F1 2018 game: what’s new and when it’s out

The next entry into Codermasters’s Formula 1 franchise promises to deliver all the latest tracks and championship cars when it launches this summer. 

This year’s game is set to feature an even deeper career mode, where players can take part in interviews to help them move to better teams throughout a season. The controversial halo also debuts in F1 2018, as does the new Le Castellet circuit for the French Grand Prix.  

F1 2018 will arrive at the end of August for Microsoft and Sony’s consoles. PC players can also get hold of the game, but a Nintendo Switch version has not yet been announced.

Here’s everything else we know about the upcoming game:

Release date and pre-orders

Codemasters has confirmed that F1 2018 will launch on 24 August, the weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Fans eager to ensure they get their hands on F1 2018 on release day can pre-order the game from Amazon. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions can be had for £54.99, while the PC release is a little cheaper at £39.99.

So what’s new?

A number of new features will be offered on F1 2018, including the expanded career mode, where players can do post-race interviews in order to help them sign for new teams, according to the game’s director Lee Mather.

There’s also a new circuit in the form of Le Castellet, in southeast France, as the French Grand Prix returns after a ten-year hiatus. Germany is also back on the calendar in 2018, following a year’s absence, so the Hockenheimring circuit will also appear. 

Players will be able to access all of the cars and drivers from the 2018 season, including this year’s star driver, Charles Leclerc. 

What about the controversial halo?

F1 moved one step closer to closed-cockpits in 2018 following the introduction of the halo, a carbon fibre-wrapped metal bar that sits around the driver’s head and a thin strut in front of the steering wheel. 

The Guardian’s Richard Williams has described the halo as “the most effective method yet” to reduce F1’s appeal, and it hasn’t been well received by other racing fans either. 

Speaking to IGN at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) last week, Mather said Codemasters has tried to accurately recreate the 2018 season, so the halo will be present on all the cars just as it is in real life.

However, he said gamers would be able to remove the halo’s central strut to improve visibility when playing in cockpit view. 

Are classic cars returning?

Yes, and there’s even more to choose from this time around.

So far, Codemasters has confirmed that Jenson Button’s championship-winning Brawn GP BGP 001 from 2009 will be available to those who pre-order the game, as will the Williams FW25 driven by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003. 

Codemasters plans to continue announcing new cars in the run-up to the game’s launch.

Autosport says all the classic cars from last year’s release will feature, including Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren MP4-23 from 2008 and Damon Hill’s 1996 Williams FW18.