Sim racing and Formula 1 are two distinct worlds that are increasingly converging. The popular F1 game from EA Sports is a prime example of this. We look ahead to the future of the F1 game with Lee Mather, Creative Director at EA Sports, and Stuart Campbell, Senior Art Director for F1. ‘We operate like a real Formula 1 team.’
Understanding the Process Behind the F1 Game
Mather: “Today, about 200 people work on the game. Their involvement depends on the phase of development. There’s a lot of knowledge exchange with other EA titles, like FIFA. We also work closely with the F1 teams on the grid. Once a year, we do a shoot with F1 and F2 drivers, usually around the pre-season test. Some team bosses are also invited for this. We also strive to reproduce the cars as realistically as possible, so that the car’s characteristics, lap times, top speed, tire behavior, and so on, match reality.”
F1 Drivers Play the Game Too
“One of the teams (Mercedes) shares a limited dataset with us, which shows, for example, the input of the accelerator pedal and the steering input, the engine RPM, the speeds in the corners. We can compare all this data with the output of the game. This allowed us to see very accurately where our cars were producing deviating lap times. This year, we improved the relationship between aerodynamic downforce and tire grip. We were able to test this extensively, thanks in part to the efforts of Anthony Davidson, sim-driver at Mercedes, and other sim-drivers. But F1 drivers also play the game, like Lando Norris. We received feedback from him and others.”
The Future of Sim Racing and Real Racing
Mather: “What I find very surprising is that I always assumed that people who sim race had the ambition to move up to real motorsport. And that has indeed happened. Think of Cem Bolukbasi, the first sim-racer to reach Formula 2, or Lucas Blakeley who beat Sebastian Vettel at the Race of Champions in 2022. In other words, I saw sim racing as a starting point for real racing, also because it’s cheaper than karting. But a significant change has occurred over time. Virtual racing has become a full-time career for drivers, and they often no longer even aspire to race in real cars, simply because they derive the excitement, enjoyment, and quality of racing from the virtual environment.”
‘The Same Information as the Teams’
– Your approach sounds like a real Formula 1 team.
Mather: “That’s exactly how we try to approach it. Our starting point is also the technical regulations. We start building our car based on the technical regulations, because at that point we have nothing else to go on. We have the same information as the teams. Fortunately, we have many people with specific expertise on our team. People with backgrounds in, for example, mechanical engineering, but also e-sports racers and even someone who has raced in the Formula Predator.”
– Developments are happening so fast, especially in the gaming industry. Any idea what the Formula 1 game will look like in about ten years?
Mather: “The simulation will become much more accurate, because everything ultimately comes down to computing power. And the AI applications will continue to improve as they gain more knowledge and memory capacity.”
‘Almost More Real Than Reality’
Campbell: “From a visual perspective, we are ultimately trying to achieve as authentic a representation of the sport as possible. I suspect we will make much more use of public scanning sources and LIDAR technology for the circuits. LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) is a technology that works with laser pulses and is therefore much more accurate than laser radar. In addition, lighting technology is getting better. It’s the next step, which opens doors to more dynamic interactions with vehicles and environments. So, I see a future with even better damage representation and better interactions between cars and environments.”
Mather: “It will soon be almost more real than reality.”
