Oh, Formula One. While this season has had the occasional drama – looking at you, race stewards – it’s mostly been a little dull, hasn’t it? It’s undoubtedly impressive to see such dominance from Mercedes – a winning streak to rival mid-Noughties Ferrari – but it's not exactly exciting for the sport’s fans. So much so that, when each new weekend rolls around, I text a friend of mine who works for the Mercedes F1 team just to say “please stop winning”.
Good news, then, that F1 2019 entirely sacks off the predictability of the real life Formula One and delivers the best and most exciting game yet in the series – perhaps even one of the best track racers of the last couple of years. Some nine years into making the licensed games, developer Codemasters has nailed the knack of gathering excitement with iterative additions to keep things interesting. It means that, despite looking and feeling a little like a refined re-skin of last year’s game, there’s much for hardcore F1 nuts to delve into here.
It pretty much all comes down to opening up to the world of motorsport to disciplines beyond the top tiers. There’s a new F2 career portion now, which basically plays out like an am-dram interpretation of the paddock, focusing on the competitive banter between three junior drivers looking to make it in the big leagues. Think of it like FIFA’s The Journey mode, but less expansive and with more wheels.
The career section of F2 challenges you with a couple of set-piece scenarios designed to determine which F1 teams will give you an offer, as well provide some off-track drama to introduce your two closest rivals. Its cheesy-as-hell cutscenes sort of work – those two fictional drivers end up competing with you in F1, replacing two of the grid’s current real life racers, meaning you have someone you really want to beat, if only to wipe the smile off their infuriating, plasticky face.
Cool, too, is the fact that the real life drivers can now move teams throughout your career championships. In previous games, it was all about the teams, taking Force India, say – or whatever it is they’re actually called nowadays – and making them a top-tier constructor. That was all well and good, but that effort was never reflected in the movements of the other drivers. Now, it is, and you’ll see the best of the best moving to other teams if they suddenly start performing better over a period of time.
Elsewhere, F1 2019 plays a lot like last year's. That is to say, very well. It’s always a bit of a shame when there’s no new circuit to drive around on. Especially so, considering that last year’s addition – the French circuit of Paul Ricard – is a lame duck, as demonstrated in the shockingly dull race a couple of weeks ago. However, it’s always fun to drive each circuit just to look at the visual upgrades, not to mention test out the updated AI. For instance, a three-lap battle at Monte-Carlo’s street circuit as Lewis Hamilton, trying my utmost to beat Lance Stroll in a Williams – in a Williams! – was more fun than I’ve had watching F1 in quite a long time.
It’s a constantly twitchy affair. I prefer racing with as many assists switched off as possible, but the game is customisable enough for it to be appealing to just about anyone. Even my dad, who still does that thing where he tilts the controller left and right thinking that might help him out, could get on fine with F1 2019. It is best played at the upper edge of your capabilities, though. After all, these cars are not meant to feel tame – the back-end should be sliding out when you apply too much torque and the wheels should be susceptible to lock-ups. Only then will you get the adrenaline rush of taking it full pelt into Radillon and living to tell the tale.
It’s a game that takes a bit of suspension of disbelief. After all, when did Vettel race for HAAS? When did Williams last challenge the champion contenders to a one-on-one duel? But lean into this surprising mish-mash of names and teams and it’s one of the most thrilling – and frequently frightening – driving games you can play right now. The FIA should be taking notes.
F1 2019 is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC
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