You finally got your hands on F1 22 and want to know how to get started? We have gathered the best tips and tricks for your first steps into the Formula One franchise.
Photo credit: Codemasters / EA
Picking up a brand new game can be intimidating. For many, the F1 games are the first step into the world of simracing. After all, Formula 1 is far and away the most popular motorsport out there.
Even if things are tough to start with, with enough practice they will get easier. To help you to achieve your goals, and to avoid frustration when starting out in F1 22, we put together this F1 22 beginner’s guide. Here you will find all the basics you need to know about hardware, assists, practicing and more.
Before you Start: Set up your Hardware
Before we jump into the car, we want to make sure our hardware is properly set up. This is important for both wheel and gamepad users!
Open the options tab und head to calibration. There, you will find multiple settings, which we explained in detail in our dedicated guide. For now, here is a quick summary:
If your steering device does not have a neutral position of zero, but is naturally leaning towards the left or right, counter it by adding deadzone. Adding saturation will amplify your inputs to make sure you can use the full steering range of your car. Adding Linearity translates your inputs stronger into the game the more you use your hardware. That means, the further you push your pedals, turn your wheel or tilt the joysticks, the more sensitive they will become to your input.
Before heading to the racetrack, it is also useful to check the button scheme. Make sure that every button of your device is responsible for a certain function. For advanced gamepad players, there are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your limited number of buttons. Find our tips in the video above.
What are the most Important Driving Assists?
Now, it is time to decide how much help you want from the game. Driving assists in F1 22 can be very useful as they help you to keep the car on track. There is no shame in using them! F1 22 offers a variety of pre-sets for assists. For your first steps into the game, we recommend using them.
However, you will always be faster without the assists – if you manage to keep the car on the track. When you get more familiar with the handling, you can start getting rid of some of them. Assists we recommend deactivating first are: ERS assist, DRS assist, steering assist. When you are more familiar with the game, your next steps should be to deactivate the brake assist and lower traction control to medium.
There are some assists which you might want to turn off to make the game more immersive. Those are dynamic racing line and the pit limiter.
Use Free Practice to Learn Tracks and Mechanics
Well, know we are ready to race! But where to start? You can either try to learn the cars and tracks in time trial mode. But there is actually a better and more fun way to do that.
Both in career mode and My Team, you experience full race weekends in F1. That includes qualifying and the race, but more importantly free practices. This is where you can really get a hang of the game.
Free practice consists of several training programs. They include a “track acclimatization” program which basically teaches you the racing line of each track. Other programs teach you other fundamentals of the sport like fuel management or tyre management. For beginners, those programs are a great helper to learn the basics of the game. Later, when you are more confident, you can easily simulate them to save time.
How to Set Up AI Difficulty in F1 22
After free practice comes the time to compete in qualifying and the race. But here comes another question: how difficult should you set up the AI opponents? There is a quick way to find out.
Start a quick Grand Prix weekend on your track of choice and set your fastest lap possible in qualifying. Now you compare your time to those of your teammate and drivers in teams that are as strong as yours. If you are significantly faster or slower than them, adjust the AI difficulty.
In F1 22, a rule of thumb is that one point of AI difficulty is equal to around 0.1 seconds. The strength of the AI can vary from track to track, sometimes quite heavily. That means you have to adjust the difficulty regularly.
Multiplayer: How to Race Others Online
Racing against the AI, starting a career and building your own team is fun. But if you are looking for a challenge on another level you should consider racing online against real, human opponents.
There are multiple ways to compete online, so we are just going to give you a quick overview. You might want to follow the footsteps of “Mr. Saturday” George Russell, who always gets the maximum out of his car in qualifying. In time trial mode, you try to set the fastest lap in the world on your favourite track. The performance of the cars is equalised in this game mode.
If you would like to have some fun on a quick race weekend against real-world opponents, there is always a Grand Prix to drive. There is also a ranked ladder, so if you want to prove that you belong to the best racers in F1 22, this is where you do it.
If you really want to climb that ladder, there are some multiplayer-related tips and tricks that you should know. We summarised them in this guide.
For those with great commitment, there is also the option to join an online league. Those range from beginner to professional level, so everyone can take part. Keep an eye on forums, Discord servers or social media to find the league that suits you best.
Those are the very basics for a good start in F1 22. Of course, there is so much more to explore in the game, so check out all of our dedicated F1 22 tutorials on our website and YouTube!
What is your best tip for beginners in F1 22? Tell us by sending a tweet @OverTake_gg or leave a comment down below!
