How Sebastian Vettel changed throughout F1 games

How Sebastian Vettel changed throughout F1 games

Nov 22, 2020 1 Min Read Posted by Nana Krustofski
F1 2011 In 2011, Vettel was still part of Red Bull and going full-speed in his impressive career. He was able to win the Formula 1 World Championship for the second time this year, with two more victories to follow. Codemasters used a real picture of Vettel for his profile in-game in 2011, but the champion made an appearance in cut scenes as well. The helmet might cover most of his face, but the eye area does resemble the German nonetheless. F1 2012 One year later, the reigning World Champion was able to defend his title as Vettel won the 2012 season, still driving for Red Bull. In F1 2012, players could challenge Vettel in the Champions Mode. The objective was to overtake him, as well as setting the fastest lap of the race. The German was waiting to be dared in-game and greeted the player without helmet, but a rather stiff and pixelated looking face. F1 2013 What's better than winning three World Championships consecutively? Well, four of course, so Vettel won again in 2013. In F1 2013, the player was greeted with black sunken eyes once Vettel lifted the visor of his helmet. The figure might resemble the champion, but he does not seem overly delighted to have won. F1 2014 2014 was a quite rough year for Vettel as Lewis Hamilton claimed the crown, and his in-game character reflects the troubles. His winning streak of four years was broken, and he only finished in fifth place. The pale-looking motorsports legend who just got dethroned is slightly more detailed, but still appears as a rather flat and lifeless figure in F1 2014. F1 2015 New year, new F1 game, new team: Vettel switched to Scuderia Ferrari in 2015. The change also started a long-term partnership with Kimi Räikkönen as his new team-mate. Vettel finished third, Hamilton once again won. But the in-game graphics of F1 2015 made a huge jump. Vettel's facial features, suit and helmet were much more detailed and realistic. Nonetheless, his gaze seemed slightly apathetic. F1 2016 Vettel did not make it to the top three in 2016 as he finished in fourth place, but Hamilton did not win the season either for once. Nico Rosberg snatched the trophy racing for Mercedes, scoring five points more than Hamilton. F1 2017 The pose remains, but the performance and the graphics improve. In 2016, Vettel nearly rose to the very top again and ended the season in second place. Hamilton turned out to be the fastest driver again and won his next championship. F1 2018 In 2018, there were no big changes: Hamilton won the title again and Vettel finished second again. This time, his team-mate Räikkönen followed him home in third position. Much like in real life, the F1 2018 version did not alter too much about the runner-up. Vettel basically looks the same, only the graphics became slightly sharper. F1 2019 Last year, Ferrari struggled as their flagship driver Vettel only made it to fifth place. He even got overtaken by his new team-mate, the Monégasque driver Charles Leclerc. Of course, Hamilton turned out to be the champion. In F1 2019, the graphics made a huge leap. Helmet and suit nearly look like a photograph and Vettel's face has more depth. His eyes seem more life-like, as the game included his blue eye color instead of the previous dark circles. F1 2020 In 2020, Vettel so far stands on 13th place with only 33 points. Leclerc currently holds fifth place and to no one's surprise, Hamilton is in first position with a giant lead. F1 2020 added another layer of realism with a more detailed light-and-shadow ratio. 2020 marks the end of Vettel's era with Ferrari. He will switch to Aston Martin for 2021, so we will get to see a whole new design in F1 2021.

A time lapse from F1 2011 to F1 2020: Sebastian Vettel and his video game mini-me.

Photo credit: Morio / Codemasters / JaCastro7

From a cluster of pixels vaguely resembling a human to a detailed video game embodiment: we take a look at the evolution of four-times World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the annual Formula 1 games from Codemasters.

Remember when you played your very first racing game as a kid? Once you got your hands on your controller, it magically turned into a real steering wheel and the screen in front of you was a gateway into the real world of motorsports. These titles created an immersion where it felt like you were really racing alongside Formula 1 legends.

However, when taking a look back in time, the life-like facade in these games turns out to be rather pixelated and far from reality at times. So we at OverTake took a deep dive into the history of Codemasters’ Formula 1 series and investigated how the graphics have changed over the years.

Which driver evolution would you like to see next? Tell us on Twitter at @overtake_gg!

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