F1 2021 free update adds Imola course; Jeddah in November

F1 2021 on Wednesday added the second of three free race programs coming post-launch to Codemasters’ motorsports sim. Imola — official title Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari — is now obtainable in all modes of play.

Imola hosted the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on April 18, the second spherical of this yr’s Method 1 World Championship. It and Portugal’s Portimão Circuit have been last-minute additions to F1’s COVID-altered 2020 and 2021 schedules, forcing Codemasters to hustle up efforts to construct and add them to the sport, together with Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Road Circuit, which might be added to the sport in November.

Rendering an F1 course with the sort of element racing followers count on from a online game is barely a part of the hassle concerned. Codemasters builders even have to coach up their AI drivers to seek out the optimum line by means of the course, after which to cope with site visitors, overtaking, and another racing occurrences through the occasion.

Right here’s a take a look at Imola, aboard Pierre Gasly’s Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02:

Even with the inclusion of Portimão and Imola, F1 2021’s in-game calendar nonetheless will not be up-to-date with all of the races run in actual life. Istanbul Park, which held the Turkish Grand Prix this previous weekend, will not be within the sport, and Codemasters has introduced no plans so as to add it at a later date. It, too, was a late addition to the 2020 and 2021 racing schedules when the COVID-19 pandemic knocked out a number of dates in each years. Qatar’s Losail Worldwide Circuit can also be scheduled for the Qatar Grand Prix on Nov. 21; likewise, it gained’t be coming to F1 2021.

Neither Qatar nor Turkey have a contract to run within the 2022 F1 season, which might be why Codemasters isn’t in any hurry to construct them. Subsequent yr’s calendar will characteristic one other new occasion and course, the lately confirmed Miami Grand Prix. However given the backlog in fact work and the truth that Codemasters wanted two years to construct Jeddah, the Miami Autodrome’s look in F1 2022 will not be assured. Codemasters may also be dealing with solely new car specs and guidelines subsequent yr, which contact just about all the things in a physics and dealing with bundle iterated on since 2014.

All this stated, F1 2021’s programs in Shanghai, Montreal, Singapore, Japan, and Australia are nonetheless within the sport (and obtainable in profession modes and on-line racing leagues) regardless of their races being canceled in actual life.

Wednesday’s patch additionally features a particular limited-time livery for Crimson Bull Racing: it’s the throwback design Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez drove below this previous weekend at Istanbul. Crimson Bull initially deliberate to make use of the livery on the Japanese Grand Prix, to pay tribute to engine provider Honda’s final season in F1. It’s based mostly on the Honda RA 272 that American Richie Ginther drove within the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix, which was Honda’s first F1 victory. The livery might be within the sport till Nov. 15.