New Features
Attack Mode You can now manually trigger Attack Mode directly from the race screen. A blue BOOST badge appears on your car on the track map when the mode is active.
New Countries Scotland, Wales, and Kosovo are now available as nationalities for drivers, with correct flags and name pools.
Brand New Vanilla Mod The default built-in mod has been completely rebuilt from scratch with fully fictional team names, drivers, engines, and sponsors. Twelve new circuit background images have been added: Berlin, Brasilia, Cairo, Dubai, Milan, New York, Paris, Rabat, Sevilla, Tokyo, India, and Shanghai.
Gameplay & Simulation
Offseason Development Costs Development strategy costs are now split between major and non-major regulation years. When a rule reset is coming, strategies can be priced differently than in a quiet year.
Rebranding Rework Team rebranding now works symmetrically in both directions. Each identity has its own activation chance and its own chance of returning to the original.
Race Simulation
Crash & DNF Badges Spin and lockup badges now correctly disappear after the incident clears instead of staying visible for the rest of the race.
Stage Points During Accidents Stage points are now correctly awarded even when an accident coincides exactly with the end of a stage.
Timed Race Fixes Fuel guards and pit bans no longer incorrectly trigger in timed races, preventing unnecessary DNFs late in endurance events.
Endurance SC/VSC Rules Two new endurance rules: tyre changes can now be blocked under Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car, and refuelling can be capped during those periods. Both rules apply correctly in all pit situations.
AI Pit & Fuel Strategy The AI now factors fuel consumption into its pace mode decisions, handles Safety Car restarts more reliably, and avoids fuel-out DNFs in endurance and sprint formats.
Free Practice The setup screen has been visually improved. Attribute bars no longer show raw numbers, and confidence and stability display as cleaner progress indicators with a global knowledge badge per driver.
Mod Editor New tunable parameters: pit crew investment costs by tier, stewards penalty probabilities and ranges, design bonus per infrastructure level, fuel pit thresholds, offseason development costs split by regulation year.
Qualifying: Group Stage & Knockout Bracket
Qualifying now supports a two-phase format. Drivers first compete in groups, running laps to set their times. The fastest from each group then advance into a knockout bracket consisting of one-on-one duels, round by round, until a final determines pole position. Top seeds can receive byes directly into later rounds. Drivers eliminated early are ranked by their best group-stage time and fill the lower grid positions.
Live Race Standings with Animated Gaps
The standings panel on the 2D race map now updates in real time during the lap animation. Gaps between cars reflect actual positions on track as the animation plays, not the settled values from the end of the previous lap. When cars overtake each other, their rows slide up or down smoothly in the standings list. The gap column updates continuously at around 25 frames per second so you always see the true picture of the race as it unfolds.