F1 23, the latest entry in EA Sports’ racing series, is just around the corner. Ahead of its June 16 release, EA Sports and Formula 1 have released the ratings for the real-life drivers that will be featured in the game. We also got more information about what goes into determining these ratings for the drivers.
New Ratings
In order to create the new ratings for the drivers in F1 23, the development team analyzed the performance of each driver from the 2023 Formula 1 season. The new ratings hope to rely more on the driver’s current performance and less on their legacy. The ratings are broken up into four categories:
- Experience (EXP) – the number of race starts a driver has over the course of their career
- Racecraft (RAC) – how often a driver is able to finish higher than their starting position
- Awareness (AWA) – how often is the driver punished for violations
- Pace (PAC) – how fast are the driver’s qualifying and lap times
These four ratings are then combined to form the driver’s overall rating. These ratings will be monitored and adjusted throughout the F1 season.
“It is very compelling to see the passion, camaraderie and banter our dynamic Driver Ratings generate among Formula 1 drivers,” said John Merchant, F1® Brand Director at Codemasters. “This year, we have worked closely with our panel of experts to provide a better balance between well-seasoned drivers and those in the early to mid stages of their career, especially in terms of their experience rating. As ever we will be updating the driver stats throughout the F1 season to ensure that the game stays fully calibrated with the sport all the way through the season.”
Who’s The Best?
Now that we know what the ratings mean, it is time to look at who got the best ratings. It should be no surprise to anyone that Max Verstappen comes in as the highest rated driver in the game. Verstappen is the two-time defending F1 World Champion, and currently sits in first place in the standings for the current season. Verstappen has a 94 overall rating in the game. He also has the highest Racecraft (97) and Pace (95) ratings of any driver in the game.
Following closely behind Verstappen are Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Both of these drivers have a 92 overall rating. Hamilton is a 7-time Formula 1 World Champion, and is the only driver in the game with 90 or higher ratings in every category. Alonso is a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, and has the highest Experience rating in the game with a 99. This makes sense considering Alonso holds the record for most race starts in F1 history with an impressive 360 races.
Other ratings of note include Valtteri Bottas who has the highest Awareness rating in the game with a 97. The lowest ratings in the game is a tie between Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries at a 71. Both of these drivers have less than 10 career F1 races under their belt, causing their low Experience ratings to drag down their overall. The full ratings for all drivers are shown below.
F1 23 releases on June 16, 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via EA App, Epic Games Store, and Steam.