We celebrate the 75th anniversary of Formula One this year, where F1 25 marks the 23rd game in the venerable series, and is my 12th review of the F1 game series. And I can say with clarity that this is far and away the best entry in the series to-date. Not a single feature or mode is wasted here, everything is engaging and expertly made. F1 25 is all gas, no brakes to be one of the most complete and satisfying racing simulations you can buy.
Career
Career mode is largely unchanged, but this has you starting or joining an existing team and being the driver like Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, or Fernando Alonso on their respective teams. From there you’ll compete in seasons of racing across the scheduled series of races you would find in the real sport. This is a fantastic way to play the game, and is focused on pure racing.
My Team 2.0
If you’re looking for more depth, you can take part in the revamped My Team mode. Dubbed “2.0”, this mode lets you take an existing team, or develop a whole new team and run the entire operation. You’ll select sponsors, hire and fire engineers, and even get behind the wheel as one of your two drivers. New this year is the inclusion of owner perks, as they allow you to customize development. Research & Development have been together in all sorts of games and industries, but in My Team 2.0 they are now separate entities, allowing for even more flexibility. This is a mode that really dove into managerial and made you feel like an owner, now it takes it more steps further to flex that muscle.
Braking Point 3
We get the third entry, or “Season 3” of Braking Point. It is the story mode that has been in every other F1 game since F1 2021. The game picks up during the 2024 season of F1, and does include a ‘Previously on…’ to catch anyone up on what’s been going on. Real drivers are in this mode, but they exist really in the periphery as they focus on the fictional characters here. What continues is a six or so hour journey of cutscenes, dialogue decisions during interviews, races, and of course, drama. You’ll take calls while reading emails or looking at social media. Then when it comes to race weekend you’ll sometimes get the choice to select a driver, or even play as both of them. This is a really engaging mode that explores the human element quite well. It is framed similar to the “Drive to Survive” series on Netflix, and it’s a neat way to enjoy the game aside from the other modes.
F1 The Movie
New to this year, and likely not to follow in subsequent entries is a mode dedicated to the upcoming movie. As of right now, there’s only the first of seven chapters available to play. It’ll start by playing clips from the movie that don’t seem to spoil anything, and let you race some practice as Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt). I did notice that this mode applies the movie’s filter to it, a gold hue. This filter selection actually mutes the colors of the on-track guides, making them a little bit harder to see. More chapters will be added after the movie releases, and will be a good time to spend with after seeing the movie, or to relive certain moments.
F1 World
F1 World is still such an incredible mode. It does replace the traditional single and multiplayer modes, it’s where most players are going to spend their time. You’ll be placed on a fictional team as yourself, of which you can customize your race gear and non-race wear. Races are presented in curated lists made by Codemasters that take you through series, locations, and ramp up in difficulty. As you race, you’ll earn parts that can be fitted onto the car. These parts have a gear score, and will raise the total score of the car. Racing will pit you against AI racers that are a mix of friends, and strangers. While no major changes are made here, this is still a refined experience that offers infinite replayability.
While there have been no major rule changes for the 2025 season, there some subtle changes to how F1 25 plays. Cars now have proper heft (since they are so much bigger than they were even ten years ago), and while still maneuverable, can’t be cheesed like F1 24. In prior entries you could “quick flick” the car through turns, and is no longer possible now. The driving model is superb, and feels great with a wheel or a controller in-hand. Tracks have received a major update visually, but now include reverse versions to race on, which dramatically changes how you drive on them. At first you don’t think it’s that big of a deal, but if you’ve spent any amount of time with this series, you’ve memorized these layouts that now feel foreign. What was once a downhill sprint is now an uphill climb, and your strategy has to change with that.
The EGO engine doing some really heavy lifting now. I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly crisp image that the game is producing, it’s clearest the series has been in years. I did have the ray tracing enabled again, and was getting up to 120fps on all tracks. New this year is path tracing, which adds a layer of realism to the tracks and surrounding areas. But the performance hit made the game run under 60fps, even with DLSS and Frame Generation enabled, was too much of a sacrifice. All-in-all, F1 25 is the best the series has ever looked, and is recommended on that alone.
My PC Specs:
– Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
– Intel Core i9 13900K @ 5.8GHz
– ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360 ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
– G.SKILL TRIDENT Z5 6000MHZ 64GB (32×2) DDR5 RAM
– ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X
– WD_BLACK SN850X M.2 (4 TB)
– LG UltraGear 34GP950B-G (21:9 Ultrawide @ 3440×1440)
Codemasters are operating at peak performance this time. This feels like a next-generation release through and through. F1 25 is absolutely brimming with feature after feature of high quality, the driving model is stellar, and is the best it’s ever looked. F1 25 is the reason you get into racing simulation games.
A Steam code was provided by the publisher for review purposes
