The F1 25 Q&A: Creative Director Gavin Cooper on their biggest game ever

The pit lane is open, the cars are in grid formation, and the red lights are off! F1® 25 has officially launched and is now in players' hands. 

We thought this would be a great moment to connect with F1’s Creative Director, Gavin Cooper, for an exclusive Q&A. Gavin has been a creative force in game development for decades. He has worked on racing titles since the late ‘90s and has built a career out of making the most immersive titles with unrivaled authenticity enjoyed by millions of players and fans around the world.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 has surged in popularity around the globe, adding nearly 90 million new fans in 2024 including a rising profile within American pop culture. And F1 25 is the best place for players and fans to interact and celebrate their fandom.

In our Q&A, Gavin shares his thoughts on how he and his team create the world’s premier racing game, new technology advancements and how it impacts play, working with the community to make the best game possible, the summer blockbuster F1 movie and the game’s unique tie-ins, and building a game that celebrates the sport, the fans, and the culture that surrounds it.

Let’s get into it.

“Players who preordered the Iconic Edition can take APXGP into either Driver Career or My Team, and enjoy a number of gameplay scenarios that recreate some of the most exciting on-track battles from the film, featuring the drivers Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce.”

Thanks for joining us today, Gavin! Now, we're going to talk all about what's new in the franchise, including exciting new tech, gameplay, and more. But there is huge news this year for F1 we need to ask about right away–let’s talk about the F1 film and its relationship to the game. We’re going to be treated to this huge blockbuster this summer. Are there any tie-ins between the movie and the game as of right now?

Players who preordered the Iconic Edition can take APXGP into either Driver Career or My Team, and enjoy a number of gameplay scenarios that recreate some of the most exciting on-track battles from the film, featuring the drivers Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce. The bulk of these will be delivered post-launch to coincide with the release of the movie, but the first of those scenarios - a preview, will be available to all players at launch to give a taste of what’s to come. Players who complete all these scenarios will also get Sonny Hayes’ helmet as a reward (Joshua Peace’s helmet will be awarded to those who preorder the Iconic Edition immediately), allowing them to equip it to their custom driver elsewhere in the game.

“It’s a special one, as Formula 1® celebrates its 75th anniversary, and the current season promises to deliver one of the most dramatic seasons in recent history.”

How exciting! Now, there’s a lot to get into here with this amazing and unique edition of F1. Let’s start with the creative vision driving F1 25, and how, in your opinion, does it differentiate from previous entries?

It’s a special one, as Formula 1® celebrates its 75th anniversary, and the current season promises to deliver one of the most dramatic seasons in recent history. The sport is rife with compelling stories, and the same is true for F1® 25. We wanted to create an F1 game where our players can re-live the narrative of the F1 Championship, experience a whole new story with a new chapter of Braking Point (an epic Formula 1® blockbuster mode set to excite players new and old) while having the opportunity to live out their F1 dreams while competing and connecting with their friends.

“New technology plays a massive role in how F1 25 continues to raise the bar for realism and immersion in racing simulation.”

Year after year, F1 continues to push the boundaries of racing simulation. What role did new technology play in achieving that, and what technologies specifically are you most excited about?

New technology plays a massive role in how F1 25 continues to raise the bar for realism and immersion in racing simulation. From a gameplay perspective, LIDAR-based circuit updates (sensors which provide highly accurate scans of an area) are a standout. Five tracks, Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka, and Imola, have been updated using LIDAR laser scanning, leading to the most accurate recreations of the tracks to date. You can feel the difference in elevation changes, surface grip, and visual detail, making each lap feel that much more like the real thing.

We have a variety of improvements regarding the game’s graphics, cinematics and audio. In terms of visuals, the track surface shader has been updated to reflect the real-life circuits more accurately. Throughout the game, tonemapping improvements create a more dramatic effect across all weather conditions. Off the asphalt, LIDAR has helped make trees and foliage better match their real-life counterparts' type, size and shape, with new additions such as cherry blossom added to Suzuka. On top of the improvements to lighting, shadows, and circuits overall, an emerging PC-exclusive innovation called Path Tracing is being introduced. If you have a PC capable of experiencing it, Path Tracing is the most realistic simulation of light on track we’ve ever delivered.

“Listening to the community has always been a huge part of how we build each game.”

What are some of your favourite gameplay advancements in this edition?

We’ve delivered three reverse tracks: Austria, Silverstone and Zandvoort. The difference when racing the track backwards is much more profound than you’d imagine, and in many ways, you have to throw away what you think you know and treat them like brand-new tracks.

The real driver voice-over (VO) system introduced in F1 24 has been massively expanded–we’ve almost doubled the number of lines from last year and expanded its use in various ways: You now get driver VO in qualifying and race, VO from team principals, and conversations back and forth with your race engineer, with the goal of having it feel more authentic and immersive for players than ever before.

One other thing we’ve done is give players more control over Driver Icons. You can now allow the AI teams in both career modes to recruit Driver Icons from the market, meaning you can finally go head-to-head with some of those famous faces.

I know Codemasters is very tied in with its player base, learning from one another, and applying changes when necessary. Thinking of that, were there any common pain points you aimed to fix from F1 24?

Listening to the community has always been a huge part of how we build each game. Most of the new and updated features we have implemented in F1 25 have resulted from our close listening to what fans want—overhauling MyTeam, bringing to life the next chapter of Braking Point, and the new Decal Editor are some examples of this.

We also focused on our car handling. We knew there were opportunities for evolution here over F1 24, and we made it a priority to address them based on what players were telling us. We rebuilt the core handling model using direct feedback from sim racers, content creators, and our community who got early hands-on time with the game. That input helped us create a driving experience that’s more balanced and stable, with reduced understeer and a rear end that feels a lot more compliant under acceleration.

“New this year, players can also take Konnersport (and the APXGP team from F1® THE MOVIE, for owners of the Iconic Edition who pre-order or purchase by July 11) into both Driver Career and My Team.”

Let’s talk about game modes. Are there any new features or modes in F1 25 that you think will surprise and/or delight even long-time fans?

The big one is the fan-favourite My Team mode, which has received its largest update since its introduction in 2020 and now allows you to become the owner of your F1 team. That alone is chock-full of features, including a shift towards having you manage a pair of drivers–with all the drama that can entail, an all-new facility improvements system, the introduction of upgrade development as its own area of management, new sponsor systems, workforce management… the list goes on and on. And while the new decal editor lets players create the most authentic-looking liveries the game has ever delivered across all game modes, it really shines in My Team as a mode that’s all about creating your team identity.

Braking Point is also back, with Konnersport having moved on from its traditional midfield battles and now finding itself competing for the championship. New this year, players can also take Konnersport (and the APXGP team from F1® THE MOVIE, for owners of the Iconic Edition) into both Driver Career and My Team.

I’d like to ask you about the cultural impact of F1. This is the only way people can directly interact with F1, by placing that controller in their hands. Year after year, we see the growing popularity of F1 worldwide, particularly in North America. What does it mean to you to have a hand in expanding the love and culture of racing in general?

We take the responsibility very seriously. We’re very aware that the fanbase is growing. The sport is growing at an exponential rate, particularly in the US, and player motivations are broader. Our primary goal is to enable players to feel like a Formula 1 driver when they play our game. We want them to feel like heroes and give them the opportunity to experience the world of Formula 1 across many features. For some players, it’s all about competition and being the best, whether that’s competing online or through Driver Career and My Team. Then there are players who want to experience more snackable content through narrative-driven features such as Braking Point or bite-sized challenges through F1 World. Our responsibility to our players is to create exciting moments for them, regardless of how they wish to play the game.

“Regardless of how they’ve come to appreciate the sport, they fundamentally walk away with a smile and think ‘that felt like F1.’ If we achieve that, I’ll be very happy.”

Fantastic. Thank you again for your time, Gavin. One final question for you: If players walk away with one lasting impression of F1 25, what do you hope it is?

Regardless of how they’ve come to appreciate the sport, they fundamentally walk away with a smile and think “that felt like F1.” If we achieve that, I’ll be very happy.

Purchase F1 25 today and get into the action! Check out other amazing EA stories on ea.com/news.