Manual starts and manual braking for pit lane are other ways for inclined players to shoulder more on-track responsibility. It’s a rare moment of non-competitive calm in a genre where that isn’t a common occurrence, and it’s an especially terrific contrast to the ferocity on the grid when the lights go out. Weaving about, warming up the tyres and brakes for the race it’s fantastic and adds considerably to the race-day atmosphere. The new formation lap is an addition I didn’t even know I wanted until Codemasters gave it to us here, and I love it. Also, the return of the safety car means entire races can change in an instant, perhaps by destroying your lead margin, or perhaps by putting you back in touch with the pointy end of the pack.Ĭodemasters has always felt like a fine home for the F1 franchiseBut it’s also the smaller enhancements that combine to help make F1 2016 Codemasters’ best take on track racing since the TOCA days. The re-addition of a proper, full-fat career mode is the big one, providing F1 2016 with a huge injection of context and immersion. F1 2016 redresses that, improving on last year’s slender package in so many ways it’s tough to choose where to start. It felt good, but it was significantly lacking elsewhere. F1 2016 has made its case, and it’s definitely worth the aching hands afterwards.Ĭodemasters has always felt like a fine home for the F1 franchise but, in its haste to bring the series to the current generation of consoles F1 2015 was a step backwards. My tyres are trash and there’s less than a quarter of a lap’s worth of fuel left over, but top spot on the podium is secured – the perfect end to a successful race weekend. I stay ahead long enough to pass the chequered flag in P1 after an hour and a half of total focus. The straights are trickier to defend but slowly tracing from one side of the road to the other before darting back over, just inside the racing line, seems to be stopping him from galloping past me in the DRS zones. Rosberg closes fast but I shut the door on him on every bend.

I dial down the fuel to its leanest setting, tell Jeff to shut up via the handy voice commands, and focus on making my car as wide as possible.

The difference here, however, is that I’m in the lead with a several second gap back to Nico Rosberg in his purportedly untouchable Merc. Jeff, my race engineer, wants me to pit because he knows as well as I do that a puncture is imminent a similar scenario last round at Melbourne turned my scrappy top-10 finish into a disappointing 17th as I limped around the last sector of Albert Park and sheepishly slunk into the pits with just a single lap to go. Back in Bahrain I’m losing grip and the sharpness has gone from the steering.

2016 f1 season review