And coupled with the manual starts feature mentioned earlier, the AI behaviour into Turn 1 of a race has been refined, making it much harder for a player to make up several places in the first braking zone. When you are trying to pass an AI car, look out for subtle touches such as your rival trying to break the tow down the straights if you get too close. This makes your opponents harder to overtake, often contesting a couple of corners side-by-side when you try to pass, and they are now capable of more legitimate, and realistic, overtaking moves when attacking. The tyre life test also helps the game customise a much more detailed set of strategy options for the player, mapped out through graphs representing how the various tyre choices are likely to perform in a race.Ĭodemasters has focused on refining an area of the series that was well-received last year - with the aggressive AI from 2015 being improved in battle. You can start off with 'track familiarisation' before moving onto the realistic jobs of qualifying simulation work and long runs to judge tyre life. The player has control of which areas of the car to focus on, meaning it is possible to sign for McLaren and focus on engine updates to move the team up the grid.Įxtra development points can be earned through completing tasks in free practice, giving those sessions a relevance they have never had in a game before.
If you drag a small team towards the front of the field, don't be surprised if one of the big-hitters unleashes a major upgrade package to move back ahead. While the player has to earn development 'points' through race weekend performances, the computer-controlled (AI) teams also develop independently, and at different rates of progress.