F1 25 PC Review
Summary: F1 25 takes everything the series has been doing over the last few years and tweaks it to improve the experience. A must for fans and newcomers alike.
4.5
An Impressive Update
The 2025 Formula One season is well underway, which means the latest game in the annual F1 franchise by Codemasters and EA is soon to be released.
I got a chance to hit the track before release and check out what’s new. At first glance, other than the addition of content related to the upcoming F1 film, everything looks to be as you’d expect, with little more than roster and livery updates. This couldn’t be further from the truth, however.
The most obvious change from F1 24 is the return of the Braking Point mode last present in 2023. For anyone new to the franchise, Braking Point is Codemasters’ attempt to add a fictional storyline into the otherwise authentic series. This third entry sees a return of Konnersport and their drivers Aiden and Callie, as they struggle to handle having a potential championship-winning car for the first time. In gameplay terms, this usually boils down to a series of short races, or segments of races with specific goals to accomplish. These typically involve overtaking a specific number of competitors or keeping a rival behind while driving under difficult conditions.
These short, eventful races are bookended by cutscenes that serve to flesh out the story. Codemasters has taken a page out of Netflix’s playbook and used Drive to Survive-style interview segments, along with direct conversations between characters, to convey the story. It’s a mode that I’ve never had a huge amount of love for. Being a huge fan of F1 and the drama that can surround it, I’ve always felt that there’s enough storytelling potential already present in the paddock without having to invent some. With that said, it’s a perfectly serviceable story mode that doesn’t outstay its welcome, even if the gameplay associated with it isn’t anything special, and only rewards whatever is necessary for the story to progress.
Perhaps the largest change made to F1 25, is the overhaul of My Team mode. This multi-season custom championship allows players to design and run their team. Hiring and firing drivers, updating facilities, and developing the car throughout the season. In previous years the player took a dual role, as both team owner and driver, something that hasn’t happened in Formula One since the 1970s. This time around, however, the player assumes the role of team owner exclusively. Drivers are hired from the pool of active competitors, and when it comes to the races, choosing one before the weekend starts to inhabit for the rest of the event.
Updating and developing the car has been fleshed out considerably from previous years. Parts now must be developed after being researched (using points obtained in practice sessions) and assigned to one driver or another. Similarly, each of the teams’ departments can be upgraded similarly, with each adding small buffs to that aspect of the team. Even the livery editor has been overhauled somewhat, with decals now editable to some degree.
As a team owner, your skills also level up and further enhance the team with the new perks system. Points are accumulated over time, through the various decisions made as the boss and through the team’s general performance. These points can then be used to further boost the efficiency of everyone.
These changes make My Team feel like a light management sim now, albeit with the fully developed racing experience the series is known for. As someone who enjoys management games, especially the recent F1 Manager games, I enjoyed the changes made to the mode. My Team is typically where I spend most of my time outside of multiplayer in the F1 games, so having more to do in this mode outside of the racing itself, is a welcome addition.
2024’s release was divisive. Many players took issue with the new at the time handling model implemented by Codemasters, so many in fact that sweeping changes were made over the game’s life cycle, drastically altering how it played. 2025 plays things a little safer in this regard, with a handling model that feels like a refinement of 2024, rather than a complete overhaul. Cars are responsive, especially at high speed thanks to the huge amount of downforce generated by the ground effect aerodynamics of the current regulations.
Aside from the handling model tweaks, the moment-to-moment driving experience is exactly what you’ve come to expect from a Codemasters F1 title. Along with My Team modes and the usual time trial, single race, and online multiplayer offerings, a driver career mode is available that acts as a more traditional championship mode, that sees players piloting one of the 20 existing drivers, to take them to the top of the championship. Five tracks (Bahrain, Australia, Miami, Imola, and Melbourne) have also been scratch built using lidar data scanned over actual F1 race weekends, giving F1 25 the most accurate versions of these venues to date.
The single-player offerings are expanded even further with a challenge mode and a series of scenarios that expand over the coming months that tie into the upcoming movie, letting players climb into the overalls of Brad Pitt and Damson Idris and live key moments from the film.
Codemasters have always done a good job when it comes to visuals in the F1 games and F1 25 is no exception in this regard. In fact, it’s quite possibly the best-looking title the studio has ever produced. This year’s release sees the addition of full path-tracing support alongside the suite of ray-tracing features that have existed for a game of two, which, if you have the machine to run it is very impressive to see in motion.
A full set of upscaling options is present including DLSS, along with frame generation options for those that choose to use it. Despite the high system requirements to enable all the bells and whistles the game has to offer, F1 25 remains an incredibly scalable experience, running well across a variety of hardware. It’s currently set to unsupported on Steam Deck now (presumably because of the anti-cheat that’s in place), and unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was unable to test it.
From an audio standpoint, F1 25 continues where the previous games left off. Voice acting is well done, and all the ambiance and effects that you would expect to hear at a racetrack are present and done very well for the most part. Many of the drivers have had lines taken from various interviews and races to act as radio messages to add a further layer of authenticity to things, which ups the immersion considerably.
Final Thoughts?
F1 25 has built on last year’s entry into the franchise and brought some genuine updates, both to the visuals and to the various modes in the game. I appreciate the changes made to My Team mode as a fan of both the sport and management games in general; and even though I’m overall somewhat lukewarm to Braking Point as a feature, I appreciate what Codemasters are trying to do with it.
There’s a wealth of content here that should keep both casual and hardcore fans alike entertained for months if not longer. Whether you’re new to the sport, or a long-time fan, there’s a lot to love here and as such, F1 25 is well worth checking out.
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