Eyebrows were raised when rumours suggested F1 22 has a new lifestyle mode known as F1 Life with supercars and customisable drivers and hubs. These rumours were confirmed when F1 22 was officially announced, but F1 Life was kept under wraps in screenshots and video.
At long last, the new Features Trailer has provided a first look at F1 Life, so we now know what to expect from F1 22’s new lifestyle simulator.
Customise your driver and hub
Taking cues from Test Drive Unlimited, PlayStation Home, and The Sims, F1 Life lets you design a personal hub space where you can show off your trophies from race victories and swanky supercar collection. Taking pride of place, trophies are displayed in a virtual cabinet.
These personal spaces serve as an interactive location in multiplayer lobbies, with players able to visit each other’s hubs and admire their collections.
As shown in the Features Trailer, F1 Life hubs can be furnished with a range of sofas, wall coverings, flooring, wall art, and flooring.
Some items are available from the start but others are unlocked at certain driver levels or with Podium Pass. It looks like locked items can be purchased with microtransactions as a shopping basket icon can be seen in the trailer, but this is unconfirmed.
This customisation also extends to your driver. As well as racing suits, gloves, and helmets, you can change your driver’s casual wear during downtime away from race weekends.
Codemasters has partnered with brands such as Puma, Sparco, and Beats to bring licensed clothing items to F1 22. Driver avatars can be kitted out with branded t-shirts, trainers, joggers, sunglasses, caps, and headphones.
Show off your supercars
Supercars also feature in F1 Life for the first time in the series. The latest trailer confirms that supercars can be stored in up to three bays in hubs. Some supercars are locked, however, and need to be earned or purchased.
Not only can you display supercars to other players, but you can also put them through their paces in Pirelli Hot Laps, a new mode available in Career and My Team.
Here, you can get behind the wheel of one of eight high-performance supercars from Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes-AMG, including the hybrid McLaren Artura and mid-engined Ferrari F8 Tributo. You can find a full F1 22 supercar list here.
It’s all inspired by the real-life Pirelli Hot Laps, a program where F1 drivers give celebrities and journalists thrilling high-speed passenger rides around the track in F1 team supercars.
To test your driving skills, Pirelli Hot Laps will feature a number of challenges between races, from time trials and checkpoint events to drifting. The official Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes-AMG Black Series safety cars can also be driven in time trials. However, the safety cars are only available as preorder bonuses in the Champions Edition.
F1 Life’s announcement was polarising when it was announced, but it looks like a fun diversion from F1 22’s drama-filled racing, adding a new level of personalisation to F1 22.