F1 2021 Free this Weekend on Steam

F1 2021 Free on Steam.png
Despite your feelings about the F1 franchise by Codemasters, who can turn down a free game! Well, I say free, F1 2021 is free to play on Steam until 12/09/2021 9pm BST.

Whilst F1 2021 still may be missing some features some of us diehard sim racers need and want, there’s no denying that Codemasters have a very successful racing franchise. Try it out on Steam here.

Is it a sim? Is it a simcade?​

There’s plenty of debate about this marmite racing series. Personally, I fell in love with F1 2017, and this love affair continued onto the 2018 and 2019 instalments.

Whilst my love for the F1 franchise waned with the release of F1 2020 (which I did buy), to find out that I can essentially have an extended demo of the latest iteration has got me all hot under the collar!!

Will you be downloading F1 2021 this weekend?​

You can read more about F1 2021, from our very own Mike Smith here

It’s also worth noting that those of you who have Xbox Games Pass can play F1 2019 on PC and F1 2020 on Xbox at no additional cost.
About author
Damian Reed
PC geek, gamer, content creator, and passionate sim racer.
I live life a 1/4 mile at a time, it takes me ages to get anywhere!

Comments

While I think the basis of the game is good, my main complaint with the F1 series is that the codies haven't really done anything with it since 2016. It's simply become a copy and past cash cow.

I bought 2021 and according to Steam I've got nearly 18 hours in it, but 16 of those were when I forgot to turn my PC off overnight and didn't realise until late the next day.

Having played 2017, 18, 19 at length, and 20 a bit, I've no real desire to go back to 21 anytime soon - it's identical to the previous incarnations with a splash of paint on the user interface, and slightly adjusted car handling to give the impression that they've done something with it.
 
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Well since it's free I'll give it a go, but I'm not expecting much...especially since they refuse to implement a true triple monitor or VR mode.

Plus, after driving the MP4-30 and Formula Renault 3.5 in iRacing and RSS Formula Hybrid cars in AC, I can't imagine getting a kick out of this based on countless reviews :unsure:
 
Gave up trying to get my wheel setup, takes too much hassle these days, never works good out the bag , a profile for my wheel that when i changed gear i was changing view as well, sick of having too spend ages getting games to feel good from the off
 
I played F1 2019 and liked specially F2 series, great ffb and physics, worst part was menús and online searching, maybe they need to improve it, but not bad, and i always play ACC, AC and Rf2
 
It's not the look that counts in this debate.

But I agree it's pointless because it is obvious that the F1 series is simcade and iR, rF2, ACC are not.
Yeah, you're right. The car handling in the rFactor version looks well off for a supposed F1 car. Drifting all over the place.

Honestly I don't get rFactor - none of the cars seem to drive right - they've all got this kind of RC car bounce physics to them and the FFB, while informative, is just over exaggerated, even when turned right down.
 
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Nice gesture, but its a pity without VR. But I guess now ideally for the VorpX (=VRsoftware )owners to see if its really can handle an realistic 3D VR.
 
i tested this game here what my review for this f1 2021 note + = what i like and - what i didnt like
+the braking point (story) is good
+ good imporevements for graphics and first time have ray tracing
+the cars looks good
+have new tracks (imola,portimao,jeddah) but later
+you can play 2 players on same computer if you dont have internet to play online
-the optimization for this game is bad (cutscenes in poduim and interviews)
-the multiplayer bad
-no classic cars
-high price in some contries like argentina
-the story good but not longer i finished the story in 7h only
-microtansaction in latest f1 games from 2019-now
-damage of the cars isnt realistic f1 2003 and 2006 better in damage
and more
so this f1 i ll give 8/10
 
-damage of the cars isnt realistic f1 2003 and 2006 better in damage
This isn't a lack of desire to do it, this is a condition of the license. Truthfully the damage model in the F1 games is actually better than most other sims. Take ACC for example - drive into the barrier at 250kph and the worst you'll see on the car is a bit of a scratch and a mild dent. At least in the F1 games the wings and wheels come off.

The only sim that really has damage modelling is Wreckfest, and that's because they don't use licensed cars.
 
I tried it today to see if i would buy it but i guess i will wait or maybe even don't buy it at all.

We have to tweak the ffb settings a lot to get something enjoyable.
Lots of glitches in cutscenes, like you can see rain in closed environments etc.
I don't know if it is realistic or not as i never drove an F1 car :)() but as soon as i touch a kerb i am 100% sure to end up spinning.
Still no mouse support in menus...
Still some tracks are missing like portimao etc, i know they will come later but when you sell a game at a price that high (except on free weekend obviously) you should have all the content already included.
Don't tell me they didn't have time to build those tracks, there are modders in other games who can build impressive and beautiful tracks in less time and with less people so this is just unacceptable imo.

Otherwise graphics are good, handling of cars seems to be decent.

So yeah mixed feelings about this game, as expected i might say.
 

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