EA and Codemasters announced last year that F1 25 would be expanded with 2026 season content instead of receiving a traditional standalone F1 26 release. What ultimately led to that decision? And how did the idea of a 2026 Season Pack fit into the broader strategic reset for the F1 franchise, especially with the next full game now planned for 2027?

Both of these questions really come back to the same thing. Formula 1 has changed significantly over the last few years. The audience is larger, more diverse, and engages with the sport in different ways than it did even a few years ago. We felt it was important that the F1 franchise evolves alongside those changes.

As part of our long-term plans for the series, we made the decision to support F1 25 with a premium 2026 Season Pack rather than release a traditional standalone F1 26 title. We believe this approach allows players to keep enjoying F1 25 while experiencing the new teams, drivers, regulations and MADRING that will define the 2026 season.

It also allows us to take a longer-term approach to what comes next. While we’re continuing to support F1 25, we’re also able to focus on delivering the next major step for the franchise.

"It also allows us to take a longer-term approach to what comes next."

The 2026 season represents a major reset for Formula 1 itself, with new cars, new regulations, new teams, and new racing systems. From a development perspective, what was the biggest challenge in translating that into F1 25?

The new regulations for 2026 are the biggest overhaul the sport has had in quite some time. It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity, but yes, that certainly represented some sizable development challenges. The first of which was to understand what to expect from the racing experience and capturing that within the game. We kept a very close eye on the official paperwork, really making sure we understood the changes to ensure we could achieve the level of authenticity we wanted. The next aspect was communicating these changes to players. Some of the terminology now has drastically different meanings. For example in 2026, Boost mode is more akin to what was previously known as Overtake mode. The functionality of Overtake has a very different strategic effect in 2026.

Beyond the updated teams, drivers, cars, and sporting regulations, what would you say are the biggest additions players should expect from the 2026 Season Pack?

The driving itself. You as the driver must operate very differently from what you’re used to. To some players, the driving can be described ‘restricted’ but others call it strategic and we have managed to capture the essence of this in game. Smart driving and circuit knowledge is way more rewarding in these regulations.

The 2026 update introduces Audi and Cadillac to the grid. How much work went into representing these new teams authentically in terms of car identity, presentation, performance, and overall feel?

Representing a team in the game is a combination of close collaboration with the F1 teams and attention to detail from the Dev side, making sure every detail from the model to the performance accurately represents the sport.

MADRING is being introduced as a new Madrid-based circuit built for the 2026 season. What can players expect from its layout, rhythm, and racing style compared to the existing tracks in F1 25?

This year players will be able to experience the MADRING circuit before the real drivers will, before it’s even built. That took an incredible effort from our environment art team, digesting the CAD data we were provided and bringing it to life, so credit to them for making it happen.

To drive, the circuit itself is a high speed street circuit, but what sets it apart is the flowing nature and elevation changes. With the barriers nearby it’s a real driver’s circuit. It rewards accuracy and bravery. The fastest laps come from carrying speed through the flowing sections while remaining accurate enough to stay clear of the walls, which should make it both rewarding to master and exciting to race on.

"This year players will be able to experience the MADRING circuit before the real drivers will, before it’s even built."

The 2026 cars are lighter, smaller, and more responsive, with active aerodynamics playing a major role. How significantly does that change the handling model and moment-to-moment driving experience?

Those are all important factors, as are the slightly narrower tyre widths. Although the lap times are only around a second slower than the previous generation of cars, they achieve that performance in a very different way.

At times, the acceleration can feel incredibly intense, but the cars carry less speed through corners, particularly the faster ones, due to the relative reduction in downforce. One of the first things players are likely to notice is that the cars don’t feel quite as planted as the 2025-spec cars, which were comparatively stable and predictable.

Active aerodynamics and the new Overtake Mode appear to be among the biggest gameplay changes in the Season Pack. How do these systems alter race strategy, especially when it comes to attacking, defending, and energy management?

The racing they produce is also quite different thanks to the introduction of Active Aero, the revised Overtake Mode and the highly powerful Boost Mode. Wheel-to-wheel racing becomes more strategic, with drivers constantly balancing energy management against opportunities to attack or defend. There are often multiple ways to approach a battle, which creates a lot of interesting tactical choices throughout a race.

Of course, we were mindful that these new systems add complexity. That’s why we’ve included assists that can help manage elements such as energy deployment, allowing players to tailor the experience to their preferred level of involvement while still enjoying the unique character of the 2026 regulations.

Overtake Mode offers a major electrical boost when players are within range of the car ahead. How did the team approach balancing that so it feels powerful without becoming too easy to exploit?

Overtake Mode can be a powerful addition, but its effectiveness is tied to the same constraints and opportunities seen in Formula 1. We’ve replicated the key characteristics of the system, including the one-second activation window, the increased harvesting allowance and the revised deployment behaviour that enables greater electrical deployment at higher speeds.

As a result, it far from guarantees an overtake. Players still need to think carefully about when to use their available energy and how to position the car to maximise the benefit. That strategic element is a big part of what makes racing under the 2026 regulations so engaging.

"Overtake Mode can be a powerful addition, but its effectiveness is tied to the same constraints and opportunities seen in Formula 1."

The 2026 Season Pack requires fresh 2026 saves for Driver Career and My Team. Why was it important to separate 2025 and 2026 career progression rather than allow existing saves to carry over?

As with everything in game development, it’s about making the decisions that deliver the best overall experience for players. Throughout development we’re constantly making decisions about where our effort is best spent and what will have the biggest impact.

Supporting existing Driver Career and My Team saves is a much bigger piece of work than it might first appear, so for this release we made the decision to focus our effort on delivering the best possible 2026 Season Pack experience.

It’s always about making the right trade-offs to deliver the best experience for players.

In My Team, players now enter as the twelfth team on the grid because the official F1 grid expands to eleven teams in 2026. How does that change the structure and feel of the mode?

Honestly depends on what type of player you are. If you’re the type of player that enjoys a challenge and likes to fight their way from the back, catching one or two cars every lap, then this is a great season for you. Then on the other hand if you’re the type of player that likes to fight at the front, then beyond the new racing style and the first turns chaos, you won’t feel much different, but your focus will shift on how to defend while managing your energy.

Which modes will benefit the most from the 2026 Season Pack, and how different should players expect the experience to feel across Driver Career, My Team, Grand Prix, Time Trial, split-screen, and unranked multiplayer?

Any mode that is supported in the season back was selected because they had a unique experience to offer to our players.

Will the 2026 Season Pack include any platform-specific visual, performance, or technical improvements, or is the focus primarily on content, rules, handling, and gameplay systems?

We introduced PSSR 2 on the PlayStation 5 Pro, Updated to XeSS 3 for Intel GPUs on PC and included bug fixes and quality improvements to the F1 25 EGO Engine across rasterised, ray traced and path traced lighting.

And, indeed, the season so far has seen plenty of exciting on-track passes, followed invariably by instant re-passes – the so-called yo-yoing effect – but the authenticity of hybrid car design is also coming under scrutiny: is racing now too artificial? Should drivers be pushing 100% of the time? Or, is battery conservation still a valid measure of skill?

On first impression, F1’s real-life changes feel comparatively subtle in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack. The update refreshes this season’s driver line-up and liveries, introduces two new teams, and the all-new Madring circuit, but the dynamic potential of lighter, half-electric-powered cars is not immediately obvious. 2026 Season Pack is less about noticeable ‘car-feel’ swings and more about what the new regulations demand, in driving style and racecraft alike.

To acclimatise to the 2026-regulation cars I loaded into Time Trial – among F1 25’s modes incorporating 2026’s updates alongside Grand Prix, unranked multiplayer, split-screen, pro challenges, and career – with new teams Cadillac and Audi, the latter swapping Sauber’s lime green for titanium silver and flaming red.

The new Active Aero package allows front wings to open tandemly with rear wings in the same letterbox-style that defined the now defunct DRS. Both systems operate the same – open wings reduce aerodynamic drag for mild speed boosts, albeit there are more opportunities to deploy the system this season compared to the one-or-two DRS zones of earlier years.

Taking the all-American Cadillac for a spin round Austin and Miami, the car felt suitably reactive. Although – as I’ve already alluded – the difference wasn’t as pronounced as I expected. That said, as subtle as the shift in responsiveness is, I still felt a tweak of controller calibration was necessary. Specifically, I widened steering linearity to soften straight-line twitchiness.

However, these early impressions are incomplete without 2026’s revamped energy systems, so into a race weekend I went for my first taste of the new Boost and Overtake Modes. While Boost is available at any time, Overtake’s extra electrical horsepower confirms this mode as the true replacement for DRS. Not Active Aero, but the monumental power surge you access once you’re within one second of the car in-front at a designated point.

Overtake’s key distinction, however, is you have the entire next lap to expel its charge. In real-life F1, we’ve seen drivers use the system to get the jump on opponents, but also, there’s been plenty of battery-assisted overtakes in unconventional places. Indeed, in-game, along Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve’s final-sector stretch, Overtake Mode was powerful enough that I careened past multiple cars before reaching the braking point at Montreal’s iconic Wall of Champions chicane. However, depleting my battery left me exposed to a re-pass on the start-finish straight.

Likewise, along the fleeting back-end of Melbourne’s Albert Park I breezed past the car ahead thanks to a mix of Overtake and open Aero. But, my opponent reappeared after the brisk left-right of turns eleven and twelve, presumably conserving battery along the straight with the plan to re-take the place immediately. They secured the pass long-before turn thirteen’s mid-weight braking zone, and having depleted my battery I was unable to counter.

"Clipping in the 2026 Season Pack is inconsistent."

So, the lesson: if you think hitting Overtake is a one-and-done manoeuvre, think again. Yes, opportunely deploying excess power is an effective attacking strategy, but you rely on your battery for defence, too. Upon this realisation, the subtleties of 2026’s battery-spec come to the fore: see, depletion comes at a much faster rate than last year, so you need to take a more active role in harvesting. In 2026, the real-life cars do this under-braking and by lifting and coasting – easing off the throttle early before engaging the brake – and by superclipping – that is, when the engine deliberately siphons power to the battery, creating a polarising scenario where cars slow at full speed, soundtracked by a dip in engine revs.

Clipping in the 2026 Season Pack is inconsistent. Where the relatively short run up to Austria’s sharp turn-three presented downturned engine power, coinciding with a welcome recharge, I didn’t experience the same effect on Shanghai’s 1.2km back straight – a place I’d expect superclipping to be prevalent. Some clarity would be appreciated; while your race engineer describes lifting and coasting, and suggests using boost on corner exit as a way to counteract any pre-corner shortfall, superclipping isn’t mentioned at all. Whether you’re a fan or not, clipping needs to be a fully-fledged feature to ensure the most immersive simulation.

So, the most effective recharging is done by lifting and coasting, which for most will mean adapting your driving style. I found that flowing tracks like Qatar’s Losail International Circuit made lifting and coasting – or, in other words, driving deliberately more measured – quite enjoyable. Throughout its long sequences and the absence of heavy-braking zones, Losail became an opportunity to refine my throttle control. And, during races, Qatar doesn’t demand energy management as strictly as the aforementioned Albert Park or Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve – the latter going further to expose some bad habits too. Now, more than ever, nailing your exit to turn-ten’s hairpin is crucial to securing a pass on the following straight with battery to spare.

But, while some pre-existing circuits require fine-tuning muscle memory to extract the best performance, Madrid’s all-new Madring circuit is a different beast entirely. It’s tight, twisting, varied, and unfamiliar; a strange feeling, admittedly, racing around a circuit that real-life F1 has yet to visit. Alas, what’s unfamiliar forces proper learning, and a chance to explore potentially unconventional overtakes afforded by this year’s batteries.

See, before Las Vegas and Baku, F1’s street circuits were notoriously difficult to overtake. With Madring, its attacking potential would be unclear if it wasn’t for 2026’s regulation changes. There’s an early-lap opportunity to drag-race toward a tightening chicane where electrical horsepower gets the pass done early. If Madring had appeared on last season’s calendar, this manoeuvre wouldn’t have been viable.

Likewise, I was caught out on the briefest zip toward the final corner, showing that even marginal straights yield opportunities for passing. Whether these scenarios play out similarly when F1 visits the circuit is unknown, but Madring makes for an enjoyable experience in 2026 Season Pack regardless.

"My only gripe, really, is that the strategic potential in the 2026 regs isn’t fully explained."

And that’s the thing: the strongest critique of 2026’s regulation changes accuse the FIA of ‘gamifying’ Formula 1. And while that debate is ongoing, in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack those ‘game-like’ changes translate into a tactical tug-of-war, where energy management boils down to a risk-versus-reward mechanic. Whether you’re recharging for one final qualifying lap as the clock ticks down, or you’re desperate to stay ahead of the pack as your battery’s running on empty, F1’s 2026 regulations expand on-track tension. Through refined throttle control, tactical energy use, occasional ERS trains forcing you toward unconventional overtakes, or the dreaded speed differentials between power surging and battery harvesting cars, you’ve more on your plate in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack than ever before.

My only gripe, really, is that the strategic potential in the 2026 regs isn’t fully explained. Sure, your engineer outlines the fundamentals, but it would be appreciated if onboarding suggested more conclusive ways to use the battery-powered tools for tactical attack and defence. Likewise, practice programs appear unchanged. In my view, this is a missed opportunity to train you on how to extract your battery’s potential. Mid-race dynamic objectives have been updated – in one example my engineer asked me to deploy my battery past a certain threshold before the end of the following lap – but by this time you’re already in the thick of it. My strategic ideas glean from watching F1 for real; casual fans who don’t pay close attention to the sport will have to figure it out for themselves.

So, whilst F1 in 2026 is something of a revolution, in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack these sweeping overhauls are more of an evolution. While the changes aren’t as dramatic as you’d expect, newly meaningful strategy emerges during moment-to-moment racing once you’ve a handle on the battery’s tactical potential. What I’m most appreciative of, though, is that the 2026 Season Pack refines the experience in ways that demand more deliberate driving.

This DLC is more than a re-skin, and fans of the series should be eager to access the update before F1 27’s purported revamp.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

For Codemasters, the sheer scale of changes – including new aero packages, new teams, and shifting driver line-ups – likely presented too insurmountable a challenge to build into an entirely new entry in time, hence the incoming 2026 Season Pack; a DLC of sorts incorporating the bulk of F1 2026’s regulation overhauls before the series’ purported revamp for F1 27.

Yet, F1 25: 2026 Season Pack is anything but a reskin. Here’s fifteen of the biggest changes coming to F1 25’s established foundation.

Regulation Overhaul Changes How You Drive

So, what do these sweeping regulation changes actually mean for you once you get behind the wheel or pick up your gamepad? Well, this year the cars are lighter, so they’ll feel nimbler, while real-time adjustable front-and-rear wings give you greater control over cornering speeds and straight-line drag. Meanwhile, you’ll take a more active role in recovering battery charge – which, alongside aerodynamics, we’ll unpack later in the feature. In terms of wheel-to-wheel racing, you’ve a broader arsenal to attack and defend, but if the 2026 Season Pack replicates the yo-yoing position swapping of real-life F1, you’ll need to manage and deploy these tools strategically to make a pass stick.

New Regs Mean Strategy Shifts Between Circuits

Scrutinising 2026 regulation aero packages further, the slimmer, narrower profile of both the front and rear wings means cars operate with less downforce, which impacts grip, which, as a result, affects turning ability. Another knock-on effect: on-throttle traction is more sensitive, meaning greater chance of spinning straight to the scene of an accident, depending on the driving assists, if any, that are enabled. Energy management is still the most fundamental change though, and how you recover spent battery will shift between circuits. High speed tracks like Monza, for instance, demand stricter energy management, while Monaco’s narrow streets place less emphasis on battery recovery.

Active Aero Isn’t Necessarily an Overtaking Aid

With the new energy deployment tools, which we’ll get to next, 2026 regulation F1 cars are less-reliant on opening the rear-wing letterbox – the now defunct Drag Reduction System, or DRS – to aid overtaking. Sure, while opening both the front and rear wings provides a noticeable speed boost, the ability for each driver to adjust their aerodynamics throughout every lap regardless of the car ahead means that any competitive advantage gleaned by reducing drag is completely neutralised. Instead, the new aero system enables higher straight-line speed, while still providing ample downforce for cornering grip, albeit not as much compared to 2025-specification cars.

Overtake Mode is the True DRS Replacement

Where aero adjustments no longer yield specific opportunities to pass the car in front, the all-new, battery-dependent Overtake Mode is now your go-to weapon for gaining a significant speed advantage. Like DRS before it, if you’re within one-second of the car ahead at a detection point you’ll be able to unleash Overtake Mode, a powerful surge of electrical energy which will be available to you throughout the entire next lap. It’s up to you when you use it, and if you’ve watched any of this season’s first five races you’ll notice some Overtake Mode-assisted passes occurring at historically unconventional parts of the circuit.

Boost Mode Gives an Additional Power Surge

Like Active Aero, Boost Mode is available to you at any point on the circuit, and it’s a useful tool to deploy electrical energy straight to your car’s drivetrain for extra acceleration. Functioning similarly to the battery-powered speed boosts on 2025 regulation cars, this year’s specification is distinguished by both a more powerful jump in horsepower and a faster battery drain. In other words, where you could deploy battery power consistently across a lap in F1 25, now you’ll have to think tactically on when best to drain your charge, whether you’re attacking or defending.

More Active Role in Recharging Battery

Whereas energy would be restored passively in F1 25, in the 2026 Season Pack you’ll need to adapt your driving style to maximise the rate at which your battery charges. Under braking is still a crucial way to restore spent energy, but partially lifting off the throttle early before cornering is just as vital. If you’ve been paying attention to F1 this season, you’ll know that numerous drivers – four-time champion Max Verstappen included – aren’t especially enamoured with partial throttle’s necessity. It’s undeniably divisive – cars should always be driven flat out, right? Another contentious point: superclipping. That is, when the cars automatically begin harvesting electrical energy once they’re running at top revs, eliciting a noticeable – and jarring – drop in engine performance toward the end of long straights. Now, EA has been relatively quiet on clipping’s presence in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack, but some early previewers are reporting that it is indeed happening at certain points – the high-speed run-up to 130R at Suzuka, for instance.

New Assists Can Manage Active Aero and Overtake Mode

If you’d rather stay focused on the racing, then F1 25: 2026 Season Pack offers two new assists which can manage Active Aero adjustments, energy recovery, and Overtake Mode for you. That said, there are key strategic advantages to deploying these tools at the correct, specific moments, so wrapping your head around how these new systems interact appears more beneficial than letting the game handle it for you.

New Driver Lineup

Perhaps not as noteworthy as last season, F1 in 2026 has still seen a handful of changes across its lineup of drivers. Toward the top of the grid, Isaak Hadjar moved to Red Bull from sister team Racing Bulls, replacing the outgoing Yuki Tsunoda, with rookie Arvid Lindblad taking Hadjar’s place. Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez returned to the grid, forming the lineup for an all-new team.

Two New Teams

Yes, and that new team is the classic all-American brand Cadillac, who opted for experience in Bottas and Perez for their maiden season. While rooted at the bottom of the standings alongside Aston Martin, recent upgrades suggest potential for midfield competitiveness. The other new team is German outfit Audi, who took over Sauber at the end of last season, running their own custom built engine. They’ve endured a turbulent start, but Audi’s racing heritage can’t be ignored.

New Circuit: MADRING

Based in the heart of Madrid, blending public roads with purpose built tarmac, the all-new MADRING is specifically designed to accommodate 2026 regulation F1 cars. With fast, flowing undulation, tight, technical sections, and a track-defining, sweeping banked curve, the new circuit provides plenty of opportunity to maximise the potential of this season’s aero and energy overhauls. Despite still under construction, Codemasters used early CAD data to replicate the circuit’s character in-game, although it wouldn’t be surprising if the track design received a tweak come F1 27, after real-life F1 cars have raced around the completed circuit.

You’ll Need to Start a New Save

In Driver Career and My Team, that is. This season’s updated grid, rules, calendar, and car specifications won’t transfer to existing F1 25 save files. So, in case it isn’t clear, you can only race around the new MADRING circuit in 2026 regulation machinery. Also, if you’re entering a new season via a custom team, you’ll make up the twelfth entry on the grid.

Custom Teams Won’t Transfer

Likewise, any pre-made custom teams won’t be transferable between F1 25 and 2026 Season Pack. It’s clear, then, that these two seasons will function as two separate modes, which might explain why both the Konnersport or APXGP teams can’t be loaded into a 2026 season either.

Practice Programs and Race Objectives are Adjusted

During race weekend practice sessions, the programs you’ll undertake are confirmed to reflect this season’s new regulations. So, we imagine you’ll spend some laps optimising your energy recovery and deployment before qualifying. Likewise, in the race, the dynamic objectives which your engineer offers you will take F1 2026’s changes into account.

Ranked Multiplayer is Not Supported

While the 2026 regulations are playable in time trial, custom grand prix, and multiplayer, ranked multiplayer is not supported. This makes sense from the view that not every F1 25 player will buy the 2026 Season Pack, although, in that case, it might have been better for EA to implement two separate ranked multiplayer platforms. Elsewhere, F1 World, leagues, and challenge careers will remain at the existing specification.

Track Layouts Receive Visual Update

While F1 25: 2026 Season Pack isn’t set to introduce any track layout or design upgrades, meaning more LIDAR-scanned tracks are possibly waiting until F1 27, track-side signage, sponsors, pit lane length (to accommodate Cadillac as the eleventh team), plus a handful of other visual changes are being brought across with the upcoming DLC.

The specifics that excite you might vary, but we’re particularly eager to see what the latest Enhanced PSSR support is bringing to a game that impressed us by a strong margin in our review (and managed to provide Electronic Arts with a solid standing in the first quarter of FY 2026).

We’re especially eager to check out what Madring, the new Brazil-based track, has to offer, considering that it’s built from the ground up and designed to show off all the new visual and gameplay improvements that the 2026 Season Pack is bringing to the table. You can check out the official announcement on Steam for more details, or our deep dive into the various features and new additions here.

Long story short: It’s more than just two new teams and four new drivers. With revamped vehicle designs, including the addition of Active Aero, and the new Overtake and Boost Modes, there should be plenty of high-octane moments to look forward to. We’ll see you on the tracks, so make sure you put your best foot forward (pun intended).

Codemasters has spoken to the PlayStation Blog about what that includes, and it’s a lovely list that includes 60 FPS on Quality Mode, 120 FPS on Performance, and even 8K resolutions on compatible displays. Technical producer Si Lumb said that Sony made things “incredibly simple” to upgrade, while also detailing other attractive features like ray-traced reflections, dynamically diffused global illumination, and a noticeably sharper image when they all kick in.

Lumb was also eager to point out that Madring will be one place where all these new additions come together quite well, as it was designed from the ground up to incorporate them. We were already eager to take on a few races on the new circuit, but now that enthusiasm has turned into feverish impatience. F1 25: 2026 Season Pack is out on June 3rd, costing $24.99 on PC and $29.99 on consoles.

Using early CAD data, the development brought the track to life from the ground up while adjusting the elevation, racing lines and flow in-game. It’s available in Career, Grand Prix, Time Trial and My Team. Then there are the two new teams – Cadillac and Audi – for a total of 11, a first for the sport since 2016. All modes have seen adjustments to accommodate the new teams, but that won’t stop you from entering My Team Career and building up your own to act as the 12th.

To go with the refreshed rules, Practice Programmes and racing objectives, the Formula One cars have updated designs, including Active Aero animations and integrated warning lights. It’s worth noting that you won’t get all final car models at launch, as some are coming in a post-launch update.

Of course, the way that players race is also changing, starting with Overtake Mode. When you’re one second away from a car and pass a detection point, it becomes available and grants a “concentrated burst of electric energy” to use in the following lap. Then there’s Boost Mode for some much-needed direct control over your battery’s extra power. Best of all, recharging it is now possible via lift and partial throttles rather than just breaking.

Finally, Active Aero will provide more opportunities to corner and navigate straight lines, especially since it’s available in more areas of a circuit than DRS. And if you’re not the type to manage it or Overtake Mode, then head to the Assists and let the game handle it.

F1 25: 2026 Season Pack launches on June 3rd for $29.99 ($24.99 on PC). You can also pick up the Season Edition for $49.99, which includes the DLC and the base game.

We get a glimpse at some incredible cars and action-packed racing focused on the Season’s new additions. Kicking things off is the inclusion of two new teams: Audi and Cadillac. While the former takes over from Sauber, the latter is entirely new and marks the American manufacturer’s first time at F1.

Of course, those fancy rides mean nothing without talented drivers behind the wheel. There’s no shortage of those here: Cadillac’s bringing Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, while Racing Bulls brings in Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson. Oracle Red Bull Racing is adding Isack Hadjar, who joins Max Verstappen. You’re going to have to bring your best if you want to edge ahead of these legends.

Man and machine will be put to the test on the Madrid-based MADRING circuit, which brings 5.4 kilometers of street-and-track combination that boasts 22 corners for you to tackle. Those racing lines are looking mighty important right about now, aren’t they?

There are also new regulations and a very interesting Overtake Mode for you to check out. The 2026 Season Pack hits all available platforms on June 3rd. Check out the trailer below if you want to see it for yourself.

Bottas and Bortoleto will also mark the arrival of two new themes in F1 25 with the 2026 Season Pack—Audi and Cadillac.

The 2026 Season Pack forF1 25 will bring in a host of new content to bring the racing game in line with the current season of the sport. Alongside new cars and drivers, players will experience new rules and regulations that mirror the real-world sport.

As the report has noted, the addition of the new F1 regulations in F1 25‘s 2026 Season Pack will be interesting to watch, since those regulations have drawn plenty of criticism from the real-world drivers partaking in the sport. For example, Fernando Alonso, who won the F1 championship twice, called the modern state of the sport a “battery world championship”. Last year’s champion, Lando Norris, said that the sport has gone from “the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst”.

EA had announced that there wouldn’t be an F1 26 all the way back in November 2025. Rather, since F1 25 was a “commercial and critical success”, the company will instead release an expansion to bring in the new seasonal content into the game. EA had referred to this decision as a “strategic reset” for the franchise, and confirmed that developer Codemasters will instead focus on a larger new entry for 2027 that “looks, feels, and plays differently”.

“F1 25 has been an incredible success, fueled by the passion of fans and the energy of the sport,” said senior creative director Lee Mather. “With Formula 1’s momentum on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future.”

“We’re fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan extends this year’s excitement with the 2026 expansion and reimagines the F1 experience for 2027 to deliver even more for players at every level around the world.”

F1 25 was released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S back in May 2025. In our review of its launch version, we gave the racing game a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to a variety of factors, including the look and feel of the tracks developed with LIDAR technology, and improvements to car handling and AI.

On the other hand, we also noted that there may have been too much focus on off-track happenings rather than the driving itself. The title went on to be successful enough for EA to report a strong first quarter in FY 2026.

But which is the absolute crème of the crop? Let’s dive into our nominees for the best graphics of 2025, starting with…

Ghost of Yōtei

Everything about Sucker Punch’s sequel is a massive improvement over Ghost of Tsushima, and that especially applies to the visuals. Much greater draw distance with almost no noticeable pop-in, more details, higher quality textures and materials, improved effects – there’s even seamlessly implemented ray-traced global illuminations. All in all, whether you’re in the throes of combat with swords clashing and mud splashing or speeding through fields of flowers, Ghost of Yōtei doesn’t disappoint.

Silent Hill f

Between the expressive facial animations and grotesque environments, Silent Hill f is a nightmarishly stunning experience. Its environments are packed with incredible texture work and backed by realistic lighting and shadows that accentuate every gruesome reveal. Then there are the monsters, designed by kera, which strike a nauseating fine line between beauty and dread.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

After pushing the limits of the Decima Engine in the original, Kojima Productions somehow goes even further beyond in Death Stranding 2. Gazing upon mountain ranges with nary a hint of slowdown or pop-in, the phenomenal character models with realistic skin textures – it’s a feast for the eyes, and only gets better as you progress further in. For instance, the entire first encounter against Neal and his soldiers? Simply amazing.

DOOM: The Dark Ages

Count on id Software to take technology like ray-traced global illumination and make it a core part of its game while still delivering incredible optimization. Like its predecessors, DOOM: The Dark Ages focuses on brutally fast, though definitely more methodical, combat, but it still packs some fantastic sights like projectiles reflecting off glossy surfaces, more realistic environmental destruction and stellar atmospherics. All of this results in easily one of the best-looking shooters of all time.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Another excellent showcase of RTGI, Assassin’s Creed Shadows brings late Sengoku-era Japan to life in surprisingly stunning ways. However, it’s all the other details that help the experience come together so well, from the physics-based weather and realistic wind to the environmental destruction (especially when destroying a stand and watching dozens of fruit tumble onto the street). The depiction of various cities and castles is also incredible, making this feel like a lived-in world.

Clair Obscur: Expedition

No, Sandfall Interactive’s debut role-playing game isn’t the result of only 32 people and a dog, but you have to admit: Its visuals stretch the definition of “double-A” to an obscene degree. While balancing its fantastical painterly art direction with realism, it delivers some truly surreal environments and moments, packed with detailed shadows and lighting. Even the world map with its diorama-like layout looks incredible.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

If you played the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, then the sequel’s outstanding visuals shouldn’t be a surprise. However, the universal leap in quality is mind-boggling, especially considering the increased scale. The composition of the cutscenes and facial expressions of its cast are only the start as you’re treated to realistic fire, rainfall, and excruciatingly detailed foliage. And it all runs like a dream.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Having more detailed and realistic character models and environments than the original is only the start. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater goes to extensive lengths to look drop-dead amazing – extensively complex skin meshes, a physically based material system for the clothing, Lumen GI for realistic lighting and shadows, the list goes on. Of course, even with the improved facial expressions, Konami retained every single element of the original’s quirky presentation, and we couldn’t be happier.

F1 25

Say what you will about its improvements over previous games, F1 25 still highlights the sheer beauty of the racing sim series. LIDAR technology results in more realistic tracks, but the implementation of path tracing, which enhances lighting, reflections and sheer detail, especially during various weather conditions, is excellent. Of course, Codemasters’ penchant for painstakingly crafting its F1 vehicles remains as praise-worthy as ever.

Battlefield 6

With the amount of time and resources invested in Battlefield 6’s development, it’s somewhat surprising that it looks this good despite the lack of ray tracing and other advanced features. Nevertheless, the presentation is off the charts, whether you’re running through an active battle with jets screaming overhead or watching buildings torn apart, their debris realistically scattering. The fact that it achieves all this while still offering buttery smooth performance is yet another win.

Dying Light: The Beast

Speaking of not offering ray tracing and still looking incredibly good is Techland’s Dying Light: The Beast. Lighting is a core element of the franchise, and its implementation is especially impressive here, as is the extensive range of parkour animations (which play out seamlessly) and revamped damage model. Striking enemies with melee weapons creates realistic cuts and deformations to a gruesome degree, giving melee combat that extra bit of edge.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered

Virtuos opted for an intriguing dual-engine approach here, retaining the original code base and core while overhauling the visuals in Unreal Engine 5. Sure, it’s resulted in some problems, but Cyrodiil comes to life like never before. Emperor Uriel, with his realistic wrinkles and excruciatingly fine cloth textures, is only the start as the environments and NPCs are brimming with details.

ARC Raiders

Several Unreal Engine 5 titles come under fire for their poor optimization and performance issues. Then you have ARC Raiders, which offers exceptionally peak performance. Achieving this meant opting away from the likes of Lumen and Nanite, but the fidelity is still surprisingly strong. Reflective surfaces on ARC, realistic-looking weather, detailed destruction – it’s almost enough to make you forget that this is a multiplayer shooter.

Borderlands 4

Once you surmount the various technical problems on PC, there’s no denying that Borderlands 4 is a great-looking game. Gearbox’s signature cel-shading style looks more nuanced than ever, and it’s impressive given the scale of its environments, the seamless exploration, and the surprisingly complex character designs (especially the enemies).

Hell is Us

There’s an eerie atmosphere to Hell is Us, made all the more tangible with the presence of Time Rifts and otherworldly creatures in otherwise realistic, war-torn environments. While it required further optimization at launch, discovering Lake Cynon’s lush field of blue flowers or exploring the sleek interiors of Auriga Museum still made for some startling moments, further bolstered by the excellent texture quality, lighting and reflections.

And the title with the Best Graphics of 2025 is…

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Let’s be real – this generation hasn’t exactly been brimming with titles that push the graphical envelope. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is, of course, the exception and it becomes apparent in the opening minutes. Quick cuts of Mexico, the first location, look almost identical to real life. The skin tone on the characters, alongside details like realistic sweat and retinas, also makes them feel that much more alive. And mind you, this is before Australia, where the sheer breadth of the world is unveiled, from the different biomes to the real-time weather effects (including dust storms).

We mentioned the battle against Neal and the impressive use of lighting, reflective puddles and effects, but it’s even more incredible how this is achieved with screen-space reflections rather than ray-tracing. If all of this wasn’t enough, seamlessly going from the main menu right into the game underscores just how ahead of the curve Death Stranding 2 is of the competition. For that reason and many more, it’s our pick for the best graphics of 2025.

This approach is considered part of a “strategic reset” for the Codemasters-developed franchise. Fans can expect a new title in 2027 that “looks, feels and plays differently” while offering “more gameplay choices,” seemingly answering longtime requests from fans. EA also promises a “refreshed experience” that “expands on what longtime players have loved from the franchise.”

Codemasters senior creative director Lee Mather said, “F1 25 has been an incredible success, fueled by the passion of fans and the energy of the sport. With Formula 1’s momentum on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future.

“We’re fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan extends this year’s excitement with the 2026 expansion and reimagines the F1 experience for 2027 to deliver even more for players at every level around the world.”

The announcement comes in the wake of Electronic Arts’ acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 billion. Although the deal will be completed by the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 (i.e., by June 30, 2026), the publisher has already made significant changes. This includes partnering with Stability AI to “co-develop transformative AI models, tools, and workflows that empower our artists, designers, and developers to reimagine how content is built.”

How all of this will affect the next F1 remains to be seen. For more details on F1 25, check out our review. As EA notes, it’s currently in Season 4 with a new mode, Survival Challenge, available.