F1 25 review - Codemasters' strongest racing game in years

F1 25 could be a do-or-die game for Codemasters this year, as its license agreement with Formula 1 draws to a close. The annualised racing series has seen years of decline and growing frustration from long-time players, but – thankfully – there's a lot to like about F1 25, even if some of the old concerns remain.

The last few F1 F1 25, and, elsewhere, it returns some of the joy not present in the series since its peak in 2019-21.

When you fire up Career Mode or My Team, you'll experience the updated handling on one of the newly LIDAR-scanned tracks, Melbourne. The differences are subtle at first, but you'll really start to notice them when you put your foot down and use every inch of track surface.

Every bump, high kerb, and awkward apex is just right. It's a shame this level of fidelity has taken so long to hit the F1 games when it's common across other racing sims, but I'm still glad to see five tracks get an extensive makeover this year.

AI opponents are no longer rocketships on the straights like in previous years. They still get great traction off slow corners, but they don't disappear off down the road, which leads to a better racing experience, especially on tracks like Baku that require a compromise in setup.

When the My Team mode first launched in F1 2020, it was a revolution. Manage an 11th team, invest in facilities, develop young drivers, and fight your way to the front as an owner/driver. Since then, Codemasters' focus has shifted elsewhere, but this year finally sees My Team get some much-needed attention.

You are no longer an owner/driver. Instead, your created avatar runs the team, while you pick two drivers for your race seats and then decide which one to control in each race. There are also changes to how you build the team, create parts, and allocate them. Three facilities – Engineering, Personnel, and Corporate – are introduced to neatly segment all aspects of the team.

The job of improving your car is now split up into two tasks: researching the part, which still requires using resource points gained from on-track practice tasks and results, and then developing the part, which costs money. Both can fail, and while you only need to successfully research the upgrade once, you have to develop the part twice if you want it to go on both cars. This aspect, along with the general feel of My Team this year, has some similarity to Frontier's F1 Manager series, which I am certainly not complaining about.

All the changes to My Team create some welcome differentiation with Career Mode. Unfortunately, once you get to grips with My Team's new presentation and its handful of changes, the gameplay feels much the same as it's always been. Pile up resource points, race hard, then sign as many sponsors as you can for the cash, invest it, grow, and win.

The main change is that you now have the option to pick which driver you'll race as for the weekend. I signed Braking Point's Aiden Jackson and F2's Dennis Hauger, and I quickly found that I could leave the 88 OVR Jackson to get on with the job while I drove as the 65 OVR Hauger. Because your skills behind the wheel determine your success or failure on the track, your drivers' low ratings have zero influence on your pace.

I could out-qualify Jackson as Hauger and fight for points. When I raced as Jackson, I was in the same part of the grid while the AI Hauger was falling off the back. As a result, you only need to sign one reasonable driver and then control the cheaper, weaker driver yourself. Unless you want to see Pierre Gasly or Esteban Ocon as World Champion, of course. This makes the change away from owner/driver to just owner rather meaningless.

Overall, though, the new My Team is a success. The mode has changed enough to feel fresh, which will keep you going through season after season as you grow from backmarker to champion.

After its customary year off, Braking Point is back for a third instalment, or fourth if you count F1 2019's Feeder Series intro. Aiden Jackson, Callie Mayer, Devon Butler, and the whole gang are here. Davidoff Butler now owns Konnersport, fulfilling his Lawrence Stroll arc.

I won't spoil the story, but it probably won't shock you to hear that it follows a familiar model. The cutscenes look good, the voice cast is convincing, and there are calls to answer, emails to read, and race scenarios to run. Braking Point's biggest frustration remains, though, which is its difficulty settings.

Codemasters' usual 0-110 AI slider is once again missing from Braking Point, leaving you with Normal, Challenging, Hard, or Expert difficulty. Just like last time, this means that for most players, the challenge will be extremely easy on one difficulty but impossible on the next one up.

Why Codemasters has opted for this style again is beyond me, especially given the scenarios we used to see for esports qualifying allowed the full use of the slider. It turns Braking Point into a movie occasionally broken up by tedious driving. It's a real shame, as most players will inevitably have to rely on the easier difficulties, which removes any sense of achievement.

Then there's the F1 movie tie-in element. It's set to expand over the summer, but right now it boils down to watching a scene from the movie, then taking part in a race hampered by the same difficulty issues as Braking Point. It's unlikely to keep anyone interested for long, but it's nevertheless good to see the movie getting this kind of integration with the game, which was sorely lacking in Gran Turismo 7.

F1 25 is a step up over last year, with better handling and tighter racing. It's overall a more balanced experience, with a My Team refresh that offers something worthwhile for those seeking a little RPG in their racing game.

That said, if you're hoping for a revolution, you'll once again be disappointed. Codemasters is still in the business of making a sports game rather than a true racing sim, but the team has ultimately achieved its mission here and delivered its best F1 game in years.

Just getting started? Check out our F1 25 system requirements before you buy.