Are we sure driver contracts were fixed?

@ScarDuck14I honestly don't know how you console guys put up with it year in and out. I haven't bought F1 on console since 2012. It feels like one of those awful marriages where the only reason I keep going is because the kids (mods) make it bearable. But if this year is anything to go by, EA will eventually kill off modding and that'll be the true final straw for me.

Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I still bother. There's a contingent of people on Assetto Corsa who dedicate themselves to bringing a compelling, near-authentic F1 experience. One team does the cars and they drive so much better, and even have in-car systems that the official F1 game doesn't replicate. A few guys do the liveries and rosters and they're almost always up to date--no need for any "mid season updates" when the ratings get updated after every event. Another group does amazing modding things to bring as many official F1 circuits as they can in a timely manner--no waiting 10 years for an updated Spa. And another guy has recently been making a spreadsheet that tracks the WDC and constructor's championship to a T so long as you don't mind punching in race results. Unlike the guys with the actual F1 license, you can tell these people are genuine F1 fans, genuine fans of the game they're working on (and didn't even create), and truly care about their work and efforts--and they get paid far less for their troubles, bless them.

The only reason I continue to do business with Codies is because the original Grid and Dirt 1/2 are still on my pantheon of racing games, and they kinda got me into F1 for good with 2012-14 and I feel like they still give the most authentic F1 experience out of the box--if not the most polished and convincing. But if I didn't care about a couple tracks and layouts missing here n there, the lack of between-race admin and the RPG-esque research/upgrade dynamic, or an even worse AI that is literally inhibited by the 13 year old game engine from engaging in proper pit strategy, I'd be on AC right now and over this pathetic franchise. TBH I think that once I finish rounding up and updating the AC content I neglected over Spring, I'll drop F1 23 and go radio silent again until I hear of a massive overhaul to the Career mode and a scaling back of the ongoing dumbification of the F1 brand.  

In the meantime, I implore you to get yourself a pc and at least try one of these F1 games modded to see what you've been missing. Nowadays not much because the game is just soooo irredeemably bad, but it's definitely less painful than going in bone-dry. If you can log that many hours vanilla, you'd be over the moon even with a modded '23.