The Formula 1 world just got a serious facelift. After a year of iterative patches refining gameplay and performance in F1 25, EA has delivered an expansion that doesn’t just add content—it fundamentally reshapes how you experience the sport. The latest installment is the 2026 Season Pack DLC, rolling out sweeping regulation changes that redefine both the cars and the thrill of racing.
This paid expansion throws players into a new era with exciting additions. We welcome two brand-new teams joining the grid: Audi, taking over for Sauber, and Cadillac, marking the arrival of the first major American manufacturer in F1. The driver lineup is equally electrifying, featuring Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson racing for Racing Bulls, while Isack Hadjar joins Max Verstappen at Oracle Red Bull Racing, and Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez team up for Cadillac.
Beyond the new faces, the track list has expanded with the introduction of MADRING, a brand-new 5.4 km hybrid street circuit designed specifically for the 2026 season. This demanding venue blends high-speed sections with technical corners, ensuring that every lap is a test of skill and precision, as it demands the use of the new generation of cars.
The core innovation lies in the car physics themselves. The new 2026 machinery is lighter and more agile, reflecting real-world advancements. This shift aims to make driving more nimble and put a greater emphasis on pure driver skill. Cars feature reduced downforce and drag, which means following closely becomes a strategic necessity rather than a physical struggle.
To enhance this focus on dynamic driving, the DLC introduces cutting-edge systems like Active Aero, allowing front and rear wings to adjust in real-time between straight-line speed and corner responsiveness. Furthermore, the new Overtake Mode replaces the old Drag Reduction System (DRS), offering a significant boost of nearly 500 horsepower when deployed, providing an exciting new way to overtake.
The complexity deepens with the Energy Recovery System (ERS) and battery management. While this feature introduces strategic depth—and inevitably sparks debate among fans about efficiency versus overtakes—developers have done an excellent job simulating real-life battery management. This added layer means that optimizing energy deployment becomes a crucial, strategic element of racing.
When it comes to visuals and performance, the game delivers stunning results, even when tested across a range of hardware. The visual fidelity is dramatically enhanced by path tracing, which brings noticeably more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections, pushing the presentation closer to photorealism. Night races benefit especially from this upgrade.
Benchmarks reveal that while rasterization performance is excellent across nearly all GPUs, enabling path tracing pushes the limits. For those chasing maximum visual realism, high-end cards like the RTX 5090 or RTX 4090 are where path tracing truly shines. However, for broader accessibility, advanced upscaling technologies like DLSS or FSR in Performance mode allow a wider range of hardware to achieve playable frame rates, even at demanding settings.
Overall, F1 25: 2026 Season Edition stands as a highly scalable title. Regardless of whether you are pushing maximum ray tracing or prioritizing smooth performance on mid-range systems, the game remains accessible and offers an incredibly engaging simulation of the future of Formula 1.
Credit: Tom’s Hardware
