the road test in preview with the official video game, F1 22

With Formula 1 just entered in a whole new era, there is obviously curiosity to see how video games will react, and how they will simulate the many innovations introduced by the new regulation within their virtual circuits. New cars with more sinuous and attractive shapes, the return of the ground effect to facilitate head to head on the track, significantly larger tires, and even a new track. In short, the ingredients to ensure that F1 22, the official game of the great motor racing circus developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts, automatically becomes one of the top products of the year, they are all there.

Close to the race weekend that will start tomorrow, we had the opportunity to take an in-depth look and preview the brand new Miami Grand Prix, which will take place in the already iconic setting of the Miami International Autodrome. Next week we will have much more details on how F1 22 works, as well as on the new cars and the impact of the dynamics they bring with them to the game, but in the meantime – having set foot before Leclerc and “companions” – we can focus on Miami, and its behavior on virtual and non-virtual tracks.

Miami… or Jeddah 2? –

Looking at the layout of the track, the fear that the Miami GP was a kind of Jeddah-bis, in fact, was there. Not that the Arab track is displeased, on the contrary: it is not the best in safety, but the very high top speeds in such a restricted context are certainly a feature of uniqueness. However, in F1 2021, the track was something of a nightmare for gamers, since – especially in its initial section – wrong corner entry even slightly, the whole race was immediately compromised.

The reality conveyed by the first road test in F1 22 is that this circuit has something of Jeddah, inevitably, but it hybridizes it in a very pleasant way with parts of Abu Dhabi and parts of Mexico City. The result is a less technical track than the latter two, but equally full of ideas for overtaking and faster.

Pure speed –

The first braking is rather tight and slow, but from there starts the series of quick corners to be tackled in fifth gear, barely touching the brake or taking your foot off the accelerator pedal. A left-right that precedes a long swerve to the left, with the grandstand on the right and a row of boats that leads to the imaginary of Montecarloin which you can think of trying some kind of overtaking (in fact, the first point after the straight and the initial swerve in which you can try it).

Traveled three “non-curves” that look more like a straight than real curves, with the stadium on the left, you arrive at more than 320 km / h for the first time. A right-hander at this point recalls the one around the stadium in Mexico (here we find the fake lagoon on the side), long but with a tight closure: the temptation to overtake here should remain only that, a temptation.

Miami’s “cavatappino” –

And here we come to one of the potentially most iconic points of the track, a sort of “cavatappino” in Laguna Seca and Baku style, left-right slightly uphill. Instead of having the Baku Castle wall, though, the chicane features grass on both sides, but it will still be interesting to see how the new cars pass through. At the opening on the left there is a tendency to lose a bit the rear, at least from these first tests, so it will be an aspect to keep in mind in the race.

The exit from this passage leads to another straight, this time “in flesh and blood”, in which you exceed 320 km / h on F1 22. In television shots, this should be the area that will delight the director the most: the cars will have to crawl underneath the Turnpike highway bridge (the main toll road between Miami and Orlando), less than 25 meters from the runway. This is perhaps along with the stadium the only section of the track that openly signals the street track nature of the Miami GP.

The Hard Rock Stadium –

And, speaking of the stadium, whizzing on the straight is on the left, and here you can appreciate the level of detail implemented by Codemasters in its new title: the Hard Rock Stadium structure. of the Miami Dolphins it is reproduced in its entirety, with the 3D model visible from the outside and the logo on the front. The glance entering the straight is important, but shifting the view to peek at those speeds isn’t exactly recommendable.

At the end of the straight, after passing another tight left-hand bend, you approach another slight left-right without braking which leads on the atypical straight. Here the stadium is on the right, above the paddock, with spectacular glass materials and, on the left, very close to the track, the grandstand. The atypical start of the straight and the tight right-hand corner that follows it mean that it is not impossible to defend here, even under the DRS regime, so you should expect some good challenges with an unexpected outcome at this point.

A new generation of single-seaters –

If you were to describe the Miami International Autodrome with just one adjective, it would be “very fast”. As can be deduced from this first starter provided by a demo reserved for the press of F1 22, the circuit has 3-4 points for overtaking, including the two straights that can be crossed at the tablet and which will be able to test the sealing of the engines ( maybe good news from a Ferrari perspective? Thinking about Red Bull reliability …), so there will be plenty of room for spectacular maneuvers even if we are talking about a citizen.

Without going into too much detail, given that we will have another article for those within a week, we can briefly comment on the new Formula 1 cars as well as proposed in the game. Aestheticallytheir rendering in the game is delightful: the rounded lines of the cars already live are reminiscent of those of a video game, after all, and in the video game itself they do not disappoint at all.

The Miami of the videogame –

Both with an internal view, where you can appreciate the details of the wheel covers added compared to the previous edition, and with the external one – where instead the far superior dimensions of the 18 “tires and their more marked motion stand out even with the naked eye – , the visual impact is important. Much of this impact is dictated more by the design and regulatory changes of Formula 1 (it’s possible to compete in it as well a Sprint Race, if desired, although it is not included in the calendar) and by the game, but also F1 22, at first glance, has a less washed-out and warmer graphics compared to the last iteration, and in this sense the Miami GP lends a remarkable assist .

The environment colored by palm trees, by the luxurious external structures and by the effects on the visual of the heat Florida sunand covered with blue materials on the track, give a good idea of ​​how this is a circuit designed – as in functionality, as well as in aesthetics – for a new generation of Formula 1 enthusiasts.

Will the new Miami track and the game leave a lasting mark on the world of motorsport, real and virtual? Next week we will have a clearer and deeper insight into both aspects. F1 22 is out on July 1st for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S.