F1 25 Beginner's Guide | Gameplay Tips & Tricks

Jumping into the new F1 25 game as a newcomer can be daunting. There are so many settings, game modes, and different systems to learn that it can be hard to know where to start. 

This beginner's guide will help you run through all of the key areas within this year's game. This guide also includes settings and essential tips and tricks, making it perfect for both new riders and experienced riders who want to improve their lap times.

The First Setup

Make sure all of your hardware is set up and running right before you do anything else. This includes setting up your racing wheel and pedals if you're using them, mounting them securely, and optimizing your PC performance to get the smoothest FPS if you're not racing on a console. Starting with your racing wheel or controller, ensure they're all connected, updated, and working to give you the best experience.

There are many settings you can change on a racing wheel, both in F1 25's settings and the wheel settings controlled by your wheelbase or your PC. Some key things to look for in F1 25 include setting your steering rotation between 360° and 400°. Lower settings will make your car feel a bit more responsive, while setting the rotation closer to 400° will give you a bit more stability in your input. 

If you're using a controller, you can increase the steering rate to somewhere between 110 % and 130 %. This makes your inputs faster and allows for a more responsive car, although it can make your car slightly trickier to drive. Be sure to test this setting before jumping into a competitive race.

Another top tip for both wheel and controller users is to increase the linearity. This affects the input curve, making the start of your input more gradual. If you're learning to race without traction control for the first time, increasing linearity will give you finer control over your initial throttle input. 

Once your controller or wheel is set up, the next step is to choose the correct AI difficulty for your skill level.

Finding the Ideal AI Difficulty

Knowing where to set the AI difficulty can be tricky if you haven't played an F1 game for a while. To help you find the recommended AI difficulty for every track, use the AI difficulty calculator designed for F1 25. First, jump into a single-time trial session and set your fastest lap time. 

Then, head over to the calculator, choose the track you're racing on, and enter your lap time. The calculator will show your recommended AI difficulty. From there, you can jump back into F1 25, confident that the AI will be at or around your pace.

Even after using the calculator, I recommend testing the difficulty in practice sessions. You may need to tweak it up or down a few clicks to find that sweet spot. One key area of F1 25 (pretty much any racing game) that makes the game more accessible is the driving assists.

Driving Assists

Driving assists allow you to turn on or off different aids based on the skill level and realism you want to achieve. Particular assists, such as manual gears, racing lines, and ABS, are ideal for newcomers. As you progress, you may start deactivating some of these to get a more authentic and slightly more challenging experience.

It is worth noting that driving assists can limit your maximum lap time potential. Assists like traction control and ABS will kick in when the game detects you're about to spin your wheels or lock a tire. 

These restrict your car's potential compared to racing with them disabled. If you struggle to keep the car pointed the right way with TC disabled, enabling these crucial assists can increase your overall enjoyment. 

Once you've got all your assists dialed in and your AI difficulty set about right, you can start venturing out onto the track and racking up laps. F1 25 is a game where it can be easy to begin lapping without mistakes, but finding those final tenths or seconds can be hard. Improving all comes down to practice.

Which Mode to Play First?

Your first outing should be in Time Trial mode. In Time Trial, AI is disabled, and track conditions are set to maximum grip, making it the ideal place to get used to the new handling in this year's game. From there, you can head into your first Grand Prix weekend, but always enable at least one practice session. 

Varying track conditions and tire grip will make your car feel slightly different compared to how it felt in the Time Trial. For that reason, put in a few practice laps before heading into qualifying or a race.

Once you've spent more time learning the systems and setting everything up, you can jump into Career mode to put everything to the test. There are multiple career modes in this year's game. 

You can play the "My Team" game mode, which lets you create your team in an RPG-style experience where you upgrade and manage your car, hire new staff, and even recruit drivers. 

You can also play the Driver Career, where you race as either a current driver or your driver. Manage your career, make contract negotiations, and swap from team to team while chasing the F1 World Championship. This year also sees the return of Breaking Point, a linear, story-driven mode that offers a great way to learn different areas of the game.

Understanding Car Setups

When you're in the garage or on the grid just before a race, you'll notice a Car Setups tab. This is a great way to improve how your car feels. Inside this section, you'll see a few preset car setups you can choose from. Your car's setup changes key areas of your vehicle and how everything is assembled to influence handling and performance. Commentators often discuss downforce levels, ride heights, and tire pressures—these are all aspects of the car setup that can be adjusted for each race.

Adjusting or creating a car setup aims to maximize your car's potential for the upcoming session. Your setup will vary from track to track based on different characteristics and weather conditions. Here is a brief overview of each part of the car setup:

Aerodynamics: Controls overall levels of downforce, influencing both corner grip and top speed. Increasing downforce improves corner handling but reduces maximum speed.

Differential: Controls how your rear wheels rotate relative to each other. Fine-tuning impacts how the car behaves in corners, influencing wheel spin and the rotation of the rear wheels for better control and stability.

Suspension Geometry: Defines the position of your tires relative to the track surface. This affects tire wear, mechanical grip, and overall handling.

Suspension (Springs/ARBs/Ride Height): Dictates the stiffness or softness of your car's response when cornering or passing over bumps. Adjusting these affects balance, stability, and responsiveness.

Brakes: Changes how hard the brakes work and how force is distributed between the front and back wheels. It's an essential change for getting the best stopping power.

Tire Pressures: These decide how your tires heat up and react to the road. Changing the tire pressure changes how fast, how well, how quickly, how responsively, and how long the tires last in different race situations. 

If this all seems daunting, don't worry. There are free F1 25-car setups available that are designed to be better than the in-game presets. They make the car easier to drive and slightly faster, which is ideal for many players. 

If you're competing online in a league or against friends, there are also Pro Setups optimized for maximum performance. These include multiple setups for every track, as well as recommended qualifying and race strategies.

Learning Race Strategies

Another area to learn beyond car setups is race strategy, which can have a significant impact on your overall finishing position. Strategy is mainly about tire choice and pit stops. You have Soft (red) tires, which offer the most grip but wear quickly; Medium (yellow), which balance grip and durability; and Hard (white), which are the slowest but last longer, making them ideal for race stints.

In races covering more than 25 % of the distance, a Medium-to-Hard strategy with a single pit stop is often optimal on most tracks. In some cases where tire wear isn't high, you might use Soft tires. Pitting once instead of twice can save you a lot of time—an average pit stop costs around 20 seconds. 

When unsure which strategy to choose, opt for Medium-to-Hard or Hard-to-Medium, meaning you start on Medium or Hard, pit once, and switch to the other compound. Pro Setups and strategies can guide you to the optimal choice by providing qualifying and race strategies for every track, so you don't have to worry about selecting the wrong option.

You can see how long different tactics are likely to take to win the race on the strategy screen. Usually, it's best to pick the one with the fastest total race time. You can also change the tires and lap you pit on to make any plan that suits your needs. 

It's essential to learn how to control your tires during the race. Don't let your wheels spin, and don't follow other cars too closely. Their lifespan is increased, and they may be able to use better strategies, which helps them finish the race faster overall.

Additionally, managing your ERS (Energy Recovery System) is key. You can activate Overtake mode for enhanced performance, but this will drain your battery faster. If you run out of or completely drain your battery, you'll be vulnerable to overtakes and will have to spend a few laps harvesting the battery to rebuild it.

Essential Driving Techniques

While developing your pace and consistency takes time, learning a few driving techniques can speed up your progression. One of the most complex parts of racing in F1 25 is not spinning your car. 

Disabling Traction Control is one of the hardest assists to turn off. Learn to accelerate gradually and avoid applying too much throttle out of corners to prevent wheel spin. 

If you're racing on a controller, adjust the linearity setting to make acceleration easier to manage. Practice gradually increasing the throttle each lap until you reach the point where you can feel the back of the car squirming.

Try to hit the apex of every corner you take. Using the correct racing line shortens the track and allows for higher minimum corner speeds. If you're using Racing Line assist, you can quickly learn the best line for each track and ensure you hit the apexes for the fastest lap times.

Use the full width of the track on the corner entry and exit to maintain higher speeds. This means using the curb on the corner exits, allowing you to accelerate harder. As a general rule, approach the corner on the opposite side of the track so you don't have to apply as much steering input, and you can carry more speed through the corner.

Finally, trail braking is a slightly more advanced technique, but one of the most valuable. It helps you brake later, brake better, and rotate the car more quickly. Trail braking means gradually lifting off the brake pedal as you rotate into the corner. 

This keeps the weight of the car evenly distributed over the front tires, helping to improve grip. Combining braking and steering phases in a corner can let you brake later and carry more speed through it.

Mastering F1 25 takes time, with practice being one of the top tips regardless of your approach. This beginner's guide will help you get off to the best possible start. Most importantly, take your time and enjoy the game.