With a new season approaching and F1 22 fading quickly, drivers everywhere are looking forward to F1 23.
While the F1 23 release date is still yet to be confirmed and we don't even know what the cars will look like this year, we can still look ahead at the new game.
What would Codemasters need to include for F1 23 to be the perfect game? Here are three features we think would go a long way to making F1 23 the best F1 game in years.
Red flags
It's the obvious place to start. Red flags haven't been in a Codemasters Formula 1 game since F1 2015, but they seem to be more and more frequent in real-world races.
With F1 Manager 2023 a dead-cert to include them following last year's game, it is all the more glaring that Codemasters doesn't have this feature.
This feature really is needed for players to feel like they are competing in F1. Watching a pile-up at the hairpin in Monaco or three-car crash at the castle section in Baku and cars get disqualified for stopping is just dumb.
This can be removed by a red flag that kicks the player back to the garage to fit tyres, fix damage, and then exit to take a grid or safety car restart.
Make it something that is a toggle option like safety cars are currently for online races and you have a much more realistic game!
We may never get soul-chilling crash animations like Zhou Guanyu's Silverstone flip or Mick Schumacher's detaching engine block, but at least let us get the red flags.
F2 My Team
After its introduction in F1 2020, My Team has failed to evolve but Codemasters can make one simple change by introducing My Team to F2.
Let players start their journey in a new Formula 2 team, having to spend R&D points on staff and sponsorships rather than pars since the series is far more spec than F1.
You can't get into F1 until you win the constructors championship in Formula 2, at which point more options open up to you.
This would offer players a longer journey to the top and bring more depth to the F1 world we all want to inhabit.
Adding an option to start directly in F1 would appease those who don't want to deal with F2's more challenging cars, keeping everyone happy.
Even if an F2 My Team isn't possible, there must be some big shake-ups to My Team this year after F1 22's similarity to previous years has somewhat spoiled the journey this year.
Scenario mode
The F1 series offers some of the best single-player racing available, but it is lacking diversity in its single-player game modes.
Codemasters used to include things like scenarios and challenges outside of career mode for players to take on. F1 2012's Champions Mode pitted you in challenges against Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Button, Alsonso, and Schumacher.
In F1 2013 Scenario Mode offered a variety of different race scenarios for you to overcome.
It's not even like this is a super-old feature. These scenarios have been used recently as the first step to qualifying for F1 Esports! The ability to produce these scenarios exists, Codemasters can even update these regularly and create leaderboards for performance.
Much like Gran Turismo's Licence Tests and Missions, these would provide some amazing challenges for players to take on and breathe some new life into a game that has refined its core so well annual titles are beginning to feel unnecessary.
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