F1 2018 is a Codemasters Formula One racing sim built around the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. It covers the licensed season through modes such as Career, Time Trial, Championship, and Grand Prix, with classic cars, Paul Ricard, Hockenheim, media interviews, R&D, ERS, practice programs, and online race options.
Difficulty caveat: this is an intermediate starter guide. F1 2018 gives you assists, flashbacks, short race options, and approachable settings, but clean laps, ERS use, tyre care, starts, practice goals, and career planning still demand more discipline than an arcade racer.
Build your first hours around single-player learning. Time Trial teaches tracks without career pressure, Grand Prix lets you test settings quickly, and Career rewards steady practice, clean driving, and measured R&D spending. Treat online features and older storefront access as platform dependent, and learn the core driving loop before planning around multiplayer.
Essential Tips
1. Start in Time Trial Before Career
Time Trial is the cleanest place to learn F1 2018 because you can focus on one circuit, one car, and one lap at a time.
Begin with a modern F1 car on a familiar or forgiving track, then move to Hockenheim and Paul Ricard so the 2018 additions do not surprise you later. Your first goal is not raw pace. It is a valid lap without cutting corners, running wide, crashing, or leaning on flashbacks. Once you can finish a legal lap, start comparing braking points and exits.
2. Turn Braking Assist Off Early
Braking Assist can make the car feel slow and disconnected, so reduce it before blaming the handling model.
Keep ABS, Traction Control, automatic gears, pit assists, and the Dynamic Racing Line if they help you finish races cleanly. Remove assists one at a time, then run several laps before changing anything else. The Dynamic Racing Line is especially useful as a braking guide while you learn where the car actually needs to slow down.
3. Use Flashbacks as Practice, Not Permission
Flashbacks are helpful, but they can hide bad habits if every mistake becomes a rewind.
When you spin, lock up, miss a braking point, or clip a wall, rewind and repeat the corner with one deliberate change. Brake earlier, turn in less sharply, or feed throttle in more gradually. In Time Trial, remember that flashback invalidates the current lap, so use it to learn a section rather than to protect a leaderboard attempt.
4. Learn the Multi Function Display
The Multi Function Display matters because F1 2018 asks you to manage the car while driving.
Practice opening it on a straight and changing one item at a time. You can adjust on-track setup options, manage ERS deployment, nominate next tyres, and request pit stops through race engineer commands. Do not wait until a wet race, low battery, or worn tyre stint to learn where those options are.
5. Treat ERS Like a Race Resource
ERS is not just a boost button; it is a battery cycle of deployment and harvesting.
Automatic ERS is fine while you learn, but manual ERS teaches why Hotlap modes are costly. Use higher deployment for qualifying laps, overtakes, and key exits, then accept calmer modes when you need to rebuild charge. If you leave maximum deployment on for too long, you can drain the battery before the lap or stint is finished.
6. Respect Tyres and Pit Requests
Tyre strategy starts before the pit lane.
Use the display to check and nominate the next compound before you reach the pit entry. If you are asking the race engineer for a stop, make the request early enough that you are not rushing through the display while approaching the pit lane. Confirm the tyre choice before committing to the stop.
7. Open Every Career Weekend at the Workstation
Career mode is driven by more than the race result.
The workstation is where emails, R&D, contracts, rivals, vehicle management, team goals, and race-weekend advancement come together. Check it before moving sessions forward. A quick review can remind you about component wear, a team objective, an available rival, or an upgrade plan before you commit to the next run.
8. Do Practice Programs in a Smart Order
Practice programs fund your season through Resource Points, so skipping them slows the car’s development.
Each weekend gives you six programs plus team objectives. Pick the programs you are strongest at first, because a strong early result protects your Resource Point total. Run at least one program in each practice session, review the team objectives before FP1, and check the weather forecast so you can plan wet running instead of reacting late.
9. Spend R&D Points on Reliability as Well as Pace
Raw upgrades are tempting, but efficiency and quality control shape the season.
Efficiency can lower future costs, and quality control can reduce upgrade failures. That matters when you are building a car over many race weekends. Spend regularly, but do not drain your points blindly. A balanced R&D plan keeps development moving while reducing wasted weekends.
10. Answer Interviews With Your Team in Mind
Media interviews are part of career management.
Your answers can affect reputation, sportsmanship or showmanship, department morale, and contract strength. Read each response as a career-management choice rather than flavor text, and keep the reputation direction and department morale you want in mind before answering.
Career Weekend Priorities
| Weekend Moment | Best Habit | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Before FP1 | Check emails, goals, R&D, parts, assists, and forecast | Prevents blind session starts |
| FP1 | Learn braking points and clear a strong first program | Builds rhythm and Resource Points |
| FP2 | Complete more programs and team objectives | Keeps car development on pace |
| FP3 | Finish remaining useful work | Avoids rushing before qualifying |
| Qualifying | Set one clean banker lap first | Gives you a result before pushing |
| Race start | Avoid maximum revs and launch smoothly | Reduces wheelspin and lost places |
| First stint | Protect tyres and components | Keeps strategy and season health stable |
| Pit window | Set next tyres before pit entry | Avoids wrong-compound panic |
| Post-race | Review interviews, R&D, contracts, and wear | Keeps the career loop moving |
Driving Habits That Pay Off
Drive smoothly before chasing setups. Efficient, repeatable laps make mistakes easier to diagnose and help minimize component wear over a career season. Change one driving habit at a time before deciding that the car setup is the problem.
Use short Grand Prix races to test settings. If you want to understand assisted starts, tyre temperature, parc ferme, damage, safety car, AI level, or race distance, a quick Grand Prix session is faster than disrupting a career weekend.
Qualifying needs patience. Set a valid lap first, then push. The game can invalidate laps for track limits, and one legal lap is worth more than a faster deleted attempt.
Think of ERS before the straight starts. A strong exit and enough battery make overtakes possible; a late display change while turning into a braking zone creates mistakes.
Use interviews as part of your upgrade plan. Better morale can help the department you care about, while careless answers can make a good race less valuable than it should have been.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
-
Do not start career before learning clean Time Trial laps - Pressure makes track-limit and braking mistakes harder to diagnose.
-
Do not leave Braking Assist on when the car feels sluggish - It can slow you down more than you expect.
-
Do not change every assist at once - One setting change at a time shows what actually helped.
-
Do not ignore the Multi Function Display until a crisis - ERS, tyres, pit calls, and setup changes need calm inputs.
-
Do not burn Hotlap ERS for an entire race stint - Battery management matters after the first attack.
-
Do not request pit stops at the last possible moment - Early tyre planning prevents wrong-compound confusion.
-
Do not skip practice programs just to reach qualifying - Resource Points and team objectives drive career progress.
-
Do not spend only on headline performance upgrades - Efficiency and quality control can save points and reduce failures.
-
Do not blame the team in interviews after your own mistakes - Reputation and morale affect the long career loop.
-
Do not launch every race at maximum revs - Wheelspin can cost positions before Turn 1.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Learning | Use Time Trial for valid laps before career pressure |
| Assists | Turn Braking Assist off early and adjust aids gradually |
| Flashbacks | Replay mistakes with a different input, not the same habit |
| MFD | Practice ERS, tyre, pit, and setup inputs on straights |
| ERS | Save high deployment for qualifying, exits, and overtakes |
| Tyres | Nominate the next compound before entering pit lane |
| Career | Check the workstation before advancing sessions |
| Practice | Run strong programs early for Resource Points |
| R&D | Mix performance with efficiency and quality control |
| Interviews | Answer in ways that support team reputation and morale |
Did this answer your question?
Your feedback helps keep the useful answers visible.Sources
7 checked for this guideEvery factual claim in this guide was checked against at least two independent sources before publication. These are the references used for F1 2018.
Next answers
Community notes0
No community notes yet.
Sign in to contribute