EA Sports' latest hyper-fast racing sim, F1 25, is shaping up to be the kind of refined and accurate racing experience that the most hardcore and dedicated F1 fans want. To see the progress the team has made, we visited the Codemasters office in Birmingham, UK, and heard all about the new features and enhancements that are making their way into F1 25.
Some of the biggest changes have gone into My Team, the series' management mode. In previous iterations, you were able to play as both a driver and the owner of the team, and most players would choose to consistently race as themselves. Now you're just the owner, and you'll have to think much more keenly about how you allocate resources to the two drivers you manage. You'll still be in the digital driver's seat during competitions, of course, but playing as your chosen driver, with the skills you've given them via training sims and more.
"Fundamentally, being the owner-driver, we know it's not authentic to the sport," F1 25 creative director Gavin Cooper said. "That's not how modern F1 works, it's not how any of the existing teams work."
F1 24 fans will remember accolades that were earnable in Driver Career mode. These can now be earned in the My Team mode, can impact your Fan Rating and will evolve into Team vs. Team Rivalries. There's much more detail put into how these ratings affect how your team is perceived by other teams and drivers, and this adds another layer of complexity to managing your team as a whole.
Another layer of complexity is the new Team HQ, where you'll be balancing the cost of upgrades with the success of your drivers on the track and your Cost Cap. If you upgrade too fast, you'll find your Workforce becomes expensive to maintain. Upgrading your Team HQ is more granular than ever before, unlocking skills and buffs for your drivers, and your decisions on which driver to focus on may again alter perception, changing the contract terms drivers will seek.
Off the track, F1 25's management mechanics are more detailed and varied than ever, offering another level of fine control to the most hardcore of F1 racing fans. But the on-track experience has been iterated on and improved too,.
"I think we've made huge strides based on the feedback we got off the back of F1 24, the things we learned from F1 23, the feedback from the community, the interactions we've had with esports drivers, and the creative council that we called last year to come in and give us feedback," senior creative director Lee Mather said. "I think we've made a really great stride this year in giving the car great balance, so that balance between low speed, mechanical grip, high speed aero balance -- I think that race experience is gonna be a real step forward."