With little surprise, EA Sports and Codemasters have just announced the release date for the latest instalment of their flagship racing title, F1 25. Formula 1 fans on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X and S will have the pleasure of taking part in crazy single-seater races in just a few months’ time, as the title will be available on May 30, 2025. In reality, there’s not much new here, as we’ve become accustomed to seeing it released during this same period. It’s just that we need to be reassured as racers, even though we know full well that the title won’t be skipped this year.

In what follows, we take a look at the latest addition to the F1 saga from EA Sports and Codemasters. The announcement was made by a trailer featuring guess who? Hamilton in his signature Ferrari red suit! Yes, as usual, the new F1 25 includes the 2025 Formula 1 season.

What’s new in F1 25

Let’s start with the new additions to EA Sports’ F1 saga. Not too surprisingly, the trailer features Lewis Hamilton in his red Ferrari suit. Announced with great fanfare last year, the seven-time world champion’s change of team had to be at the heart of the new F1 25. And rightly so, since moving from the Mercedes-AMG team to Ferrari is no mean feat, especially when you consider that Hamilton won 6 world championship titles with the former. But we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves when it comes to this season’s results, since it’s only just begun, and the British driver will need some time to adapt to his new red car.

In terms of new features, apart from Hamilton’s appearance on the cover of the F1 25 Iconic Edition, we’re reacquainted with the historic Braking Point mode, this time in Edition 3. Indeed, this mode was absent from F1 24, much to the dismay of virtual drivers and fans of the title. This year sees the return of the third chapter of the fictional Konnersport team’s story mode. You’ll have to manage this team to achieve its goal: winning the world championship. This mode was highly prized by drivers and F1 fans alike, and its absence from the 2024 edition was a bad move on EA’s part.

Another interesting point to mention is that Braking Point this time will focus on both novice and more experienced racers. The difficulty is much more suited to Formula 1 beginners, as is the Hard mode, which will make you think twice before activating it if you don’t have the required experience, and above all the sim-racing setup that goes with it.

My stable 2.0″ mode review

With this new opus, EA has revamped the “My Team 2.0” mode by integrating Formula 3 icons, which should enable you to better manage your drivers, races, recruitments and so on. It’ll be more complete, in addition to the classic features we’ve seen evolve since the mode first appeared in 2020.

An interesting point to mention is the bridge between cinema and virtual racing. If you’re a cinephile, you’ll know that this summer sees the release of the F1 film starring Brad Pitt at the wheel of a single-seater from the APXGP, or Apex Grand Prix, team. The scenario revolves around the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons, with familiar drivers such as Hamilton.

The APXGP team will be available in Driver Career and My Team modes, which should spice up the title a little and enable it to reach a wider audience.

Better immersion thanks to LiDAR technology

Even though the F1 saga is officially licensed by Formula 1, PC and console gamers were quick to notice that the tracks were not 100% authentic. True, all the tracks of the F1 season are present, but their reproduction is not as faithful. Or at least, it wasn’t.

For the 2025 opus, Codemasters and EA Sports have used LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, which uses laser beams to measure precise distances and movements in real time, to reproduce some of Formula 1’s flagship circuits.

As a result, F1 25 should offer greater fidelity on the track, particularly with regard to bumps, edges and even curves. This technology is becoming increasingly popular for applications such as driver assistance.

Codemasters has given no indication that LiDAR will be used on all circuits, and I doubt that it will be, as operating such technology is not only expensive, but also logistically hellish to set up. The entire track has to be scanned with specialized equipment, which means closing the circuit for the entire process. In the trailer, we can see Melbourne benefiting from LiDAR processing, and Codemasters has announced that several circuits have received the same. This means that 100% track fidelity won’t be present on all circuits, but I think it’s a good start, and that it will become more widespread in future opuses of the F1 saga.

A mirror mode

Yes, you read that title right, and it’s a bit of a novelty, I must say, for EA and Codemasters. Usually, reverse modes are reserved for arcade-style titles such as Need For Speed (at least the first ones) or Mario Kart. But this is a good idea, I think, and one that should spice up racing when the monotony of hours and hours spent on the track, whether in single-player or multiplayer, sets in.

The trailer shows Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring and Zandvoort in reverse mode. However, there’s no word on whether the other F1 25 circuits will be available in reverse or not.

The platforms on which F1 25 will be available

This is a very important point for gamers, especially PC gamers. As a result, and without too much surprise, F1 25 will be available on PC, but also Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series, namely the S and X. It’s quite a change, I must say, especially since the advent of Next Gen consoles. Indeed, publishers and developers are starting to move away from older platforms, notably the PS4 and Xbox One, which should make for a much more technically mature title.

Speaking of PCs, EA has unveiled the system requirements for its latest Formula1 title. As a minimum, you’ll need :

• CPU Core i5 6400 or Ryzen 3 1200
• 8 GB RAM
• GTX 1060 or RX 570 GPU without RT, and RTX 2060 or RX 6700 XT with RT

For the registered mail, it will be :

• CPU Core i5 9600K or Ryzen 5 2600X
• 16 GB RAM
• RTX 2070 or RX 6600XT GPU without RT, and RTX 3070 or RX6800 with RT

The whole thing must run on Windows 10 21H1 or later, and on DirectX12 of course. No Vulcan unfortunately on the latest F1 25, but honestly, I don’t know if this API is optimized for running a racing game.

Availability and prices

F1 25 goes on sale on May 30, 2025, which leaves us about 2 months to get ready for it. And for the price, you get 2 versions of the game:

• The standard edition costs €59.99 on PC and €79.99 on consoles, and includes a number of goodies if you pre-order the game, including 5,000 PitCoin, 10,000 F1 World money and resources, and the 75th anniversary F1 celebration pack (livery, F1 75 suit and gloves).
• The Iconic Edition at €79.99 on PC and €99.99 on consoles, which includes the APXGP pack and the script from the F1 movie due for release in June, starring Brad Pitt, plus pre-order goodies including 18,000 PitCoin, 3-day early access, the F1 75th Anniversary Celebration Pack, the F1 World Bumper Pack (50,000 cash, XP boost for 7 days, a unique upgrade card and resources) and other interesting bonuses for F1 fans.

All we have to do now is wait until May 30 to test it out and see what it’s got up its sleeve.