EA Sports F1 25 2026 Season Pack is almost perfect - except for one thing

Any sort of change is always bound to have its backers and attract its critics.

We as humans don't like change on the whole. We just don't. Especially if it's a change from something that we think didn't necessarily need tweaking.

A lot of Formula One fans are divided with their takes on the new 2026 regulations. I even go back and forth in my own opinion of them.

Whatever side of the fence you sit, EA Sports F1 25 2026 Season Pack has the task of trying to closely match the feel of these new regulations in terms of how the brand new cars behave and juggling energy management while tussling with other cars at speeds in excess of 200mph.

The 2026 Season Pack does an absolutely stellar job of this. What it does have is exceptional and is honestly some of the most fun I've had on track in a Formula One game in years. I feel like I'm in the shoes of a modern Formula One driver.

And yes, I know it's a DLC, but it does feel a little light on some key features.

A code was provided by the publisher and I've played F1 25 2026 Season Pack on a PS5 Pro.

The 2026 Season Pack is DLC for F1 25 / EA Sports

On-track, the game itself looks and performs like F1 25 but with the new cars and updated teams and tracks. There are now 11 teams on the grid with Madring being added too.

In terms of the 2026 regulations, energy management plays a crucial role. More weighting than ever has been put into electric power, meaning how drivers use this heavily affects how much power they have at key moments.

It's now rarely a case of F1 drivers going as fast as they can to the flag. Tyre management already had a lot to say about this and this year's increased energy management focus has taken this to a whole new level.

That's because when energy is deployed, it offers a significant power advantage. However it drains the battery more quickly and having no battery significantly reduces the power at the driver's disposal.

If a driver is within a second of the car in front at a certain part of the track, they'll get a boost to how powerful their energy is too. This is called overtake mode.

So drivers may use as much power as possible to get past a car - to only then have no battery and get passed by again. And this feel has been replicated perfectly in F1 25 2026 Season Pack.

You can't race in the 2026 Season Pack like you would F1 25 or a previous title. You have to learn how to manage the energy or you will not be as fast.

Energy can be managed by lifting and coasting into corners and taking it steadier on the throttle, feeding it instead of going at maximum speed. This adds a new dimension to how you need to drive and how on-track battles play out - and it translates so well to a game.

Playing through a number of Grands Prix, I actually really enjoyed learning where best to harvest and deploy the energy, especially as you have to know each circuit's characteristics.

It feels as though it leans a lot more into the realistic instead of arcade side of things and as someone who's always preferred realistic racing games to arcade ones generally, I love this because it adds something new and fresh which takes some getting used to at first but is incredibly rewarding when you start to see your lap times tumble.

Expect to be fighting Mercedes at the front / EA Sports

Frustrations drivers encounter in real life too, like clipping (where the car decelerates from a top speed despite full throttle being applied because the engine is harvesting energy instead of deploying it), are all here as well, giving you that feeling that you're a Formula One driver in 2026.

If you don't want to manage energy, or it's too much to think about, then there is an assist that can be toggled but this robs such a crucial part of making F1 25 2026 Season Pack feel so unique.

There's the debate as to whether or not this should play such a huge part of Formula One - but the devs seem to have absolutely nailed how the 2026 regulations must feel in real life.

The cars also have active aerodynamics with cornering and straight modes. These can be manually switched between or be done for you with assists. This acts like having DRS points on every lap so there isn't the biggest change from last year's cars in terms of how this is controlled in the expansion.

With the 2026 cars having much less downforce than last year's, grip feels very different. At high speeds, the cars do not turn as well or grip as they did previously, meaning you need to scrub off a lot more speed than before.

Traction is a lot more sensitive because of this and spinning is even easier to do than last year's if you play without any traction control assists on, again leaning more into the realistic than arcade feel.

Having said that, like in real life, drivers with a much more attacking style, throwing their car around as much as it will allow, over a smoother action will prove more fruitful, again making it feel very different. But a fine line needs to be found with this otherwise you will destroy your tyres.

A quick word on Madring, it's a fun track to drive - over a hot lap. I found overtaking opportunities during races pretty much all down to energy management as there are not many low speed corners and heavy braking zones. And as for the wall that greets you as you exit turn five into six... Brutal.

All the latest 2026 updates, including new teams and Madring circuit, are included / EA Sports

The 2026 Season Pack acts like a standalone mode. It's completely separate to F1 25, meaning if you start a career in the base game hoping it will then switch to the new cars a season in, this will not happen.

Instead, to experience the F1 2026 cars, you will have to go into the separate mode and start a new career. There are new practice programs and race objectives to achieve in this new career mode.

There are some omissions in the 2026 Season Pack, with it being DLC and not a full game. That's to be expected - but there is no ranked multiplayer, F1 World, co-op career, leagues, vendor goals or challenge career. These will only be accessible with the older cars in F1 25.

You start to realise that's actually quite a lot trimmed the more you play and the only modes available with this DLC are Driver Career, MyTeam (which is a career mode variation), Grand Prix, Time Trial, split-screen and unranked multiplayer.

The only modes that offer real longevity are the career modes, which have been halved compared to what's in F1 25, and unranked multiplayer, which again has been halved with no ranked available, with pretty much everything else that offers longevity cut.

Developers have focused on nailing the feel of the 2026 regulations out on track, which they unquestionably have - but it's at the cost of a lot of features to keep you playing.

I completely understand it's DLC and not a standalone game - but it would have been nice to have a few more modes and features to offer more longevity. That's the main thing that stops this from being almost perfect.

Having said that, to reiterate, the on-track action is the most fun I've had in a Formula One game in years.

8.5/10

EA Sports F1 25 2026 Season Pack is out now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• I sim-raced against an F1 driver around the streets of Paris - this is how it went
• I've played EA Sports F1 25 2026 Season Pack - and devs have nailed the most crucial thing

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