Formula 1 2018: New features, changes, console release dates

The new Formula One 2018 video game is set to be released in August, and at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the game's director Lee Mather takes us through some of the developments, changes, and improvements that are going to make this the most realistic racing game yet.

The game is set to be released on 24th August of this year and will be available on Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, and X-Box One, and Mather details some of the newer features in the game when asked by host, Alanah Pearce.

"So this year, probably the big headline, so to speak, is that we want the player to make headlines, and that is very much what we're doing here - you're interviewing me and we're talking about the game," Mather said.

In the game we've got a new character who is going to interview the player, and whatever you get asked and whatever you respond will feed very heavily into the new career systems we've implemented in the game."

Pearce probed for more, asking: "How is that going to work. It sounds really, really cool, but is it going to be dialogue options?"

"Yes, so basically you'll get a number of options on-screen that you'll select using the D-Pad," Mather responded.

"You'll maybe get a maximum of four choices, but as you progress through your career that'll open up some of the options you can refer to as well. We're basing it very much on the character of the player. We're giving the player the scope to become very sportsman like or very showman like."

"What's new this year?," Pearce then enquires.

"We always push it every year, always come up with something different," Mather says.

"So probably the big changes this year is we have added ERS management for the driver. So, obviously in the real sport the manage the deployment of their battery levels, so the amount of power they get from the batteries.

"We've also continued to work on the tyre model and the suspension. So suspension-wise we're running at a higher refresh rate, so that runs at 1000 hertz, so when you hit the kerbs you really feel the impact of the car.

"We've also worked on the bump-stops which may sound like a really strange thing to talk about. But, you know, bump-stops and suspensions are key components."