1dataR} may not support {.pkg fastf1<3.0.0}.")
-    return(2)
-  } else {
-    return(NA)
   }
+  return(list(major = major, minor = minor))
 }
 
 # nocov start
diff --git a/tests/testthat/Rplots.pdf b/tests/testthat/Rplots.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c20a4b0
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/testthat/Rplots.pdf differ
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-load_driver_telemetry.R b/tests/testthat/test-load_driver_telemetry.R
index e4cedd55..c2b4e21e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-load_driver_telemetry.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-load_driver_telemetry.R
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ test_that("driver telemetry", {
 
   expect_true(nrow(telem) > nrow(telem_fast))
   expect_true(ncol(telem) == ncol(telem_fast))
-  if (get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     expect_equal(telem_fast$session_time[[1]], 3518.641)
     expect_equal(telem_fast$time[[2]], 0.086)
   } # else {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ test_that("driver telemetry", {
   #     "can only be a lap number if using fastf1 v3.0 or higher"
   #   )
   # }
-  if (get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     telem_lap <- load_driver_telemetry(season = 2022, round = "Brazil", session = "S", driver = "HAM", laps = 1)
     expect_equal(telem_lap$time[[1]], 0)
     expect_equal(telem_lap$speed[[1]], 0)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-load_session_laps.R b/tests/testthat/test-load_session_laps.R
index 39b2f8a9..3141f9c1 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-load_session_laps.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-load_session_laps.R
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ test_that("load session laps works", {
   expect_equal(laps$time, laps2$time)
   expect_true(!is.na(laps$time[1]))
   expect_equal(nrow(laps), nrow(laps2))
-  if (get_fastf1_version() >= 3) {
+  if (get_fastf1_version()$major >= 3) {
     expect_true(all(lapsq$session_type %in% c("Q1", "Q2", "Q3")))
     expect_true(all(c("Q1", "Q2", "Q3") %in% unique(lapsq$session_type)))
   }
diff --git a/vignettes/setup_fastf1.Rmd b/vignettes/setup_fastf1.Rmd
index 9f1fa00a..047dc2dc 100644
--- a/vignettes/setup_fastf1.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/setup_fastf1.Rmd
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ the Python package [`FastF1`](https://docs.fastf1.dev/). This guide may help res
 that might arise when you get the following warning or error messages:
 
 - `Ensure fastf1 python package is installed. Please run this to install the most recent version: setup_fastf1()`
-- `Error in if (get_fastf1_version() < 3) { :` 
+- `Error in if (get_fastf1_version()$major < 3) { :` 
    `missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed`
 
 If these happen to you (particularly if you're a new user of `f1dataR`) read on!