How Max Verstappen helped shape the new driving physics for F1 24
F1 24 has undergone some major changes to the car driving physics this year, and the team at Codemasters had potentially the best person to verify their credibility to hand - Max Verstappen.
The three-time world champion is on the board of ambassadors for the F1 games, and Creative Director Lee Mather was able to spend some one-on-one time with Verstappen to get his take on how the new physics system is shaping up.
“[We wanted] to get some feedback on the physics changes we’ve made and the direction in which we’re taking it,” Mather explains in an interview with GGRecon. “Max gave a lot of feedback on things that we just can’t quite comprehend the extremities of, which is the sheet amazing traction that those cars have the forces they can exhibit.”
That new car smell
Among a plethora of big changes to how these rocketships of cars handle, a big alteration for F1 24 is the new Suspension Kinematics system. This sees the entire body of the car move up and down, side to side in its suspension cage as the car rolls through corners, and it all has an impact on how the car feels to handle.
These changes intend to not only make the feeling of driving an F1 car a bit more accurate but also give players more control. You’ll be able to tweak more settings for yourself in F1 24, and you should feel those differences reflected whether you’re playing on a controller or a racing wheel.
Mather tells me of some key areas where the cars have been tweaked this year, “We’ve refined things such as the rear behaviour of the car, [which was] a little wayward at times, we wanted to add a bit more confidence to the rear. It gives you that real confidence to get on the throttle and feel the car.”
“We’re very lucky in that it’s a unique position that Max is a professional sim racer and also currently the world’s greatest Formula 1 driver. That’s unbelievable,” he finalises.
Surely if the handling physics are good enough for the reigning champion, they’ll be good enough for the players at home.
F1 24 is set to release on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 on May 31 2024.
