F1 2023 Thoughts So Far

In normal career mode, the AI is good to race, im playing at 90 and it feels like good racing

im talking about the 2 player career mode where they drive as complete idiots

and all other things that are wrong in specific that mode

Well.
Many things to say, positives and negatives.

Let's start with the positives.

- Compendium : brings nice photos and stories about drivers, teams, circuits, kinda like it even if i'm watching every GP since many years and seek for infos on different websites

- Grip : finally we won't spin on 4th/5th gear just like real F1 cars

- Loading times between screens

- Countdown during online racing : implemented late on F1 2021, then removed on F1 22 so we could wait years someone who has not loaded before/after the race

- F1 World : the challenges (scenarios, time trial challenge, menus)

- Tracklist : EA Touch, very nice songs just like they do in FIFA series

Negatives

- Other stuff in F1 World : Supercars ? Customization with kinda ugly suits, gloves, helmets, fake sponsors.. Purpose of tech level ? Podium celebration ?? I mean come on, this is ridiculous, you'll never see pilots IRL celebrating like superman or making stupid dances

- AI straight line speed

- Rear light flashing under 10% ERS ? Where tf does this come from ? Can't we just have like real F1 cars and flash when ERS recovery is active ?? Why can't we barely see the two aditionnal lights on the rear wing where in real life it's so bright ?

- Engine sounds : was that too difficult to put some microphones and just record it ? How we went from not awful but correct engine sounds in F1 2021/22 to dumbest engine sound ever in F1 23 ?

- Pit stop animation : still ugly, robotic and non realistic

- Start from pitlane after component replacement before race ? Where is it ?

- Red sectors ?? Is that too difficult to just set as it is in real life : yellow, green and purple ? There is no such as red

- Track limits : some tracks you are punished for 1mm outside the line, some of them you can put the 4 wheels outside and slightly cut the turn to gain time and it's allowed (Austin turn 12, Suzuka turn 16 and many more..)

- Lack of good informations about how to create your own setup : for example dispose a graphic where you can see the effects of the settings you are modifying - level of grip, straight line speed, mechanical grip, understeery or oversteery setup, tyre degradation, ERS recovery etc..

- LED RPM : why can't we just customize our own leds and be able to have our setup in myteam, timetrial, online.. little bit tired of the same one by one led (just like Hamilton had in Mercedes from 2013 to 2017). Would love to create my own profile for engine rpm, pit lane limiter, VSC and SC, DRS available and open... And by the way on this subject. There is literally 0 F1 car irl which has blinking leds on high engine rpm, and they don't grow up in 8th gear.

- Halo HUD one day ?

- Spectating other drivers : how buggy it is, look like the guy is destroying his engine by overpushing the rpm. Years after years this is getting worse and worse. 

All of this are slight details that would improve a lot our experience in this game, which i don't think it's hard to code, it's just a matter of doing something close to reality when you sell your game as "the official F1 game", then do it, for real. I even tried the F1 TV Style mod in racedepartment which is clearly more realistic but a little bit buggy and laggy, but it shows that it's possible with an external software (Simhub) to have a lookalike global HUD for free, so why can't developers in a billionnaire studio can't make it ? Seriously.

Last things and it bothers me since few years, I got the SF1000 wheel, and I'm sure it has to be thrustmaster issue or something in the game code which is not optimal : so many times after a long straight and heavy braking zone like turn 1 in Monza, turn 3 in Austria, downshifting often miss. I just can't downshift quickly (apparently, there is no issue like that with fanatec stuff), that make me often miss the apex, lose a lot of time / had to do and redo the lap in timetrial just because of that. This is soooooooo annoying. Years i'm trying to identify the issue, found nothing.

But all of those realistic improvements won't come anytime soon as for me, EA is just betting $$ over making a realistic game and listening to his community. Still the same graphic engine for years, so many improvements asked and only one came : red flags, inside the game files, still shows "Toro Rosso, Sauber, Force India, Sauber"... they just don't care.

So we have almost completed our 3rd season now on 2 player career and I would say every single race has had at least one glitch / issue. We have just accepted the game being very bad and just playing with what we have, as it is quite clear this game has far too many issues to be fixed before the next one. 

The worse issue is this - We have never had a connection issue before in over 12 years of playing F1 games but the connection icon constantly appears during a race. The game freezes for half a second at completely random times many times during a race and cars suddenly appear further away or worse, right in front of you which leads to crashes and broken wings...thus ruining your race. Extremely annoying. Any other game though and no internet issues whatsoever. 

No wet weather at all in 2 player career. Every single practice, qualy and race has all been sunny. 

Almost every time we change an engine part to a brand new one or a marginally worn part, it fails early on in the race and we get a DNF. 

If you enter the pits under a VSC or safety car at Canada, you get a drive through penalty. This was the case with F1 2022. There is another track this happens at but I cant remember. 

The pit crew look like ghosts with some kind of trippy effect following every move they make. So strange. 

The revs of the car whilst the AI takes over as you enter the pit lane and exit are all over the place. The same if you watch the AI race. 

The AI act like scalextric cars who at all cost have to get back to that all important racing line. Jerky movements and just awful to watch. Sometimes they are just impossible to race. If you win a corner or on the inside and on full lock leaving them plenty of space, they just decide to drive into you and continue to trying to get back to their line. You end up stuck or with side pod damage. 

The AI cannot bring out the safety car at all. It only appears if myself or my friend do something. 

During contracts renewals, If my current team decline my high or medium risk offer, I then HAVE to pick another team until one of them accepts. I cannot go back to my current team with a lower risk offer. Have to turn the game off to start again. 

Player 1 receives no money during the career. Player 2 has all the money and can get the driver perks. After 3 seasons I have 2 perks as player 1 and he has almost all 9 perks as player 2. 

On safety car restarts, overtaking cars after going over the safety car line or even the finish line on some tracks resorts in illegal overtakes. You then have to give them back. 

Sometimes following a safety car, the AI will just decide to either over take you and steal a position, or drive into you pushing you along the road. 

AI seem to not have any tire wear at all. their 7 lap old soft tires perform the same as brand new mediums. 

The pit strategy is broken. No matter what tire you start on, It will tell you to pit exactly half way through the race. The same for AI. Obviously you can pit when you like but the AI follow this stupid decision. Also they start on mediums sometimes and then go onto hards with 4 laps to go. Strange. 

All the graphical problems with the game. Too many to comment on lol. Mainly lighting issues with massive yellow squares all over the screen at night races from the lights. Almost completely black walls all the way round Singapore due to incorrect lighting on the advertisement. 

Can choose myself as a rival. Then it displays no rival for the whole season. 

Sprint format is wrong. still using F1 2022 layout. 

AI so slow off the line. Sometimes hardly even moving. It can be very easy to start in P10 and find yourself in the top 3 by the first corner. 

AI moving under braking. This really annoys me ha. 

I need to go now but so many more 🙂 

I agree with most of what you have said, I seem to be more on this website than I am on the game I want my money back but I'm not sure anyone from EA Sports read this

In general I like that game. The races make fun and the driving Model is great, at least for me and many tracks to have fun. I didn't regret my buy, even though I might be biased... I really love F1 racing games.

On the other hand it is very strange, why they implemented useless stuff, do not fix major Bugs and constantly ignore the feedback from the community.