F1 25 | Review

It's lights out and... camera, action!

Győző "FairyEmpire" BakiMay 30, 2025Last Updated: May 29, 2025

0 752 13 minutes read

The pinnacle of motorsport, at least in terms of popularity, Formula 1 has been a mainstay on racing tracks all over the world, broadcast in most nations, even brought to videogame form countless times as well. EA Sports’ yearly F1 game is upon us again, and this time there’s… stories to tell. This is our review for F1 25 on Xbox Series X!

Previously, in Formula 1

The pecking order in the sport has shifted quite rapidly. Just a year or so ago, we all thought we’re going to witness another easy title run by Max Verstappen and his team Red Bull – just like their record-breaking 2023 season, in which the team won 21 out of 22 events. This dynamic duo won most of the first races in 2024 as well and, the ones they didn’t bring home, felt more like flukes than anything. And yet, last year’s constructor championship was ultimately decided between McLaren and Ferrari, with Red Bull already out of the contention, in a thrilling final race with the Woking-based McLaren ultimately taking the crown. Max Verstappen, building on his early championship lead and a lot of incredible individual performances, still managed to comfortably clinch the drivers’ trophy, for the 4th time in a row in fact. But with only two wins for him and his team in the last 14 races, it was clear that the tides were turning.

Indeed, 2025 started with a dominant car again – but it’s not Max Verstappen’s Red Bull this time. It’s McLaren’s turn, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been trading most pole positions, wins and podiums in this early 2025, with other top teams like Ferrari and Mercedes picking up the scraps. Red Bull has once again shown up with a car that is not competitive enough to reliably beat McLaren, who, as of May 2025, have an astronomical lead in the constructors championship. Yet, Max Verstappen has once again performed sensationally well in his flawed car. Combined with the two McLaren drivers stealing points from one another, this left the 4 times world champion with a fighting chance, even grabbing two unlikely wins this season already. By all means, this season’s title fight will seemingly be among these 3 actors. We’ll know soon enough if our prediction stands the test of time!

Electronic Arts’ and Codemasters’ licensed Formula 1 games have always been more than just run of the mill racers – they always tried and replicate the excitement of driving and watching an F1 race alike, with all the cinematic quirks, TV perks and plot twists that can accompany this mighty fast sport. I feel like this has never been more true than it is for F1 25, for two reasons in particular. The first, is the much welcome return of Braking Point. Reaching its third episode, after the well-received ones in F1 21 and F1 23, it’s a scripted and fully playable original storyline, putting players in the shoes of various fictional characters in the very real context of Formula 1. In the shoes of different made-up drivers and their team principal, players get to follow a cinematic and emotional storyline, made of rivalries, fears, doubts, presented in a style very much reminiscent of Netflix’s hit Formula 1 documentary Drive to Survive.

Like a movie

Cutscenes, interactive interview sessions, paddock activies and more accompany what are effectively bite-sized racing scenarios, which put the player in very specific race events with a certain goal to reach. In some cases, these allow us to reach a specific result, but in others, a scripted event such as a crash or a team order will happen in form of a cutscene, progressing the story towards its natural direction while making us feel like we’ve been part of making history ourselves. In Braking Point 2, we followed the fictional British F1 team Konnersport, with all the friction and dramatic intra-team rivalries that unfolded. This new chapter initially brings us to the start of the F1 2024 season, in which the team is suddenly no longer just a promising backmarker team – but a legitimate threat for race victories and, who knows, maybe even the title fights.

The player jumps into the shoes of 3 different playable characters, each with their own chapters and story beats. Aiden Jackson, who we know since F1 21, the once-promising cool-headed rookie whose plot we have followed for years now, and who may be about to truly become a menace for the likes of Max Verstappen. We also get to play as Callie Mayer, introduced in Braking Point 2 as the first female driver in Formula 1 in decades, whose fierce rivalry with Aiden Jackson has since become a more respectful team effort. Lastly, we get to make various team-related decisions in the shoes of team principal and former driver Casper Akkerman, who has to deal with the new reality of magnate Davidoff Butler owning the team. His son, Devon Butler also plays a crucial role in this story – you may remember him as well from previous Braking Point episodes as the unlikeable rival.

Once again, there’s a couple dramatic twists unfolding, turning what would be simply be an exciting season of Formula 1 into a rollercoaster of emotions. The story’s presentation remains as good as ever, with well-animated cutscenes, quality dubs and just enough player agency to make the player feel like part of the events. The gameplay segments range from generic test sessions to highly exciting battles, with even chapters where the player has to nurse home a damaged car or get by in complicated weather conditions. It’s once again a 7 hour or so linear romp that is pleasant to play through, and it’s been pleasant to witness the ongoing plots of the likes of Aiden and Casper, who have known since F1 21. It’s hardly an award-worthy cinematic masterpiece, but it gets the job done. And speaking of cinema…

The thrills of Formula 1 are still intact

F1: The Movie: The Game

The US-based Liberty Media have been the owners of the Formula 1 empire for a handful of years now – no wonder that, perhaps, a lot of very cinematic things have happened in recent years around the racing spectacle. The massive mainstream popularity of the hit Netflix show Drive to Survive, for example, largely contributed to droves of new fans of the sport, who may have not felt too interested in the once seemingly impenetrable world of F1. The next big thing to happen is a movie, called quite simply F1, though also known as F1: The Movie. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, who’s behind some of the most visually rich movies ever made like Tron: Legacy and Top Gun: Maverick, directs this Hollywood-style romp in the world of F1, starring Brad Pitt in the role of Sonny Hayes, a fictional driver who’s raced in the 90’s, who reenters the world of Formula 1 to mentor the promising rookie Joshua Pearce. Turns out that he’s more than capable enough of handling an F1 car to this very day, which even shockingly puts him back to drive a Formula 1 car. The movie is produced by Apple, and is set to hit theatres in late June 2025.

What does any of this have to do with F1 25, the game? Well, there’s a 7-chapter playable story, much in the style of Braking Point, allowing players to relive some of the movie’s more memorable scenes. Once again, there’s story beats before and after these playable segments, with specific movie-related events happening in a scripted fashion, but there’s one key difference: these are not animated cutscenes, these are scenes from the movie. Unfortunately, only one of the chapters is currently available, with the rest arriving on June 30th – presumably to avoid spoiling the plot and setpieces of the movie. In the one already available part, players get to hop into one of APXGP’s F1 cars (which, for the purpose of filming, was actually a heavily modified Formula 2 car), and do a test run in the shoes of Brad Pitt, I mean, Sonny Hayes, on a quest to prove that, despite his age, he’s still competitive. It’s a bite-sized look into this campaign, one with its own graphics filters, UI elements, voicelines and more. It’s a cute little addition, extending for a little bit longer the fascination of the scripted story beats of Braking Point, and I’m curious to see what’s coming up.

One peculiar aspect of the F1 movie is that it features tons of footage actually shot during race weekends. With the repurposed Formula 2 car they used for shooting, Formula 1’s organizers managed to set up actual laps where this fictional, yet very real racing car actually competes with the other Formula 1 drivers, such as Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc or George Russell. They even filmed a handful of interaction between the movie’s characters and the real-world athletes, even down to a podium sequence. I don’t know if the movie will be any good. There’s a high risk it’s going to be a highly cheesy and predictable ride, one where romantic aspects and typical Hollywood tropes will dominate the actual beauty of seeing exciting race footage. But one thing it is certainly setting up to do well is making you feel like you’re part of the Formula 1 world, as we’ll see real tracks, real drivers, real team principals – real F1 racing, for all intents and purposes.

Will you make the right decisions when managing your own team?

Among legends

I’d say this is a key philosophy behind Codemasters’ F1 videogames as well – in this year’s F1 25, in particular. Beyond the scripted story modes, most players will certainly dig into the Driver Career mode. Here, players get the chance to create their own virtual avatar and build an F1 career for them, or even jump into the shoes of an existing F1 star, rewriting their history in the process. Funnily enough, in F1 25, players can even choose some of the fictional drivers we talked about – such as Braking Point’s Aiden Jackson, or the F1 movie’s Sonny Hayes. Imagine predicting a decade or so ago that, one day, we could play a career mode as Brad Pitt, of all people, in an official Formula 1 release. Bizarre, isn’t it?

Regardless of whose role we fill in, whether we stick to the 10 official teams or add a fictional 11th one like APXGP or Konnersport, Driver Career is easily the most comprehensive way to experience the world of F1. As is the case, players get to customize every aspect of the experience, such as how long races should be, whether free practice and qualifying sessions should happen and so forth. But if players choose to “live it all”, they can participate in the driver market and switch teams, set out which opponent they want to set out a rivalry with, participate in testing sessions to optimize setups and car developments, participate in interviews and so forth. On the sunday, it’s all about the race, but there’s a rich world outside of it as well.

The other main single player mode is My Team, which puts players into the shoes of an F1 team principal. Having to manage developments, setups, the driver market, the branding and so forth, it’s the manager aspect of the Formula 1 game – though it’s, predictably, not quite as deep or comprehensive as the dedicated F1 Manager games. Interestingly, this mode too allows players to hire the fictional drivers from APXGP or Konnersport, but even former F1 legends like Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna, Formula 2 and Formula 3 alumni like Dennis Hauger or Nikola Tsolov, all the way down to F1 sim racers such as Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley – with these drivers also being able to join other teams. One quick gripe about the driver market, as of now, is that the in-season driver changes of 2025 aren’t yet reflected in the game – so expect Liam Lawson not yet replaced by Yuki Tsunoda in Red Bull, and Jack Doohan still holding his Alpine seat over Franco Colapinto. With the player getting to manage the drivers, the sponsorships, the budgets and more, it’s a very detailed and exciting mode, that further allows players to understand what goes down behind the spectacular races. Once again, the most exciting part of the package may be the sunday races, but the real hard work is on every other day of the week, of the month, of the year.

My rules

Of course, players can also ignore the surroundings of Formula 1, and focus on the racing. And the experience in the cockpit, too, has received a handful of welcome changes. After the push towards a more accessible physics model in F1 24, this year’s episode dials it down a little bit, making it closer to the simcade formula people remember in F1 23 and prior. As always, players get to completely customize what sort of the driving assists they use – up to even using traction control, automatic braking or visual guides on when to brake for a corner. But no matter what they player chooses, cars feel a bit more snappy and raw to drive again, with corner exits in particular requiring commitment and attention to avoid spinning out or, simply, lack enough grip to start accelerating optimally. As someone who doesn’t put hundreds of hours in these games per year anymore, only a couple dozen or so, the changes aren’t particularly jarring, so if you played any of the recent F1 games, chances are you’ll immediately readapt to the formula. It’s an accessible simcade model, with plenty of simulation aspects and “professional” elements, yet with a decent amount of concessions to make it all enjoyable on a casual player’s controller as well.

Technically, the game takes an important leap: Codemasters has, in fact, decided to leave the 8th gen consoles behind. Bye bye Xbox One, adios PlayStation 4 – it’s all about PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 now. This has undoubtedly allowed the developers to shake off some of the outdated aspects of the engine, but don’t expect a major visual overhaul just yet. There’s multiple noticeable changes, such as more convincing reflections of the surroundings on our car and its halo (the circle-shaped protection that surrounds drivers’ helmets), the gravel that ends up colouring the tyre when touched, and so forth. But all in all, it doesn’t quite feel like a transformative chapter, neither visually or mechanically, with even the management of DRS, battery, engine modes, strategy and more that are virtually unchanged since F1 24 – and, well, prior games as well.

Speaking of the previous F1 titles, do expect to find just about everything you remember from the previous episodes as well. Driver Career and MyTeam can be played solo or in co-op. Players can set up individual races and championships with their own rules and calendars – even using reverse tracks, in some places! F1 World is back with minimal changes, once again allowing players to customize and improve their ride as they tackle challenges against AI and online opponents alike. Fanzone, too, is here, with everyone being able to set out their “allegiance” when it comes to teams and drivers, then competing as to who’s got the most successful fanbase in the game. The usual Podium Pass and PitCoin system of MTXs is here, too, for better or worse. Online isn’t missing either, with custom championships, ranked events and much more. Perhaps the biggest change, aside from the additions I already mentioned, is the expanded livery editor, which finally allows players to better customize the look of cars, as opposed to just making small changes to existing styles. It’s not as free-form as the Forza games, but it’s an improvement.

Absolute cinema or Hollywood slop?

This is the 17th consecutive yearly Formula 1 game by Codemasters, starting from its humble origins in 2009 on the Wii, crossing over 3 generations of consoles and countless iterative updates. As is always the case, this year also updates the driver rosters, the track calendar and so forth – this time, even adding a few reverse tracks. There have been multiple, quite innovative episodes, either because of some major technical overhauls or the addition of much hyped features – such as F1 21’s Braking Point. F1 25 is not one of those episodes, though it’s probably the most cinematic episode of the franchise yet, thanks to the return of the 3rd chapter of said scripted storyline, but also a bigger focus on the upcoming F1 movie with Brad Pitt and more player agency than ever in its already vast career options. But this is also the first game to ship exclusively on 9th generation consoles (alongside PC, of course), yet the upgrades are quite minimal. The physics, the graphics, the general experience have been improved, but really not by much. Developers boast the fact they laser-scanned each track for even more precision, but let’s be real here – that’s the sort of stuff that nobody, aside from hardcore sim enthusiasts, would even notice or care about.

Ultimately, that is what it all boils down to. F1 25 is a quite small upgrade over F1 24, but the presence of Braking Point 3, content from the F1 movie and improved career options ensure more unique race experiences, especially for solo players who want to do a full immersion of the Formula 1 experience. Those who are only in for the on-track experience and wish to lap around Monza or Silverstone every now and then, well, those players will find little reason to upgrade from F1 24. Is F1 25 a slick game? It absolutely is, as it’s an exceptionally fun and complete licensed motorsport racer. It is also a quite small upgrade over previous years’ games, so unless you live and breathe Formula 1, there probably is no rush to jump in just yet – even more so when 6 out of 7 chapters of the F1 movie content are yet to release. It’s up to you whether all this really justifies buying an expensive new entry in the franchise or not. With Codemasters’ recent games underperforming, Electronic Arts losing the license for WRC games and not yet any announcement about future Formula 1 games, it’s unclear what the future brings for EA Sports’ yearly F1 romps. But the present is F1 25, and it’s a really good game – just one with limited improvements over the previous couple games.

F1 25 releases on the 30th of May, 2025 on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, with the Iconic Edition allowing 3 days of early access, allowing players to start racing on the 27th of May already. As is the case for most Electronic Arts games, the full game is part of the EA Play Pro subscription service on PC, and a 10-hour trial can be played on EA Play on consoles. As a reminder, EA Play is also included in Game Pass Ultimate, as well, allowing subscribers to test out this year’s Formula 1 at no extra charge for a good couple hours.