F1 25 Review: Formula One Fans Assemble
Disclaimer: A PlayStation 5 digital copy of F1 25 was provided to us by EA Sports ahead of its release. All opinions expressed are our own. Neither EA Sports or Codemasters had any editorial input nor will either of them see this review before it is published. Review continues below.
We haven’t asked the dev team at Codemasters and EA Sports directly, but if we had to guess what the biggest challenge of making an F1 game is we would say it’s keeping things fresh. Especially considering that the developers are tasked with building a new game each year. No matter how you slice it that’s not an easy task. Sometimes the F1 games hit the mark and sometimes they don’t. So, how does the newest entry, F1 25 stack up? For the quick TL;DR check out our pros and cons list below. For a deeper dive feel free to continue to the full breakdown.
F1 25 Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Modest graphic improvements go a long way | Underutilization of PS5 Dual Sense controller |
| Feature rich My Team mode stands out | Non-main character human models still look weird |
| Controls feel great even with a game pad | Breaking Point story is superfluous |
| Finally has more female avatars | |
| Really fun F1 The Movie integration |
My Team Mode: What’s Old Is New Again
In the last five F1 games, My Team mode was premised on the ultimate F1 fan wish fulfilment of being a team owner/driver, a very fun premise albeit a scenario that is virtually impossible in the modern era of the sport. F1 25 refreshes My Team by putting the player in the role of a team principal managing various departments including two drivers. Throughout a My Team season players can choose which of the two drivers they want to play as at each grand prix. By making the team principal a separate role, it adds a whole new layer to the task of team management. Now there are specific perks that can be earned for the principal which can help when it comes to effectively allocating resources to keep your team as competitive as possible.
In addition to the team principal role, those who buy the “Iconic Edition” of F1 25 will have the option of playing the My Team mode as the fictional APXGP team from the upcoming film F1 The Movie. That includes virtual renditions of Brad Pitt’s “Sonny Hayes” character, Damson Idris’ “Joshua Pearce” character, and Javier Bardem’s “Ruben Cervantes” character. That’s not the only integration of the film either.
F1 25 The Movie The Game
F1 25 comes out just a few short weeks from the premiere of Apple Original Films F1 The Movie. The film, helmed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and co-produced by 7-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton piggy backed off the 2024 F1 season and has strong integration within F1 25 as well. We’ve already mentioned how players can choose the same fictional team from the film including the characters, but there’s more.
F1 The Movie get’s its own mini narrative mode in the game featuring actual clips from the movie between gameplay chapters. However, at the time of our review period only chapter 1 was unlocked, with the rest of the chapters opening up on June 30th, 2025 after the film’s release. Likely to avoid any spoilers and to build more interest for the film. We’re going to watch F1 The Movie regardless, but experiencing this integration just as promotion for the film ramps up is a really nice touch.
Graphics Enhanced With Freakin’ Lasers
Before we get into our opinions of F1 25‘s visual prowess please note the following: Generally, we review F1 games on Xbox hardware, however due to some technical difficulties with downloading the review copy, we reviewed F1 25 on the PlayStation 5 (PS5) for the first time. Note that we used an early, base model PS5 and not the newer, smaller version nor the PS5 Pro.
With that out of the way, it should be said that with a 12-month development cycle, it would be unrealistic to expect significant graphic jumps from game to game with the exception of moving from one console generation to the next. Though that’s not to say that Codemasters didn’t still try their hardest to squeeze more juice out of the GPU fruit for the latest F1 entry. Lighting effects and textures are noticeably improved from F1 24, especially when it comes to light reflection off vehicle surfaces.
While the cars and environments may look significantly better than before, the human models featured in cinematic scenes throughout the various modes of the game have only had modest improvements. You can easily see that the models of real drivers and the characters in the Braking Point story got the most attention while other human models still have the same eerie vibe that they’ve had for the last 5 years or so.
Uncanny valley aside, a bright spot among the human models is that there is more women represented in the avatar choices this time around. Among the 42 total avatars available—some of which are digital versions of F1‘s esports champions—15 of them are women. That’s roughly 36% of the total avatar roster. There’s definitely room for more but that is a marked improvement over previous entries. It would have been nice to see the devs include 2024 F1 Academy Champion Abbi Pulling and McLaren development driver Bianca Bustemante as avatar choices.
When it comes to the models based on the F1 The Movie characters, the faces look fairly accurate, however for some reason the Ruben Cervantes character played by Javier Bardem seems to have a head slightly too large for the model’s frame. By the time you read this review, a new patch will have been released, so hopefully that is one of the items that gets fixed.
The marque graphic update comes from the dev using Lidar—the same laser-based scanning technology used by autonomous vehicles—to scan select F1 tracks including Miami, Bahrain, Melbourne, and Suzuka. Over a billion data points were captured and it was all used to update the visual representation of those tracks. It may be difficult for newcomers to the series to notice the changes, but if you’re a veteran F1 game player you are more likely to see the differences. Those tracks certainly look a bit sharper and detailed than they did previously.
We wish that the devs were able to Lidar scan all the tracks, but it’s a large task and again, they only have 12 months to complete the game. While it’s understandable why more tracks weren’t scanned, maybe it may have been best to scan the tracks over time and keep them in the back pocket until they could all be released at once in one game rather than parse them out.
Braking Point Is Back. That’s Cool, I Guess?
The third iteration of the Braking Point story mode returns in F1 25, though we don’t have much to say about it quite honestly. While the story isn’t boring it is fairly predictable, but if you’ve already fallen in love with the characters and the saga of the Konnersport team then you’ll continue to enjoy Braking Point. Unfortunately, it still has the same root issue that has been there from the beginning: the linear story and the dynamic nature of gameplay doesn’t quite mix well.
As long as you complete your objectives in each chapter the story will play out the same way. Doing better than expected doesn’t have much of an impact on the narrative. It may be noticed in the social feed or emails but that’s about it. As it stands, the Braking Point story mode is a “nice to have” feature but hardly a main draw in our opinion.
You’re In Control
We spent our time playing F1 25 exclusively with the PS5 Dual Sense controller and not with a wheel peripheral. Generally speaking, F1 games are best enjoyed with a wheel simulator set up, but we are still working on putting that together. That being said, we found playing F1 25 with the Dual Sense controller to be a serviceable experience. Adjustments will need to be made to match the throw of the thumb sticks to the steering ratio for the cars if you really want to fine tune car feel, but for most people the default settings may work just fine.
One criticism we have is that in the case of the PS5, we think Codemasters could have better utilized the unique capabilities of the Dual Sense controller, specifically the adaptive triggers. In Gran Turismo 7 there is a very noticeable differential between the left and right triggers to properly simulate the difference in pedal pressure between the throttle and brake. F1 25 does this as well but not nearly to the same degree.
We suspect that Codemasters didn’t lean into the adaptive triggers more due to keeping parity between the Xbox and PC versions as neither of those platforms have controllers with similar functionality. F1 games also have a very healthy eSports community so perhaps EA Sports and Codemasters wanted to avoid any potential advantages that might be afforded by the adaptive triggers. We’ll reach out to the developers about this and if they respond we’ll be sure to update this review.
Gameplay Experience
We’re happy to say F1 25 continues to provide the same high quality racing experience that made fans fall in love with the series and it’s only gotten better from the previous entry. The physics engine strikes the right balance of what we all imagine an F1 car would feel like in real life: extremely responsive and challenging but not tricky to drive. Of course, there are plenty of assists to help more novice players but for those who want the full-fledged virtual experience it’s hard to beat what F1 25 offers up.
The opponent AI seems to have been massively improved as well. Lapped cars will get the hell out of your way when you’re on a flyer but will not hesitate to get its elbows out when it has every right to fight you for a corner. No matter the difficulty, the AI will race you clean and that’s about the best you can ask for. However, we can only speak to the offline, single player experience. Due to time constraints, we were unable to spend any time in online races during our review period. We may revisit this review once we get more online seat time under our belts.
Outside of direct gameplay F1 25‘s UI is easy to navigate and there are other engaging features like a thumping soundtrack and the community-centered F1 World which highlights accomplishments of other players. There’s also the FanZone that allows F1 25 players to rally behind their favorite driver during the live F1 season to earn perks that can be used in the game.
Conclusion
With the increased depth of the My Team mode, integration of F1 The Movie, and the resources put into Lidar scanning several tracks, it’s clear that F1 25 is doing more to appeal to long time fans of the sport and the game series. While there is still plenty to attract new fans, it seems the priority is the hardcore fans who are rabbid for as much of the F1 experience they can get. In our opinion that’s a good thing. It’s possible to make a game for the focused enthusiasts while still keeping it accessible for newcomers and F1 25 pulls it off with excellence.
If you were put off by the short comings of F1 24, we think F1 25 will win you back. If you’ve never played an F1 game before, this is a great place to jump in. Despite the granular nature of the different modes, F1 25 does more than enough to ease you into its interpretation of the most technologically advanced motorsport on the planet. This is the F1 game to get.