In somewhat of a surprise announcement, 2026 will be the first year without a new title in the long-running F1 series since 2009, with EA confirming that it is instead working on 2027 as the next full entry in the franchise.
However, fans who were looking forward to trying out the new season’s machinery, circuits, and accurate driver line-ups don’t need to worry: the 2026 season is coming as a paid expansion to current title F1 25.
Up until now, Codemasters had released a new title in the F1 series annually, starting with F1 2009 in that year. It’s a cycle we’d grown pretty used to, with a summer release after some teases and reveals across late spring. However it’s also been an approach that sometimes rankles even with the most ardent fans.
Large regulation changes aside — more on this in a minute — the F1 grid has been relatively static for several seasons. That’s often generated the feeling that each annual release was pretty much the same game again with cosmetic tweaks, and occasional physics changes.
F1 24 was just about the nadir for this, as we expressed in our own review where we described it as “an update in game’s clothing” due to the fact it was 95% identical in content terms to F1 23 (though with features removed). It offered nothing that a paid expansion for any other game would have done.
While F1 25 was a considerable improvement it was still difficult to get away from the fact that it had the same 20 cars (with some different drivers) and the exact same 24 circuits — although Codemasters had been working to update them all with new laser scans — and it seems that EA has taken this notion to heart.
It’s a bit of a surprise to hear this in the November before rather than March/April year-of, but — depending on price, which will be revealed next year — we think it’s a pretty positive move for the fans, especially ahead of one of the biggest real-world refreshes of the championship.
For those who haven’t been keeping up on their F1, the 2026 championship sees changes from top to bottom. It’s the first season of a multi-year set of technical regulations, demanding all-new cars and engines that could dramatically change the pecking order for the coming years.
That’ll also bring in new engine suppliers for the first time in a while. While Ferrari and Mercedes will remain, Renault will depart (Alpine switching to Mercedes power units), Red Bull’s Honda/RBPT engines will become Ford, Honda returns as a standalone to power Aston Martin, and Audi will be making its debut as an engine constructor in its own car having taken over at Sauber.
Not only that, the grid will increase to 22 cars for the first time since Manor graced the paddock in 2016, with Cadillac adding F1 to its top-tier motorsport arsenal alongside its V-Series.R LMDh car. Veteran drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be at the wheel.
Along with confirming the as-yet unnamed F1 26 expansion, EA has added that it will be producing a whole new title in 2027, “reimagined into a more expansive experience”. Also confirmed is a “multi-year strategic investment”, supported by F1, after some uncertainty given recent job losses at EA.
Let us know what you think of this change in strategy for the F1 series in the comments thread!
See more articles on F1 25.
