Last year we've seen the introduction of DLSS towards F1 2020. This year is going to introduce Raytracing to the game. Codemasters, recently purchased by EA therefore would be a significant update towards the game series.

We're not sure what kind of Raytracing will be applied, shadows and/or reflections. Codemasters also announced three more circuits, a new story mode, and several additional features to the Formula One-licensed racing sim. The tracks — Portimão, Imola, and the all-new Jeddah Street Circuit — will be added to F1 2021 as free post-launch content, according to a news release from Codemasters and EA. All three courses are making their series debut, and for Imola, where the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix races this weekend, it’s the first appearance since Formula One 06 on PlayStation 2.

The new story mode is called “Braking Point,” and Codemasters said it “immerses players into the glamorous world of F1,” with off-track lifestyle elements and role-playing supporting the racing action. The new F1 2021 trailer does not provide details on any specific gameplay changes. It is early days though and it’s likely that Codemasters will have more up its sleeve to showcase closer to launch day. Regardless, these early signs seem to suggest that both Codemasters and EA have big things planned for this year’s F1 game.

On the PC, the system requirements increase only slightly compared to the predecessor F1 2020 (review) . A more powerful graphics card is expected in the minimum configuration, otherwise, the specified components remain unchanged. There is a new ray-tracing option that requires a more powerful graphics card which at least a GeForce RTX 2060 (test) or a Radeon RX 6700 XT (test).