For the last couple of F1 games now, the main career mode has been split into two main parts. There’s the standard Driver Career that we’ve always had on the modern era Codemasters F1 games, but since the F1 2020 edition there’s also been a My Team Career mode as well. What’s the difference between the two modes? Which one is “better” and which one should each player pick?
That’s what we’re going to cover in this guide, giving a thorough rundown and comparison of each career mode so first time users can quickly see what suits them best and which they should play. Here’s a bottom line answer:
The Driver career allows the player to take a race seat in an existing team and simply drive the season races each year and develop the car, without any extra commercial/operational management. The My Team career mode is more in depth and allows the player to create an extra team on the grid, which they own, manage and drive for.
In other words, in the My Team career mode, you’ve a lot more things you need to manage and worry about as a player, since it’s your team that you’re running. With the normal Driver career, it’s more simple no-nonsense and straightforward and you just drive the car and select upgrades, progressing through seasons as you do with any career mode.
Let’s cover each mode in more detail and add some more differentiating points.
How Does Driver Career Work On The F1 Games?
The Driver Career is the standard career mode that’s been on almost all the past F1 games. You replace an existing driver in an existing team, and progress through a career of up to 10 seasons.
And that’s really it. You decide the progress of your career. You can start with one team, slowly build them up to become title challengers, or move to another team when your performance would warrant it.
- You race in all the races (practice/qualifying/races), following the real life calendar (custom shortened seasons are also available).
- You use resources points gained to upgrade/develop the car by purchasing upgrades in 4 main areas (Aerodynamics, Chassis, Engine, Durability)
- The other teams also develop their cars.
- You keep progressing through races and seasons, changing teams if you wish or staying where you are, for a maximum of 10 seasons.
- You can customize the difficulty of your career development via the (very detailed) Settings menu, determining how fast your and the AI cars upgrade, plus the level of car failures/faults, and other career settings.
Over a full 10 year career, you could probably build up a team from backmarkers to race winner 2 or 3 times at the normal R&D rate, so there’s plenty of chances to “rinse and repeat” and run through the same development cycle, building a team up slowly over a few seasons (that’s what I like about this mode).
There is peripheral stuff between races, but it’s very limited and the primary focus on Driver Career is driving the car, plus R&D, but that’s it.
How Does My Team Career Work On The F1 Games?
The My Team Career Mode is much more varied and in depth, where you basically run your own F1 team that you also drive for.
My Team Quick Trailer (has worked the same on all games since 2020)
You name, set up, fund, run and drive for your own brand new F1 team on the grid, so it’s a much more immersive and rounded experience. You don’t just have to turn up to the races and drive like in Driver Career (though you do do this).
You actually have to be involved in the main aspects of running the F1 team, including finance, commercial, drivers, R&D, media, team management, PR and so on. In other words, there’s a lot more to do in this career mode, which might suit people bored with the traditional career mode.
Key Differences Between The Driver & My Team Career Modes
The key differences is that the My Team Career mode is much more in depth and you have a lot more factors you need to consider and manage as a player (team finances, sponsorship, R&D path, driver contracts etc).
Driver Career – With the standard driver career, you just turn up to the races and drive all the practice/qualifying/race sessions, gathering as many resource points as you can do to upgrades, and gaining the best race results you can.
On top of this, there are some other minor things you engage in between races, such as:
- R&D – you determine the R&D path the car takes, selecting which upgrades go on the car in which order, and depending on how many resources points you gained by completing practice session programs.
- Minor media – Some occasional questionnaires and commercial/R&D decisions you get consulted on, but quite toned down and minimal.
- Driver contracts – In the middle and at the end of seasons, you do get a chance to negotiate a contract with your existing team or a new team. And you get a perks/bonus payment fund you can use to boost R&D, component wear, Acclaim or another metric.
- Driver rivalries – You can also pick rivals at certain points, and beating them can increase acclaim which has it’s own benefits.
But all this peripheral stuff alongside the car development is quite limited in this standard mode.
My Team – The My Team has all the driving and other stuff mentioned above, but also much more in depth off track involvement on the player’s behalf, because it’s effectively your team you own, run and drive for. Therefore there’s a lot more considerations:
- Car Design – Much more in your hands. You design the entire car livery, colors, team logo, etc – you set your own brand for your team
- You actually add a new team to the grid, so it’s now 22 cars racing instead of 20. And you take up one of the race seats as an owner-driver.
- Engine – You decide the engine supplier to start and progress with, trading off performance/reliability for the cost of using those engines.
- Sponsorship/Funding – You need to select sponsors to fund your team, and will only receive your funding over a season if you meet the targets each sponsor sets. Therefore you need to be careful with the sponsors you pick, making sure you can meet the targets they set. As you hit targets and grow, you’ll be able to draw in more sponsors and attract more funding, furthering your R&D growth.
- Drivers – You pick your team-mate from a selection of rookies and (if you purchase bonus packs), classic/legend drivers from the past who you can add to your team. You hire and fire drivers based on performance.
- Team Management – As well as the normal R&D car development, you are also responsible for managing the team, scheduling activities between races which can boost/lower morale of certain department. You also decide when certain R&D department get funded to increase/expand capacity.
- Media – Much more media involvement, with again what you say having an impact on certain department morale.
- Acclaim – Team and driver acclaim metrics are quite important in this mode, as they influence how the team is seen, the competency/efficiency of the team/drivers, and what opportunities come up for you. Work on improving this when you can.
In other words, although you do get used to it in time, there is a LOT more that you need to do in between races in the My Team career mode, as well as driving the car. It’s basically a stylized team management sim as well as a racing sim combined into one (though if you want something that has even more complex and in depth team management features, check out the F1 Manager game series that’s been out since 2022).
The Sponsorship is a key factor, as this is what brings the money in to keep the team running and growing. Pick yours wisely and make sure you can hit the targets to keep the funds coming in.
Which Is Better?
This is a really subjective question as to which career mode is “better”, since it depends what you’re looking for out of your F1 gaming.
When is Standard Driver Career Better:
- If you just want to drive the cars and not be so bothered by any peripheral team management stuff. Yes, you control the R&D direction, and there’s basic extra stuff, but it’s toned down and main thing is just progressing from race to race and developing the car over seasons.
- If you’re new to the F1 game series, it’s probably best to start off with Driver career to keep things simple. Jumping straight into My Team, along with learning the handling, along with R&D, along with all the other factors, will probably overwhelm you.
- You like the idea of taking an existing team that’s mid-field or struggling, and taking it back to the front of the grid over a few seasons (a lot of F1 YouTubers call these series “Road to Glory”).
- You want a more predictable car to drive. The driver career cars are easier to handle, especially to begin with. The My Team car can be tricky, especially at the start and if you set yourself as a backmarker pace.
When is My Team Career Better:
- You like the idea of bringing your own team (which you name yourself) to the F1 grid, designing the car/livery/branding yourself (blank canvas kind of idea).
- You want a more immersive experience, controlling all aspects of a team’s operation and development.
- You want a more challenging experience, where you need to trade off certain things for others and make strategic decisions. You can also alter a lot a development metrics from the Settings to make your own team’s growth harder/easier and also adjust the AI’s development rate as well.
- Just driving around the same tracks in the same routine is getting boring for you (My Team adds much more to the experience).
- You get enjoyment out of strategic games and not just high speed racing.
Driver career is actually my favourite mode at the moment, because it’s no nonsense and you can just race. I tried My Team and there’s too much peripheral stuff for me, plus I don’t like the way the My Team stock car handles. I’d rather keep it simple and just move quickly through races. But it’s entirely down to preference and some people want the opposite.
Some YouTuber Channels Featuring Both Career Modes
The best way to decide which career mode you want to play can sometimes be to watch others play it and see the difference for yourself.
There are quite a few YouTubers covering both careers modes for all the F1 games; here are some to check out:
Driver career modes (Road To Glory):
My Team career modes:
