With the release of EA Sports F1 23 this week, players will be introduced to the all-new F1 World hub. This hub is every player’s main area for the majority of the game that includes single and multiplayer racing.
There’s a lot of faff in the World, mainly with raising up the Tech Score of your F1 World car, but there are a few rankings you should look out for. F1 World offers both a License and a Division, not too different than something like most other multiplayer games have.
Gran Turismo 7 has Driver Rating and Safety Rating, iRacing has iRating and Safety Rating, and now F1 23 has Division Rank and License Letters.
The Division is based on your performance. Better finishes will get you ranked better. This is less of a number and more of a title, more similar to something like Rocket League might offer. This rank only gets affected by the Ranked Multiplayer and only truly affects where you are placed within there.
On the other hand, there are License levels that determine how clean of a driver you are, and with that comes perks. Players can race in any license level that they’ve earned, but higher levels will allow for server hosts to keep their racing a little cleaner and more exclusive.
Both of these scores will be important to your EA Sports F1 23 experience, but how do they work and how do you obtain higher ranking? Here’s what you need to know for each.
Lettered Licences – F1 23’s Safety System
It’s a common thing to see lettered license levels in multiplayer games, many of the top titles have them and they help to distinguish drivers amongst one another in terms of how well they can drive around others.
F1 23’s system is unique in the sense that it can be affected in both Multiplayer and Single Player events… that is, if you choose it to be on in those events. More on that in a moment.
D and C are for Beginners
Everyone starts at the ‘D’ License level, the Beginner Level, if you will. When you race in a race that is set to a ‘D’ license, it will look and feel different than racing at higher levels, and this is to help players get a feel for the racing and not get discouraged early on.
‘D’ License races are as easy as they get. There’s no damage, no collisions, you don’t have to worry about what to do on pit road or behind a Safety Car, and if you go off course by accident, there’s the Auto Recovery that will save the day and put you back on track.
The ‘C’ License is the same thing. Still no damage or player-to-player collisions, Auto Recovery is on and the pit stops and Safety Cars are on Cinematic mode. It will open up new events in F1 World for you to play, but it is the opening rankings. If you want a better experience, you’ll have to race clean to get up to the higher levels.
You’ll be more “Experienced” at ‘B’
Just as the card reads, the ‘B’ License level is when you’ll start to get into the more serious racing. Sure, Auto Recover is still on and the Safety Car period is still cinematic, but damage is now on and because of this, collisions with other cars (after the first lap) will be enabled.
Damage isn’t full, it is “Reduced”, so you likely won’t end your race with a smaller incident. However, you get a more authentic racing experience here with immersive pit stops as well.
“Experts” will get to ‘A’
The top License is ‘A’ and with it you’ll find the most authentic experience to race in, in both Colo races and in Multiplayer events. Damage is now “Standard” and collisions with other drivers is always on, even on the opening lap. Pit road and the Safety Car periods are immersive and specifically for Solo, Flashbacks are here.
This is what most lobbies will likely want to be at, so you’ll need to get to this level and stay here to be able to partake. However, just how do you get up the rankings? How do you avoid going down?
How to gain and lose License levels
When in races with License Progression turned on, everything you do will affect you. If you cut corners, hit other drivers, disobey race control, it’s all bad for your license level. Clean laps, however, are how you raise it up.
If you’re struggling even in Single Player Grand Prix races, you might want to turn off the option until you feel comfortable enough to race with it on.
The more clean laps you run, the more it multiplies and adds more to your score. It doesn’t really give any number values, unfortunately. You’ll see pointed arrows, up or down, and the more arrows, the more whatever you did will affect that score.
You can check this when selecting a license and looking at the level you are currently at. There’s a bar, and that will either fill in or deplete depending on how your races go.
The more clean laps the better. Once you hit a License, you can lose it if you decide to drive bad. It’s much easier to lose a license level than to gain one. The gain takes time, it’s a bit of a grind, but if you’re taking part in many races, this should be no sweat.
What about Division Ranks?
Divisions are the levels that players will compete at based on factors such as how much they play and how well they do.
These Division Rankings are set on a week-to-week basis, and at the end, if you’ve earned enough points in playing Ranked Multiplayer, you’ll move up to the rank you’ve earned.
Bronze is the starting level, from there is moves up through two Silver ranks, three Gold ranks and finally, the Elite rank. That’s likely where you’ll find most esports drivers and some of the top competitors on the game.
Your ranking will last for the “season” before it will be reset. That is akin to many popular titles, the closest to this likely being the ranks you can get in Rocket League, but it also reminds me of the progression in a title I play called Overwatch. It’s the same thing here.
You earn these Division points based on where you finish amongst peers in the Ranked Multiplayer races. The better you do, the more points you earn. The Lettered License levels don’t affect this part.
The higher your Division, the better your opponents will be and the more XP you’ll get. Basic stuff here.
Of course, as it is with everything else in F1 World, you do what you want to do. If the licenses and divisions don’t really concern you, you don’t need to get into it. You can race without them, whether it be leagues or other types of single and multiplayer racing.
EA Sports F1 23, the Champion’s Edition, is available now. The Standard Edition releases on 16th June, 2023.
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