F1 2019 is a fantastic racing title whether you're a fan of the sport or not. Despite my reservations and perceived lack of improvements I've been proven wrong at almost every turn. Codemasters have done the licence and series proud and look forward now to next year's edition and what it might bring especially with new consoles on the horizon.
Another year and another Formula 1 title from its gaming custodians, Codemasters. Last year’s effort was a solid entry into the series and maintained its delicate balance between being a simulation and enjoyable for the casual fan. However, in our summation we noted that whilst there were improvements it needed some decent updates in this year’s title for things to not stagnate. For the most part Codemasters have delivered, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The marquee addition to F1 2019 is the inclusion of Formula 2, and acts as the feeder series into F1 both in real life and the career mode. Previously known as the GP2, most of the young drivers in today’s F1 grid will have come through it. The cars look very similar to their F1 counterparts but are 3.4 litre V6 turbos as opposed to the monstrously powerful but dull sounding 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 hybrids the big boys race. It’s an exciting series to watch and not just because commentator Davide Valsecchi brings enough excitement to rival the long retired Murray Walker. This has been captured perfectly in-game including the commentary although it’s a shame that, in career mode, you only have three partial races to enjoy it.
It sort of makes sense as, once you’ve created your driver from the slightly increased but still limited character creation screen, you’re thrusted into three key moments of the 2018 season. Paired with the fictional Lukas Weber no matter which team you choose, how you handle these moments (as well as how you interview to the press) will help determine which F1 teams will offer up a seat for the 2019 season. It also introduces you to the fictional Devon Butler as a rival who is a cocksure and unlikable driver which is a thing I suppose when you need to create a villain. You can, of course, skip F2 altogether and thrust yourself into the world of F1 straight for the off but I highly suggest you don’t. The cars are a delight to race and it was fun to establish my character within the game.
This style of career mode though isn’t new to Codemasters having created a very similar style in 2002’s TOCA Race Driver. Though F1 2019’s isn’t quite the full-on story TOCA produced it’s a fun sideshow whilst it lasts. You see, once you’ve made it to F1, both these drivers take a bit of a backseat and that’s a shame. It makes this addition seem a little half-baked and whilst it’d be awesome (but unrealistic) to have something like Netflix’s Drive to Survive to play through I felt like so much more could’ve been done. Perhaps this is something for next year’s title with 2019 acting as a teaser or maybe acting as a litmus test to see whether we F1 fans would like it or not?
Still, despite the rather limited reach of the story part of the career mode much of what makes this series so fantastic is present and correct. What’s even more impressive this year is that drivers actually move between teams. This means almost anything could happen to the grid with drivers being let go entirely or one move precipitating a whole host of driver movements as the game make sure the grid is full for the following season. This adds to the realism and makes your career unique amongst everyone elses. Put this next to the improved media interviews, the F2 intro and the full race weekend experience should you choose to and you have what is easily the most realistic digital representation of Formula 1 to date.
That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement but all the little touches Codemasters have added have had a very noticeable affect. There’s even nice little changes to the handling model which was already impressive. This year it seems the focus was on kerb handling. Whilst the force feedback on a wheel isn’t as pronounced and I’d imagine it to be, it is now the delicate balance it should. Before now you could take as much kerb as you wanted with very little penalty. Now, for example, if you take too much such as turn 12 in Bahrain things become a touch more skittish and I span plenty of times in practice for being a bit too greedy. I do still think there should be more variation in handling than there is as, to me, all the 2019 F1 cars handle the same. There’s no season or instance where, due to a mishap in an upgrade the car handles badly. Sure, they can be slow, but there’s no car on the grid that handles like the bucking bronco that it should be (I’m looking at you Williams F1).
Even when playing on a wheel I detected very little change in car dynamics in the 2019 grid. However, when racing any of eighteen plus (depending on edition) classic cars, you really start to see just how good the underlying model really is. Some of the older cars are absolute monsters to tame with skittish rear ends that just want to spin you round whereas more recent cars from the tail-end of the 90’s feel more planted but reward the adventurous. It’s a shame, though, that the XBox only detects wheels as controllers. As someone who has only recently had a wheel to race games on and an owner of the excellent Thrustmaster F1 wheel, it’s frustrating to be unable to use all the buttons. Still, this is a Microsoft issue as opposed to Codemasters but I truly hope they, plus other sim racing developers, start to pressure Microsoft into better support.
Beyond my button mapping gripe, the racing itself is pretty good. The AI has improved but I still feel as though there’s too much licking of stamps for my liking. Then again maybe I’m just too cautious. Generally though the races are enjoyable and the race weekend is still the goal orientated fun that it’s always been. Classic cars continue to feature in the career mode and their inclusion via one-off events as per last year alongside driver moves adds plenty of variance to keep you playing in career mode. However should you tire of this, multiplayer is there to embrace you with the mayhem that is online racing. With the recent addition of being able to race the F2 cars there’s plenty to do but don’t expect clean racing whatever you do!
So where does that leave us? In simple terms F1 2019 is quite simply the best F1 title put out by any studio. There are plenty of better sims, especially on PC, but none capture the essence of the sport quite like Codemasters’ title. Even if you’re a passing fan of the sport there’s enough here to keep any general racing fan entertained. With new consoles on the horizon next year as well as the prospect of streaming platforms I get the sense that the series has ran its course on this generation. There’s still enough here to warrant an upgrade if you bought F1 2018 but I feel the real revelations will come in 2020.
