F1 2019 is a licensed racing sim developed and published by Codemasters for the 2019 FIA Formula One season, with the 2019 F1 grid, all 21 season circuits, Formula 2 content, career mode, time trial, classic cars, customization, and online race options. This guide is for F1 2019 itself, not F1 2018, F1 2020, F1 22, F1 Manager, or later EA Sports F1 games.
Difficulty caveat: this is an intermediate starter guide. F1 2019 has assists, flashbacks, and short race formats, but clean laps, tyre care, starts, DRS attacks, and practice-program consistency still ask more from you than an arcade racer.
Because this is an older licensed sports game, treat online leagues, multiplayer, subscription access, add-ons, and final-content downloads as ownership and platform dependent. Build your first sessions around single-player career, time trial, assists, and racecraft before planning around live features.
Essential Tips
1. Use Time Trial Before Career Pressure
Time Trial is the cleanest place to learn.
Start with a stable modern F1 car on Australia, then move circuit by circuit. Your first goal is not world-record pace; it is valid laps without corner cuts, spins, or panic braking. Add one wet-condition session early so rain does not feel like a completely different game when it appears in career.
2. Turn Braking Assist Down Early
Braking Assist can hide the skill you most need.
If the car feels slow or oddly disconnected, reduce Braking Assist before blaming setups. ABS and Traction Control are useful comfort tools, but automatic braking can teach bad corner entry habits. Keep enough help to finish races, then remove assists one at a time.
3. Treat F2 as a Handling Lesson
Formula 2 cars are not just slower F1 cars.
They can feel looser on throttle, especially when the rear tyres light up on exits. Use the F2 feeder section to practice progressive acceleration, patience in traction zones, and tyre care. If you skip it, spend a little time in F2 separately before assuming every car behaves like an F1 front-runner.
4. Read the Workstation Every Weekend
Career mode is more than driving sessions.
Emails, practice programs, team objectives, R&D, and upgrade status all flow through the workstation. Check it before advancing. Missing a message or ignoring an upgrade result can leave you guessing about objectives, component wear, or why your development plan is stalled.
5. Do Practice Programs With a Purpose
Practice is where your season gets funded.
Each race weekend gives you structured programs and team objectives that feed Resource Points. Do not skip practice just because qualifying is more exciting. Run the programs that teach the circuit, claim the points you can earn cleanly, and stop once extra laps are no longer worth the time or tyre risk.
6. Spend Resource Points Regularly
Unused points do not make the car faster.
After a race weekend, return to R&D and start meaningful upgrades. Mix direct performance upgrades with efficiency and quality control where the season supports it. Lower costs and fewer failed upgrades matter over multiple weekends, especially if you are developing a midfield or backmarker team.
7. Respect Late-Season Regulation Changes
Not every upgrade is equally safe near season end.
When the game warns that a department is affected by regulation changes, slow down and think before spending. A rushed upgrade can be poor value if you may need to preserve or replace work for the next season. Keep your development plan flexible instead of buying every node as soon as you can afford it.
8. Launch Below Maximum Revs
Starts are about traction, not just noise.
Holding the throttle wide open before the lights go out can create wheelspin and cost positions immediately. Use a smoother launch, then defend the inside or prepare for a cleaner run into Turn 1. A slightly calmer start is better than recovering from a bogged or spinning getaway.
9. Use DRS as a Setup, Not a Wish
DRS helps only when the previous corners were good.
Plan overtakes before the detection point. Stay close through the corner before the straight, avoid dirty-air understeer, and place the car so you can brake on the inside without cutting across the rival. If you are too far back when DRS opens, save battery, protect tyres, and prepare the next lap.
10. Stay Inside Track Limits
Invalid laps and time penalties can ruin strong pace.
F1 2019 can be strict about qualifying laps and repeated race infringements. Learn each circuit’s dangerous exits in Time Trial, especially chicanes and wide runoff corners. A legal lap that is two tenths slower beats a purple sector that gets deleted.
Career Weekend Priorities
| Weekend Moment | Best Habit | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Before Practice 1 | Check assists, emails, objectives, and R&D status | Prevents blind session starts |
| Practice 1 | Learn braking points and complete easier programs | Builds confidence and Resource Points |
| Practice 2 | Push higher-value programs and team goals | Improves car development pace |
| Practice 3 | Finish remaining useful objectives | Avoids wasting time before qualifying |
| Qualifying | Prioritize one valid clean lap first | Gives you a banker before pushing |
| Race start | Use controlled revs and smooth throttle | Reduces wheelspin and early damage |
| First stint | Protect tyres while settling into rhythm | Keeps strategy options open |
| Pit window | Watch tyre life and traffic | Prevents losing time after the stop |
| Post-race | Review R&D, emails, and upgrade results | Keeps season planning current |
Driving Habits That Pay Off
Assists are a ladder. Keep Traction Control or ABS if they help you race cleanly, but avoid changing five settings at once. When you are ready to improve, run three or four Time Trial laps with one assist reduced, then compare consistency instead of only fastest lap.
Tyres reward patience. F2 Sprint Races and longer F1 stints punish wheelspin, sliding, and late panic corrections. Brake straight, turn once, and feed throttle in gradually. If your lap time drops because the rear is overheating or the fronts are scrubbing, drive cleaner before blaming strategy.
Qualifying should start with a banker lap. Once you have a legal time, you can push the second run harder. This also teaches where the game invalidates laps, which helps in career, events, and online sessions.
Use flashbacks as learning tools, not just undo buttons. When you rewind a lockup or spin, replay the corner with a different braking marker, gear, or throttle input. If you repeat the same mistake, you have not fixed the cause.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Do not skip Time Trial and learn tracks under career pressure - Clean practice laps make every mode easier.
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Do not leave Braking Assist on if the car feels slow - It can interfere with learning real braking points.
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Do not treat F2 cars like full-grip F1 cars - The looser rear end needs gentler throttle work.
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Do not ignore the workstation between sessions - Career progress depends on objectives, messages, R&D, and upgrade status.
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Do not abandon practice programs just to reach qualifying faster - Resource Points and team goals fund your season.
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Do not spend all R&D points without checking regulation warnings - Late-season changes can make careless upgrades poor value.
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Do not launch at maximum revs every race - Wheelspin can cost more time than a controlled start.
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Do not force every DRS attempt from too far back - A failed lunge can cost tyres, wings, penalties, or positions.
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Do not abuse runoff in qualifying - Invalid laps erase pace no matter how fast the sector looked.
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Do not plan your first route around online or subscription access - Legacy availability can vary by platform and ownership.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Learning | Use Time Trial for valid laps before career pressure |
| Assists | Reduce Braking Assist early, then adjust aids gradually |
| F2 | Practice smooth throttle because the cars are less stable |
| Career | Check the workstation before advancing sessions |
| Practice | Complete useful programs for Resource Points |
| R&D | Spend regularly but respect regulation-change warnings |
| Starts | Launch smoothly instead of holding maximum revs |
| Racecraft | Set up DRS moves through the previous corners |
| Penalties | Stay legal before chasing perfect lap time |
| Availability | Treat online and add-on features as platform dependent |
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8 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 2019.
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