The latest F1 season is well underway and it’s been an exciting year with Red Bull and Ferrari fighting for both championships. It would be a mistake to write off Mercedes this early too — we’re only a few races into this season, and it looks like they’ve made a lot of progress with their car and are ready to start fighting at the front again. If watching the action on the track isn’t enough, then perhaps the new F1 game from EA will fulfill your needs.

Yes, you read that right, EA is the game developer for this latest iteration of the F1 game. In February 2021, EA bought Codemasters for $1.2 billion, and therefore the game comes under the EA umbrella. However, the team at Codemasters has been allowed to carry on its work as normal, even if the name on the box has changed. This is great news for F1 fans as with the massive rule changes that have been seen in F1 this year, it would be a shame to have the release of the game delayed due to a change in the team. However, while the development team has remained largely the same, a number of Codemasters higher-ups departed the company months after the EA takeover.

The biggest change this year is that the F1 cars are “ground-effect”, which is to say that they get their downforce from the floor of the car rather than the side pods. We can confirm that these cars will feel very different from the ones that featured in last year's games. The Codemasters team has been working very closely with the FOM as well as Ross Brawn’s technical team in order to prepare the game’s physics engine to emulate the new characteristics of these 2022 cars. However, the team has confirmed that there will be no porpoising in-game, so at least you don’t have to worry about motion sickness!

EA and Codemasters announced F1 22 release date as Friday 1st July, but those who purchase the Champions Edition digitally will be able to play from Tuesday 28th June. It will be available to play on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (on Steam, EGS, and EA Origin), Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X. Early indications of the price are $80 for the standard edition and $100 for the Champions Edition. By purchasing the Champions Edition, not only do you get 3 days of early access, but you also get new “My Team” icons, a driveable safety car, and 13,000 extra Pitcoins!

New features of the game include updates to classic tracks that reflect the changes that have been made for this season; including Albert Park, Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, and Yas Marina - as well as the inclusion of the Miami International Autodrome. Sprint Races will be included in F1 22 after their omission last year, and there is a new "broadcast presentation" option that offers a streamlined gaming experience for those who just want to race. Other minor enhancements include the freedom to completely control your car during the formation lap —including manually stopping on the grid spot—and a new pitstop feature that requires players to manually time their entry into the pit box when they make a stop. There will also be an adaptive AI system that will adjust the performance of the AI opponents between races to best create a challenge that matches the player.

If you’re still left wanting more F1 action, you could look through the back catalog of F1 games, try a free-to-play F1 game, or even try an F1-themed online casino game! There are a variety of F1-themed slots that you can play that capture the thrill and excitement of an F1 race. The best online casino sites will even have generous welcome bonuses to give you even more chances to win. There are sites that cater to whatever game you’d like to play; whether you’re looking for blackjack online casinos, roulette online casinos, or slots online casinos. F1-themed games are becoming more and more popular, so you’ll be sure to find one that can fill your need for F1 action until F1 22 is officially released!