Product: EA SPORTS F1 25
Platform: PC — Steam
Operating System: Windows 11
Game Language: Spanish (Latin America)
Windows Speech Language: Spanish (Mexico)
Microphone: MAONO DGM20
Affected Component: Voice Recognition / Race Engineer
Status: Reproducible issue — Community-tested workaround
1. Issue Description
I identified an issue affecting voice recognition in the Spanish (Latin America) version of F1 25.
Several voice commands displayed in the in-game radio menu do not match the Spanish recognition strings defined in the game's speech_recognition.xml file.
As a result, some valid commands are not recognized, while others trigger incorrect actions.
For example, saying "Subir alerón" (increase front wing adjustment) could trigger the medium tyre selection instead.
The issue occurs even when the microphone and Windows speech recognition are functioning correctly.
2. Steps to Reproduce
Launch F1 25 on PC with Spanish (Latin America) selected.
Start a race session.
Open the race engineer radio menu.
Say "Subir alerón", exactly as displayed in the menu.
Observe that the game may recognize a different command.
Repeat with other commands, such as "A boxes esta vuelta" or "Bajar alerón".
Expected result: The game recognizes the spoken command displayed in the radio menu and performs the corresponding action.
Actual result: Certain commands are not recognized or trigger unrelated actions.
3. Investigation
I inspected the game's voice recognition configuration located at:
F1 25/audio/2025/speech_recognition.xml
I discovered that several Spanish (es) attributes contain different expressions from those currently displayed in the game's radio menu.
Examples from the original configuration:
In-game radio menu
Original XML recognition phrase
A boxes esta vuelta
entrar en boxes en esta vuelta
Subir alerón
aumentar ángulo del alerón
Bajar alerón
reducir el ángulo del alerón
Montar neumáticos medios
ruedas medio
Montar neumáticos intermedios
montar gomas intermedias
When I tested the original phrases directly from the XML, the game recognized commands that previously failed.
This suggested that the discrepancy between the displayed menu text and the configured recognition phrases was contributing to the issue.
4. Additional Findings
The configuration also contains references to historical tyre compounds, including SuperHard, SuperSoft, UltraSoft and HyperSoft.
Additionally, the XML root element identifies the speech recognition configuration as:
<SpeechRecognition name="F1 23" version="1.0">
These details suggest that the configuration may contain legacy elements from previous F1 games.
However, they are not conclusive evidence of the underlying cause and may exist for compatibility or other internal purposes.
5. Workaround Implemented
I created a modified version of the XML file, updating the Spanish es recognition phrases to match the current in-game radio menu.
The internal GameCommand actions, langdbId references, confidence values and filters were preserved.
The first controlled test involved changing:
es="aumentar ángulo del alerón"
to:
es="subir alerón"
After restarting the game, the "Subir alerón" command was successfully recognized and performed the correct front wing adjustment.
The same approach was then applied to the remaining current radio commands.
6. Validation Results
Total commands tested: 27
Commands successfully executed: 27
The following categories were validated:
Pit stop requests and race strategy information
Vehicle status and weather information
Drivers ahead and behind
Tyre compound selection
Front wing adjustments
Teammate and lap information
Championship information
Engineer communication controls
All 27 updated commands were successfully tested in-game.
Occasional recognition mistakes may still occur. Therefore, the results demonstrate functional compatibility rather than a guaranteed 100% recognition rate across repeated attempts or all hardware configurations.
7. Suggested Official Fix
I recommend reviewing the Spanish (Latin America) voice recognition configuration and synchronizing its recognition strings with the current radio menu terminology.
This may improve usability without requiring changes to gameplay mechanics or the underlying radio command actions.
It may also be useful to review the legacy entries to determine whether they are still required.
8. Evidence Available
I can provide the following materials for further investigation:
Original speech recognition XML
Modified Spanish (Latin America) XML
Comparison of original and updated recognition strings
In-game test results covering all 27 radio commands
Before-and-after gameplay demonstrations
9. Additional Question
Could the development team also clarify whether modifying only the Spanish recognition strings in speech_recognition.xml, without changing gameplay mechanics or internal command actions, is permitted when playing online?
This would help players understand whether the workaround can be used safely until an official correction is available.
Conclusion
The investigation identified mismatches between the in-game Spanish radio menu and the phrases used by the voice recognition configuration.
Updating the Spanish recognition strings allowed all 27 tested radio commands to execute successfully.
I hope these findings help the development team investigate and potentially address the issue in a future update.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Reported by: Dragoonmoon7