F1 2020: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Codemasters' F1 2020: My Team, Driver Career, setups, race strategy, assists, achievements and what still works now that the game has been pulled from sale.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC build (the game is delisted and no longer patched). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Availability note: F1 2020 is no longer sold. Console versions were removed from stores by May 2022 and the Steam page was delisted in March 2023; the store page now reads "F1 2020 is no longer available on the Steam store." If you already own it, it stays in your library and can be downloaded and played. Single-player modes run offline, but online features (ranked, leagues, weekly events, Podium Pass) depend on EA/Codemasters servers that are not guaranteed for a 2020 title. If you want an actively supported F1 game, look at a newer entry in the series.

Quick Start

Start in My Team if you want a long campaign. It is the headline mode: you create a driver, pick a sponsor and an engine supplier, hire a teammate and enter as the 11th team on the grid, then build facilities and develop the car over up to ten seasons.
Pick a shorter season if time is tight. Career and My Team let you choose 10, 16 or the full 22 races, and Career has an optional F2 introduction (short Feeder Series, half season or full season).
Tune the AI difficulty until races are close. The AI slider is the single biggest factor in whether the game is fun. Start low, win a race comfortably, then raise it a few points at a time until you finish mid-podium on a clean lap.
Run the practice programmes every weekend. They are the main source of Resource Points (RP) used to develop the car, and they teach you the track. Skipping practice in My Team or Career slows your car development badly.
Use the new Casual options if you are new to F1 games. F1 2020 added a Casual race style and a new steering assist so beginners can enjoy it; switch to Standard once you are comfortable.
Turn on the racing line (braking only) as a stepping stone. Full racing line is a crutch; braking-only keeps you informed without telling you where to steer.
Flashbacks exist, so use them while learning. Limit them later if you want the achievement-style clean race challenge.
Remember parc fermé. Once qualifying starts, most setup changes are locked; get your race setup sorted in practice.
Save "The Perfect Weekend" for an easy track. Fastest time in all three practice sessions, pole and the win in one weekend is much simpler at a track you know.

Game Modes at a Glance

Mode	What it is	Who it is for
My Team	Create an 11th team: driver, sponsor, engine supplier, teammate, facilities, car development	Players who want a management layer on top of racing
Driver Career	Sign for an existing F1 team (optionally via F2 first), negotiate contracts, develop the car	Players who want a classic career
Grand Prix	Single race weekend or custom championship with any team	Quick racing
Championships	Preset event series with rules and restrictions	Structured single-player challenges
Time Trial	Hotlap against personal best and rival ghosts	Learning tracks, setups, leaderboards
Split-screen	Two-player local racing	Couch play
F2	2019 and 2020 F2 season content (2020 content was a post-launch download)	Feeder series fans
Classic cars	16 historic F1 cars from 1988 to 2010	Fun, achievements
Multiplayer	Ranked, unranked, leagues, weekly events (server-dependent)	Online racing

The 22-circuit calendar is the one originally planned for 2020 before the pandemic reshuffled the real season, and it includes the two new tracks added for this game: Hanoi Circuit and Circuit Zandvoort.

My Team: How It Works

Creating the team

Driver: create your avatar; you race for your own team.
Sponsor: a primary sponsor funds the team; secondary sponsors pay out when you complete their goals during race weekends. Completing two or more secondary sponsor goals in a weekend is its own achievement ("Here Comes the Money").
Engine supplier: you buy a customer power unit. The real 2020 suppliers are Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. Each has different strengths; power and reliability matter most early on because your chassis will be weak.
Teammate: hire from the F1 and F2 pool. You can later hire better drivers as your team's acclaim grows (hiring a driver with acclaim level 15 or higher is the "Big Name Signing" achievement).
Livery and badge: fill every sponsor slot on the livery for "Represent".

The management loop

Between race weekends you choose activities (for example media, team and development tasks) that spend time and affect money, morale and progress. You also answer press questions; your tone affects how the team and department heads see you.

Money comes from sponsors and results. It pays for facility upgrades and driver salaries.
Facilities are the long-term investment: upgrading them improves how quickly and cheaply your departments can develop parts. Fully upgrading one facility area is the "Full Potential" achievement.
Resource Points (RP) come mainly from practice programmes and are spent in the R&D tree.
Acclaim grows with results and raises the calibre of drivers and sponsors willing to work with you (team acclaim 20 is an achievement).

R&D departments

The upgrade tree is split into four departments:

Department	What it improves	When to prioritise
Aerodynamics	Downforce, drag, cornering grip	Early and often; the biggest lap-time gains
Chassis	Weight, handling balance, tyre behaviour	Second priority, especially for tyre wear
Powertrain	Power, ERS and fuel efficiency	Important if your engine is weaker on straights
Durability	Part wear and reliability	Enough to avoid failures, then less

Rule of thumb: put early RP into aero and powertrain for raw pace, keep durability high enough that you are not losing components, and remember failed upgrades can happen, so do not bank your whole season on one part.

Recommended My Team plan

Season 1: accept you are a backmarker. Target sponsor goals, teammate battles and points on chaotic weekends.
Always do all practice programmes for RP.
Upgrade facilities as soon as money allows; they compound.
Hire a stronger teammate once acclaim rises; a better teammate brings in more constructor points and money.
By seasons 2-3 you should be fighting the midfield; by the later seasons of the 10-year span a well-run team contends for titles.

Practice Programmes

Each practice session offers programmes that reward RP and give the AI engineer data. Confirmed staples in the series include Track Acclimatisation (drive through gates to learn the racing line), Tyre Management (hit a target lap time without overworking the tyres), Fuel Management (lap within a fuel target) and Qualifying Simulation (a single flying lap on low fuel). Completing 10 programmes in F1 unlocks "Data Gatherer".

Tips:

Track Acclimatisation is the quickest RP and the best teacher; do it first at new venues like Hanoi and Zandvoort.
Tyre and fuel programmes reward smooth inputs; short-shift and avoid wheelspin.
Run Qualifying Simulation after you have a setup you like; it gives a benchmark before real qualifying.

Setups Made Simple

F1 2020's setup screen covers aerodynamics (front and rear wing), transmission (differential), suspension geometry (camber and toe), suspension (springs, anti-roll bars, ride height), brakes (pressure and bias) and tyre pressures. The presets are a legitimate starting point.

Problem	Try this
Too slow on straights	Reduce rear wing (and a little front wing to keep balance)
Understeer in slow corners	More front wing, softer front anti-roll bar
Snap oversteer on exit	Lower on-throttle differential, less aggressive throttle, softer rear anti-roll bar
Locking fronts	Move brake bias rearward slightly or reduce brake pressure
Tyres overheating in the race	Lower tyre pressures, less camber, drive smoother
Car bottoming out	Raise ride height a step

Keep one "safe" setup per track and change one thing at a time in Time Trial. The "Maximum Top Speed" preset is also used for the "Ditch the Downforce" achievement (a clean Time Trial lap with it).

Race Craft and Strategy

Tyres: dry races use Soft, Medium and Hard compounds, and you must use at least two different dry compounds in a dry race. Intermediates and Wets are for rain.
Pit stops: the strategy screen shows the engineer's plan. An undercut (pitting a lap early) usually works if your out-lap on fresh tyres is clean.
ERS: you have ERS deployment modes on the MFD (multi-function display) plus an overtake mode. Save battery for the lap you are attacking or defending, and recharge on the following laps.
Fuel: the MFD fuel mix lets you run lean to save fuel under safety car or when you are comfortably placed.
DRS: opens only in DRS zones when within one second of the car ahead in the race. Activating DRS perfectly in every zone of a track is the easy "Dat Reaction Speed (DRS)" achievement.
Penalties: corner cutting that gains time earns warnings then time penalties. Give places back when told to.
Safety cars and wet races are where backmarker My Team cars score big points; do not turn them off if you want chaos.

Assists and Difficulty

Assist	Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
Steering assist (new in 2020)	On	Off	Off
Braking assist	On	Off	Off
ABS	On	On	Off
Traction control	Full	Medium	Off
Gearbox	Automatic	Automatic or manual	Manual
Racing line	Full	Braking only	Off
Pit/ERS/DRS assists	On	Mixed	Off

Moving to manual gears pays off for "Get Shifty" (win a race using manual transmission). The Become One with the Car achievement requires completing a race using Elite Driver Proficiency on the Standard race style, so save it until assists are off.

Classic Cars

F1 2020 ships 16 classic cars from 1988 to 2010, including the 1988 McLaren MP4/4, the 1992 Williams FW14B, the 2009 Brawn BGP 001 and three 2010 cars (McLaren MP4-25, Ferrari F10, Red Bull RB6). The Deluxe Schumacher Edition adds four Michael Schumacher cars: the 1991 Jordan 191, 1994 Benetton B194, 1995 Benetton B195 and 2000 Ferrari F1-2000.

Two of the rarest achievements use classics:

Mad Tash for the Finish Line: win a race in the 1992 Williams FW14B at Silverstone.
We Are the Champions: gain 9 positions during a wet race at Brazil in the Brawn BGP 001.

Set these up in Grand Prix mode, shorten the race if allowed, and lower AI difficulty. For the Brawn one, start at the back so there are cars to pass.

Achievement Tips

The PC version has 50 achievements. The ones worth planning:

Achievement	Requirement	Tip
The Perfect Weekend	Fastest in all 3 practices, pole and win	Low AI difficulty, familiar track
Phoenix from the Ashes	Win after starting last	Grand Prix mode, short race, low AI, start from the back
The Orange Army	Win at Zandvoort as Max Verstappen	Grand Prix mode, Red Bull
Red River Racer	Complete a 25% or above race at Hanoi	Set race distance to 25%
Started from the Bottom	Win the Constructors' Championship in My Team	The long-haul one; develop the car
Legend Status Achieved	Win the Drivers' Championship	Pick a 10-race season to speed it up
Making Paper	$100,000,000 lifetime earnings in My Team	Comes naturally over several seasons
Its Time for the Perk-olator	Buy all perks in Career or My Team	Keep spending as you level
Who You Gonna Call!?	Beat a personal best ghost and a rival ghost in Time Trial	Pick a slow rival ghost
Squeaky Clean / Bragging Rights / league medals	Online racing	Server-dependent; try these first if servers still work

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping practice. Less RP means a slow car for years in My Team.
Changing ten setup values at once. You will not know what helped. One change, then test.
Keeping the AI too easy. Lapping the field is boring and teaches bad habits.
Fighting the car on cold tyres. Out-laps and restarts are where most spins happen; warm tyres gently.
Burning all ERS on lap one. You will be a sitting duck for the next few laps.
Ignoring sponsor goals. They are easy money early in My Team.
Neglecting durability. Part failures cost more than the lap time you gained.
Buying the game expecting live online. It is delisted; treat online as a bonus, not a reason to play.

Advanced Tips

Trail brake. Ease off the brake gradually as you turn in rather than releasing it all at once; this is where most lap time hides once assists are off.
Short-shift out of slow corners to reduce wheelspin with traction control off.
Use ghosts in Time Trial to find the braking points you are missing. Compare sector times, not only the lap.
Undercut the AI. AI pit windows are fairly predictable; pitting a lap early and pushing on the out-lap wins track position.
Qualifying fuel and tyres matter in Career. Plan which compound you start on; it shapes your whole strategy.
Develop to your weak spot. If you lose time in slow corners, prioritise aero/chassis; if you are slow on straights, powertrain.
Wet races: switch to Intermediates as soon as the track is clearly wet; stay out on slicks one lap too long and you will lose more than the pit stop costs.
Save highlights. The game can capture automated highlights; playing one back is the "Look at you go!" achievement.

FAQ

Can I still buy F1 2020? Not on Steam or console stores. It was delisted on consoles by May 2022 and on Steam in March 2023. Owners can still download and play it.

Does F1 2020 work offline? Yes for single-player modes. The store notes that an online connection was needed to download the final 2020 team cars and the F2 2020 season content; online multiplayer, leagues and Podium Pass depend on servers.

What is the difference between My Team and Driver Career? My Team makes you the owner-driver of a brand-new 11th team with facilities, sponsors and hiring. Driver Career puts you in an existing team's seat and focuses on racing and contracts.

Which engine should I pick in My Team? Any of the four suppliers can win a title with enough development. Early on, prioritise raw power and reliability since your chassis will be the weak link.

How long is a My Team or Career save? Up to ten seasons. Picking 10- or 16-race seasons makes each season much shorter.

Is F1 2020 good with a controller? Yes. Keep traction control on medium at first, and consider lowering steering sensitivity and adding a little deadzone.

Is there split-screen? Yes. F1 2020 brought back two-player split-screen racing, which the series had last offered in F1 2014.