F1 22 game review – keeping up with the real world

metro.co.uk:

As skilfully constructed as ever, F1 22 recreates this year’s new crop of F1 cars – but it also introduces the microtransactions-led F1 Life.

Formula One has lodged itself firmly in the limelight this season, with new technical specifications spawning gorgeous-looking cars that compete much more closely than in recent years. A burgeoning rivalry between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and a calendar filled with more races than ever, has led to one of the most exciting years in a long time. The video game tie-in hasn’t seen quite so many drastic changes but one in particular would’ve been better off if it had never happened.

We’ll get to F1 Life in a moment but other than that F1 22 introduces an impressive raft of tweaks and improvements. The new regulations have meant that Codemasters has had to put in some significant unseen technical work: this year’s cars use larger wheels fitted with lower-profile tyres, which means that the game’s tyre model – from which much of the cars’ feel derives – has had to be completely reworked.

It’s a testament to the developer’s technical skill that when you play F1 22, it in no way feels as though one of its core elements has been ripped out and replaced. Instead, you instantly feel the difference between this year’s cars and last year’s ones; they are heavier and infinitesimally slower as a result, but also feel more planted, with more mechanical grip and, like their real-life counterparts, less propensity to slip and slide when you get into the slipstream of the car in front. They feel like how you would imagine the real-life cars do: eminently raceable.

F1 enthusiasts will welcome the changes but they are likely to look on F1 22’s most significant new element