F1 2016

F1 2016 is the official video game of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship, and the entry where Codemasters Birmingham brought a full career mode back to the series. You create your own driver, sign with a team and spend up to ten seasons working alongside your agent and race engineer to develop the car, all on the complete 2016 calendar of 21 circuits against the real grid of 22 drivers and 11 teams.

A Career Built Around Your Team

Career mode is where F1 2016 earns its reputation. Your choice of team sets the tone: a front-running seat brings championship expectations, while a midfield or backmarker drive turns every point into a small victory. Two people shape your progress along the way, and the results you deliver decide where your career goes next.

Your Agent Your agent sets the targets the team expects you to hit, from beating your teammate to finishing in a set position, and keeps you informed about how you are seen in the paddock. Meeting those goals is how your standing grows and how better opportunities come your way. Your Race Engineer Your engineer runs the development side. Practice sessions become structured programs covering track learning, tire wear and qualifying pace, and completing them earns the resource points you spend on upgrades to the car's aerodynamics, chassis, powertrain and durability. A Long Road to the Title With up to ten seasons to play, you can start in a smaller team and work your way toward a front-running seat as your results speak for themselves. Each season of development carries forward, so the car and the driver you finish with can be very different from where you began.

The Complete 2016 Season

Every round of the 2016 calendar is here, 21 circuits in all, including the brand new Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan, with its tight castle section and a flat-out blast along the waterfront. The full grid of 22 drivers and 11 teams lines up with them, including the Haas F1 Team in its debut season, so you race against the field that defined that year's championship.

Race Weekends With Real Drama

F1 2016 adds the Safety Car and, for the first time, the Virtual Safety Car, so incidents shape races the way they do on television. A crash can neutralize the field, close up the gaps and turn a pit-stop decision into the call that wins or loses a race.

• The formation lap lets you settle into the car, warm your tires and line up on the grid before the lights, giving each race the same build-up and tension as a real grand prix.
• Manual starts put the launch in your hands, so a clean getaway off the line can gain you places into the first corner, and a fumbled one can undo all the work of a strong qualifying lap.

Racing the Way You Want

Full controller support makes F1 2016 comfortable from the couch, and driving assists such as braking help and traction control can be dialed in or switched off as your confidence grows. When you want human opposition, online races put up to 22 players on the same grid, where every overtake is against someone who wants the position just as much as you do.

Whether you are chasing a first podium in a midfield car or fighting for the title in a front-runner, the seat is waiting. Strap in, take your place on the 2016 grid and start writing your own Formula One legend.