Following on from previous details shared last week, Codemasters have shared new info on improvements players can expect in F1 25.
With the game now moving to just current gen systems there are some nice new tweaks and upgrades to the visuals that bring even more authenticity to this year’s Formula 1 offering.
Improved Circuits
Thanks to the use of LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) Technology, five circuits have been updated and will now more accurately match their real world counterparts. Bahrain, Imola, Melbourne, Miami and Suzuka are the tracks in question and will feature improved track surface feel, enhanced feel of elevation and realistic visual detailing that will more closely reflect the race weekends.
These LIDAR circuits will have vegetation improvements, with tree species and placement around each of the circuits being accurate to the real world (cherry blossoms at Sazuka for example). There is a massive improvement on the quality of the foliage over previous years. The scans were taken from actual F1 race weekends giving an unprecedented level of accuracy and authenticity.
Rounding out the visual improvements to the tracks is an updated track surface shader, which again brings the look of the track more in line with how it would look in real life, for the best visual presentation in the series yet.
Reverse Tracks
New in F1 25 is the ability for players to race some of the tracks in reverse orientation. A lot of work went into selecting tracks that would work well in this alternate layout. When the game releases, gamers can try their hand at racing backwards around Austria, Silverstone and Zandvoort adding some new challenge for veterans to learn brand new layouts and test their skills to seek out the best times possible.
Customisation
Going off feedback from previous iterations, the team have revamped the systems for creating and tweaking custom car liveries. In what will allow for some truly unique looks that are honed to players individual desire, the livery authoring system will have a catalog of fictional sponsors that now have individual brand identity. Fine tuning of designs is a more free undertaking and way less rigid than before, with precise location, rotation and scaling of decals completely in your hands.
The aim here is that players can whisk up whatever design they like that in turn won’t look out of place alongside the official team liveries in the game. Sticking with liveries the real world alternate liveries that often pop up throughout the real F1 season are now everlasting. This means you can collect the liveries and are free to use them on the official cars throughout your F1 25 experience, rather than them being available for limited period before being patched out of the game.
Addressing one of the most requested features from players of the F1 games over the years, the team have now implemented a system allowing for custom driver numbers. Putting players in control of picking both the fonts and colour of the driver numbers is the cherry on top of an already impressive suite of customisation options.
Vroom Vroom
A change has been made to engine sounds for the MyTeam mode. Previously as everyone had the same car in MyTeam all the cars sounded identical. That’s no longer the case as the engine sound of your car is now dependent on the type of engine you have. Selection of different engine suppliers will give your car a distinct sound.
This adds another layer of customisation and realism to the MyTeam experience.
F1 World
A brand new collaborative mode comes to F1 World with the introduction of Invitationals. Each Invitational is a one-off key into a particular event with particular properties which will challenge player to compete as a group against AI opponents. These events will sometimes have mods or restrictions on assists, gameplay settings etc to further the challenge for players. Inviting some buddies into your Invitational events will mean that you will all share in the spoils of the rewards.
The rewards are in a tiered system meaning the more points you and your invited pals score in the event, the more bountiful the prizes are. In order to make the online experience more pleasant and to find genuine collaborative drivers there’s a new accolades system showing, diver of the day, who got fastest lap, who completed the most overtakes, who the cleanest driver was etc. With the click of a button you can send a friend invite allowing you to build a community of drivers who you may like to collaborate with in the future.
Other Updates
A tweak to the Flashback system makes the mechanics of the feature more clear and easier to use for new players to the F1 series.
Driver Career & MyTeam modes will benefit from the new cinematics which will feature the real world paddock personalities Anthony Davidson, Natalie Pinkham and Naomi Schiff. New podium cinematics with addition of varying venue-dependant crowd size is another welcome addition to the fold.
For driver voice over the team have doubled the amount of dialogue lines from real drivers compared to what was at their disposal in F1 24. This real driver dialogue is now expanded to be included in qualifying along with the race. It will feature team principal interactions and back & forth dialogue between driver and race engineer.
F1 25 is pushing to be the most authentic experience for F1 fans when it hits PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on May 30, 2025 (May 27 early access for Iconic Edition).