The F1 25: 2026 Season Pack DLC May Change Your Mind About the 2026 Formula One Cars

EA SPORTS has officially released its F1 25: 2026 Season DLC, rather than going with a full release for the current season. This year signifies possibly the most drastic change to the cars in the history of the sport. This decision has left fans split on the sport, even making it worse that the sport of Formula One in America is now paywalled behind Apple TV. These changes even have Max Verstappen questioning his future in Formula One. The show must go on, however, and the cars, teams, drivers and new circuit for 2026 have been made available for only $29.99. You might just come away with a new appreciation for the cars this season.

What Comes with the 2026 Season DLC?

To experience the 2026 Formula One season in video game form, you have the choice of purchasing separate DLC if you already own F1 25, or you can purchase both the game and the DLC for only $49.99 if you have held off. The game offers the 2026 teams, drivers and cars in a few of its modes. This includes My Team and Career as you will need to select the regulations to start the season. These will stay that way, as starting in 2025 doesn't flip anything to 2026. That mode stays the same. You will enter as the 12th team with a custom team and race alongside Audi and Cadillac for 2026.

You might just come away with a new appreciation for the cars this season.

Ranked multiplayer is not included, which is a miss. The option really should be there and this is kind of the biggest issue with the DLC. You can do unranked multiplayer. The DLC also features most of the cars with their liveries applied to the 2026 regulation, but a sports update patch will come at some point that includes the final updates. All 2026 regulations are put in place with new signage markings on circuits and expanded pit lanes. Players can also take these teams and drivers to the circuits in time trial with a new dedicated leaderboard and custom grand prix. Live service events are planned out going forward.

The Changes to the Cars and the Hands-on Experience

The chassis for the cars are shorter for 2026, which results in a more nimble handling car. Using a Fanatec GT3 wheel and DD+ wheelbase, the cars in the DLC don't feel more nimble. They were already fairly responsive to begin with. The biggest change is in the power unit, as this is 50/50 between a battery and the internal combustion engine. F1 has since decided to change the power ratio up as the goal for this was for more overtakes during races, but many state it is fabricated and not "real racing."

The game advises you of these changes every time you race with the race engineer coming over the intercom. You used to have DRS, which would open the rear wing on certain parts of the track. This meant that every once in a while you had an opportunity to overtake someone if you were within a second. This was a huge change at the time, especially for this game, as it meant a different interaction was required, and you had to change your ways of racing to accommodate that. There's a whole other bag here.

One of the requirements is to coast into corners, especially after long straights. This is why some state it is fabricated. It isn't actual racing, and it takes the car almost completely out of the drivers' hands. They are really managing the car, and this is a one-to-one correlation in the 2026 Season Pack. When playing the game, however, it's neat to do and adds a ton more strategy. There are few moments around any track when you're not deploying active aerodynamics (replaces DRS) or engaging boost mode on the battery. The battery constantly drains, but will drain quickly when boost mode is engaged. It makes a huge difference in speed, and engaging both can drop your lap times.

F1 has since decided to change the power ratio up as the goal for this was for more overtakes during races, but many state it is fabricated and not 'real racing'.

These cars are supposed to be slower than the old ones, but the experience here doesn't feel that way. The biggest issue is if the AI is lifting and coasting in corners. Normally, the rear light of the car will flash to show the driver is harvesting battery, but this has yet to be witnessed. Was the light not enabled for this or are they just not simply doing the lift and coast or utilizing any type of strategy? There will be a learning curve, which is basically training muscle memory, to implement doing these manually. There is an option for the game to do all this automatically, but the immersion is drained if doing that, and the experience might not change that much for you.

The New MADRING Circuit in F1 25: 2026 Edition

For the first time, players in a video game will gain access to a circuit before it appears on the calendar. The MADRING is a new street circuit in Madrid, Spain that offers a couple of different types of sections. The first two sections of the track include chicanes and straights that will go under an overpass. The second section gets tighter with two tight, slow-speed corners that then opens up to some sweeping corners amidst grandstands full of fans. There is then a sweeping, banked corner much like what is seen at the end of Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

​​​​​​​Synopsis of DLC Content for F1 25: 2026 Edition

• Cadillac
• Audi
• 2026 Driver Lineup
• New Leaderboard
• MADRING Circuit
• 2026 Car Regulations

The circuit then switches up to what seems more like a traditional street circuit with wider asphalt and sweeping corners. One is a tight chicane that comes out and goes under an overpass. The last section of the track goes back to being fairly tight as you pass what appears to be a stadium. The circuit was built using early CAD data with every corner designed for authenticity. This was not LIDAR scanned. It also does not replace Barcelona on the schedule. The track blends long straights with high-speed corners designed for racing and overtaking. It was built for these cars, and there are multiple sections to deploy boost mode and enable active aero. There's not a place on this track where you are not managing something in the car, and this includes actual overtaking spots and racing against others.

If you're a fan of F1 and stick with it through and through, then the 2026 Edition DLC is a must for only $30. There's a solid amount of extras that come with this, and it's not just simply getting the cars to use in time trials or custom race. You can actually engage with My Team and Career with this DLC. As long as you manually engage these changes on the car, you'll be satisfied with your purchase unless you only care about a roster update and the MADRING. Setting the deployments to automatic would be selling yourself short of the experience and actually understanding the way the drivers race in 2026. Mimicking the driving experience each season for these drivers is what Codemasters and EA have always done best. This may change your mind on the actual regulation changes.