In a surprise announcement, Kunos Simulazioni has confirmed that Monza Circuit and — though lightly disguised — the Ferrari SF-25 are coming soon to the Early Access version of Assetto Corsa EVO.
The good news comes courtesy of Kunos’ official social media channel on Twitter, and has unsurprisingly caught the attention of the community at large. While not totally unprecedented for a currently active F1 car to feature in a game outside of the officially licensed titles from EA, it’s a rare occasion and a surprise all the same.
This comes hot on the heels of the studio giving players a taste of the forthcoming third update with the “open” beta test branch now available. With it comes two new tracks and nine new cars, one of which is the Ferrari F2004 — which should make for a fascinating comparison.
Ferrari’s 2025 F1 contender, the SF-25, hasn’t had the best showing when it comes to on-track performances this season, even after hiring seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton — itself coming as a shock move when announced in 2024. Despite this, the team itself currently sits in second place for the World Constructors’ Championship, behind the overwhelmingly dominant McLaren.
This year’s car is adorned in a darker shade of the usual Ferrari red, and wears a large white stripe on the engine cover, and is helmed by Charles Leclerc alongside Hamilton. To say its driver lineup is stacked would be an understatement.
However, of the 15 races finished to date, the current chassis only has five podiums and a single pole position to its name — a marked step back compared to the previous year’s chassis, the SF-24, which was a consistent thorn in the side of the dominant Red Bull and McLaren cars. Following last week’s disastrous results with both cars having to retire, perhaps things will look to the better this weekend on home turf.
Particularly interesting is the additional note that the team at Kunos also wants to pay tribute to the late Niki Lauda in “some of the most significant moments of his career”.
We’d wager this could possibly allude to the special livery introduced by Ferrari on the SF-25 for this weekend’s Italian GP that pays homage to the 312T, the car with which Lauda won his first two championships. However it may also hint at the 312T itself returning at some point as well, as it was featured in the original game back in 2013.
The arrival of Monza is, by contrast, not much of a surprise at all even though it hadn’t yet appeared on a roadmap for the title’s Early Access development. As well as being the host for the home grand prix of Kunos Simulazioni, it’s a track that’s almost ubiquitous in circuit racers; it’d be more of a shock for the title not to have it.
There’ll doubtless be more to come over the next few days, as the Italian Grand Prix itself unfolds, and we’ll bring you more on this as it develops — so stay tuned!
See more articles on Assetto Corsa EVO Game Update, Early Access, Ferrari, Formula 1, and Monza.
