F1 2021 Review (PS5): The Superlative Formula One Experience

Naturally there's no comparison between the thrill of rooting for your favorite team or driver while watching one of the twenty-three Grand Prix this year, and virtually jumping behind the wheel of one of these beastly cars to try to win the Championship. However, playing F1 2021 has its benefits since you can pick it up any time you feel like racing, but what makes it more interesting than an actual race is you get a sneak peek at what's happening behind the scenes.

For the first time in the history of the series, the game features a story mode that introduces players to what's happening behind the scenes in a Formula One team. You might think that this is a mistake or resources wasted, but this is actually very good and makes newcomers and veterans understand the chemistry between two drivers of the same team.

The story mode is split in two acts and offers players the chance to experience an entire Formula One World Championship from the perspective of a young driver who's just made the jump from Formula 2, and a veteran driver who lost their mojo.

More than anything, if you don't like the chit-chat in between Grand Prix races, you'll gain a lot of experience learning how to drive a Formula One car. Dubbed Braking Point, the story mode in F1 2021 puts players into the shoes of young Aidan Jackson and soon-to-retire veteran Casper Akkerman. We even have an antagonist, Devon Butler from F1 2019.

The narrative is mostly conveyed through cutscenes and phone conversations, but the meaty part consists of certain objectives that you must attain during races. It rarely happens that you'll drive an entire 15-lap race in story mode, as the challenges you'll face involve mid-race situations like a mechanical failure and your reaction to it. Just about every objective in story mode requires you to recover from an unfavorable situation and, against all odds, finish ahead of a specific driver or team.

It's an interesting approach that makes Braking Point a very interesting part of the game. Although the overall the cutscenes and voice acting are quite decent, there are moments where I couldn't ask myself why a certain conversation made it to the game since it doesn't add anything interesting to the story.

Beyond the six-eight hours story in the Braking Point, there's a complex My Team mode where you get to create a new Formula One team from scratch and try to win the Championship. It goes very deep into customization, so you'll be able to choose livery and sponsors, and even set up your own R&D department that will focus on aspects that you think will help your team the most.

On top of that, you get to either choose play as one of the current-generation F1 drivers (i.e. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, etc.) or you can put your own name on the starting grid. To benefit from the upgrades developed by the R&D department, you'll have to win points in practice sessions and Grand Prix races.

Speaking of practice sessions, these are meant to determine the optimum amount of fuel that you should start with, or the provide you with the recommended tyres for a certain race. Each comes with secondary goals that reward resource points when achieved. Of course, you can choose to skip these if you want to primarily focus on the actual Grand Prix race, but then you'll hardly be able to take advantage of the R&D department at its fullest.

Before you start your first race though, it's important to choose the level of difficulty that suits your playstyle. As a newcomer to the series, there's no shame in starting with Casual Mode and making the transition to Standard Mode later on when you feel more comfortable driving. However, I'd recommend players to check out some of the additional settings that makes the F1 2021 experience closer to a pure simulator or arcade game.

There are a bunch of “assists” hidden under the settings in F1 2021, which can completely change your driving experience. If you selected Casual Mode, you won't have to bother with any of these assists, but if you want a bit of a challenge, I'd recommend disabling some of them: steering, braking, anti-lock brakes, traction control, gearbox, dynamic racing line, pit assist and pit release assist, ERS and DRS assists.

Also, before every Grand Prix, you are invited to review the strategy of the race. Basically, you are presented with a default and an alternate strategy, but the game doesn't tell you that you can gain a lot of extra seconds by adjusting the fuel. By default, the game will add a few extra laps of fuel to the car, but since you're going to make a pit stop anyway, it's better to start with less fuel to avoid extra weight, which typically leads to slower speed on track.

Then, you'll have to take care of your tyres, so you'll want to take corners as smooth as possible, especially on the exists. Don't be aggressive when you exit a tight corner, instead accelerate slowly to avoid putting extra pressure on the tyre. These are just some of the small things that can help your car be faster when racing against better cars.

Conclusion

The driving experience in F1 2021 has been fine-tuned, so I'm happy to say that it's the best it's ever been. The amount of customization options and the addition of a story mode make F1 2021 not only the most accessible game in the series, but also the perfect time sink for die-hard sim enthusiasts and Formula One fans alike.

Also, if you're a solo player, the My Team and Career modes offer dozens of hours of pure fun, as you can build your team from scratch or start with an already established team to help them win the F1 crown. The near perfect handling model and the superb tracks turn this into a superlative driving experience that none of the previous games in the series achieved.

This is hands-down the best-looking F1 game and a great launching point to the next title in the series.

Rating: 85/100