Is F1 25 a good Esports title?

EA Sports F1 25, the official videogame of the Formula 1 world championship, debuted late last month to above-average review scores; a good sign for a yearly release licensed title. While the experience as a whole is designed to appeal to the F1 fans among the general public, there’s a subset of players that take this game very seriously: esports players.

Since 2017, the F1 circuit has been accompanied by an esports circuit, called the F1 Sim Racing World Championship, that sees the same 10 teams on the real-world grid hire and field three sim racers each from around the globe to take part in a multy-week event to crown the esports Drivers and Constructors World Champion. F1 25 will be next year’s platform, so we’re asking the question: is F1 25 a good esports title?

EA Sports F1 25 is a video game made by the British development studio Codemasters, which is a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. More specifically, it’s directly under the EA Sports division, overseer of some of the world’s most popular videogame franchises like the FC (formerly FIFA) and Madden series. Every year since 2009, when Codemasters won the rights to the brand from Psygnosis and Sony, a new video game has been added to the franchise with updates to its systems and content.

Since 2020, a new development structure has emerged: even numbered years are dedicated to big technical advancements like new physics tech or tire remodeling, odd numbered years are for narrative and structural content like the redesign of important modes and a new chapter in the Breaking Point story mode that debuted in 2021, continued in 2023 and is now back in 2025.

Content-wise, F1 25 gameplay has a new and improved My Team mode where the managerial experience is front and center, with some racing involved. It also introduces the possibility to race on Silverstone, Zandvoort, and the Red Bull Ring with an inverted layout, a feature requested a lot by the community. There’s a new custom livery editor, and five circuits (Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka, and Imola) have been remade thanks to new LIDAR scans that capture even the most minute detail of the track surface.

Where our analysis has focused the most, however, is on the technical side because that’s what matters to esports players that need to train for an entire year awaiting their shot at greatness in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship.

Physics-wise, the game is a lot more reminiscent of the 2023 version, and that’s great because it means the car is a lot more in the hands of the driver. Entering and exiting a corner is more complex than last year (all without driving aids of course), but the added complexity means that, with practice, it’s possible to shave tenth after tenth of a second from a lap. When approaching the apex, there’s more room to find an optimal trajectory, but also a lot less margin for errors.

Accelerating is much more nuanced with all the cars prone to slipping their tires, also, while breaking a corner, there’s more understeer, which can be used aggressively to gain precious milliseconds in qualifying. The force feedback, for those using a wheel and pedals setup like the pros, has also been reworked and re-tuned to give back to the hands of the drivers an even better sense of what the car is doing and where the limit is.

This year, the F1 Sim Racing World Championship took place from the 14th of January to the 27th of March and was composed of three separate events, each held over three days. Every weekend of the competition, four total races took place with full Q1, Q2, and Q3, a 50% race distance, the grid ordered by Qualifying position, and with a pitstop and compound change required.

The F1 circuits that were chosen for this year were Albert Park Street Circuit in Australia, the Shanghai International Circuit in China, the Bahrain International Circuit, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, the Silverstone Circuit in the UK, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands, the Circuit of the Americas in the USA, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, the Interlagos Circuit in Brazill, the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar and the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates.

The F1 prize pool was $750,000, and the events were held at the EFG studio in Stockholm, Sweden. In the 2023 season, it was Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing driver Frede Rasmussen who was crowned the Drivers’ Champion after the championship went down to a final showdown at the Yas Marina Circuit. Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team claimed the Constructors’ Championship. 

This year (racing on F1 24), it was Red Bull Sim Racing once again to take home the title thanks to the brilliant performance of another Dutchman: Jarno Opmeer. Red Bull Sim Racing also took the Constructors’ Championship away from Ferrari Esports, who came second.

With 16 driver changes for 2025, this F1 season was considered one of low movement between teams. All of them got at least one new driver, six of whom were rookies making their debut. The most notable move had to be the switch from Mercedes to Red Bull of Jarno Opmeer, a two-time world champion (2020 and 2021) who proceeded to add a third title to his palmares.

Despite having a well-established esports circuit, F1 25, like its predecessors, is considered on the lighter side when it comes to sim-racing. Much more complicated and realistic simulators like iRacing and the Assetto Corsa series are considered the cutting edge in the field. EA Sports F1 25 has to appeal to the fans of the sport in the general public, so not going full on with the simulative aspects of F1 is an understandable PR move.

Judging from our experience and the pros’ reaction to this year’s release, there are some solid bases to consider F1 25 a good esports title. The changes to the Physics have gathered some traction among competitive players, while Jarno Opmeer has already set various lap records in his first few hours with the game, all while enjoying the new My Team mode. 

Those who want to aspire for a seat in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship have to buy and practice on the newest Codemasters title, as it’s going to be the platform on which next year’s tournaments (dates are still to be confirmed) will be held. At least the experience is solid and esports-ready with more stability and performance upgrades slated to arrive throughout the fall.