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"I recently had a chance to pick the brains of Steve Hood, Creative Director and Paul Jeal, Game Director for the new F1 2013 video game. We discussed everything from classic cars to tire physics, so there is lots to share about this newest entrant into the F1 franchise.  The big news was the actual gameplay changes they have made to F1 2013 over its preceding titles. For starters the Championship Mode is gone, but the much-loved Grand Prix Mode is returning.  Championship Mode from F1 2012 was a &amp;quot;boss&amp;quot; mode, like those ones from classic NES side-scrollers. Players are pitted against the six World Champions, with each respective champion on a track in conditions that favored them. This has been removed for 2013, and has been replaced by the Grand Prix Mode. In Grand Prix, you get to pick a professional driver and create your own F1 season. If you wanted to be Kimi Raikonnen and conquer Vettel at Singapore, this is how you would do it. This was the feature I missed most from the 2012 game, and I am pleased to see it return.  For me personally, a big issue with trying to jump into F1 racing games is difficulty. I asked Paul and Steve if they had made any changes to make it easier for new players to jump in. The short answer is yes. Not only have the difficulty levels been tweaked, but there are now five to choose from. On top of this, they have also added a mid-session save function. Steve and Paul stated that many players didn&amp;#039;t even attempt the longer 50+ lap races that clocked in at 2 hours or more, because they couldn&amp;#039;t save. This should make the longer races more amenable to players of all skill levels.  Steve and Paul also said that a revised physics engine would help make the game easier and more exciting for players. With the 2011 game, Codemasters focused on getting the cars to oversteeer, so you could have that exciting moment of losing grip and becoming that hero driver. They admit that they overdid it a bit. With 2012, they moved the other direction and made the game a little safer. Now with 20013 they feel they really nailed it with the new physics. You can finally break loose and slide the car a bit, but you won&amp;#039;t constantly feel out of control.  On the subject of graphics, Codemasters hired a new Art Director for the 2013 game, and they credit the refined look of the game to that addition to the team. I have had some time with the pre-release review code, and to my eyes the lighting seems to be one of the biggest changes. Expect more on this in my full review, later.  Now the new graphics are nice, and the difficulty changes make me jump for joy, but the big news of F1 2013 is the classic content. When asked why they chose 2013 to release the classic material, the answer was surprising simple: It took until now to handle all the licensing deals. Codemasters has been working to get classic cars for years; it wasn&amp;#039;t until now that all the pieces finally fell into place.  When I pressured the two about potentially adding cars from the &amp;#039;70s or earlier to this game or future releases, Steve and Paul were a little coy. I did manage to get a few morsels of info though. Thanks to the number of times that F1 teams change hands, and the number of teams that no longer exist, it becomes exponentially more difficult to source the rights to older cars. It is also harder to get solid information on the feel and dynamics of those cars. They would like to, but don&amp;#039;t hold your breath.  Then came the big question on everyone&amp;#039;s mind. Where the hell is Senna? Like most of the other issues, it came down to rights. When the negotiations were ongoing to secure rights for the classic content there was already a potential deal for a Senna F1 game to be developed by another company. As such, they couldn&amp;#039;t secure his name or likeness for this game. That said, Codemasters is still working to maybe pull Senna for a future version of F1, so don&amp;#039;t lose hope.  If this little bit of info has piqued your interest, keep your eyes here on RoadandTrack.com. I am working on a full review for the game as you read this. While waiting for the review, feel free to check out this great new footage form the game below.       The game hits shelves next Tuesday, October 8 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/interviews/a5592/codemasters-f1-2013-interview/>