Alongside the current Formula 1 season, with the new cars, tracks and current roster, the upcoming EA SPORTS F1 22 game will also feature a revised tyre model, tweaks to the My Team managerial mode and cross-platform online play post-launch. It will also feature road cars for the very first time.
In a surprising move for the gaming series – arriving ahead of Formula 3 and W Series F1 support classes – the supercars tie into the glamour of the championship thanks to the F1 Pirelli Hot Laps initiative.
So, without further ado, here is your definitive guide to the supercar driving in F1 22.
What are F1 Pirelli Hot Laps?
Pirelli Hot Laps are when a professional driver takes invited guests – celebrities, journalists and select dignitaries – around an F1 circuit on a race weekend in a performance-orientated road car.
The road cars in use are tied to car manufacturers involved in F1 in some capacity.
Such examples include Motorsport.com’s Editor in Chief Charles Bradley driven around the Miami International Autodrome in an Aston Martin, or Usain Bolt around Austin by Sir Lewis Hamilton.
How F1 Pirelli Hot Laps are integrated in F1 22’s My Team and Driver Career
Upon progressing through a My Team or Driver Career in-between some race weekends, you will be invited to take part in an F1 Pirelli Hot Lap challenge.
There will be a choice of two different challenges. So, it could be an average speed challenge or a drift challenge. Either way, you will be driving a road-going supercar around an F1 track.
These are entirely optional but help break up the potential grind of the full F1 season with a fun little task. Much like the same way the classic cars were used up until the F1 2020 game. F1 2021 didn’t feature any classic cars or supercars.
Upon completion, aside from achieving a bronze, silver or gold score, they can provide you with additional team cash and driver acclaim – although neither in any significant quantities. $100,000 in cash and 1,000 in driver acclaim when in My Team and just the 1,000 driver acclaim when in Driver Career.
How many F1 Pirelli Hot Lap Challenges are in F1 22?
There are 40 Pirelli Hot Lap Challenges in the F1 22 game. Each has a bronze, silver or gold rating to aim for and three difficulty levels: normal, challenging and hard. Each difficulty level also has the three ratings to aim for.
F1 Pirelli Hot Lap challenge types in F1 22
There are six types of F1 Pirelli Hot Lap challenge in F1 22: Average Speed Zone, Drift, Checkpoint Challenge, Autocross, Time Attack and Rival Duel.
Autocross
Complete a section of track within a set time, but also drive through all the set ‘gates’ created by placing cones around the venue.
Hitting as cone results in a five-second time penalty, missing a gate a 10-second penalty.
Average Speed Zone
Drive as quick as you can around small sections of track – aiming for the highest average speed possible.
For example, the first sector of Spa-Francorchamps in a Ferrari F8 Tributo in the rain. 100mph netting gold, 96mph silver and 92mph bronze.
Drift
Drive sideways in a controlled fashion around an F1 circuit as much as you can before a timer runs out. Each time you successfully drift, you earn points and the total accrued points at the end of the lap is your score.
The total points scored is the aim. For example, 3,000 points for gold, 2,000 silver and 950 bronze.
Checkpoint Challenge
Drive around a track within a set time. In that time, the distance you have covered is measured. The further you drive, the more successful you are.
For example, 60-seconds around Circuit Paul Ricard in an Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition. 8,250m driven in that time nets a gold award, 7,750m silver and 7,000m bronze.
Time Attack
Simply beat the target time across several laps.
For example, two laps of Miami in the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series in under 4:40 for gold, 4:52 for silver and 5:08 for bronze on the normal difficulty setting.
Rival Duel
You race on a small section of track against an AI-controlled rival in the same vehicle. This is split into rounds, and winning rounds helps you complete the objective.
For example, three round wins for gold, two for silver and one for bronze.
Where do I access the F1 Pirelli Hot Lap Challenges in F1 22?
They appear in-between races in the My Team or Driver Career modes, after a race event in the team hub menu and the ‘overview’ tab.
You can also visit the ‘solo’ tab of the main menu and manually select or re-play any of the challenges outside of the career modes.
Which Supercars are in F1 22?
There are eight supercars in F1 22:
- Aston Martin DB11 AMR
- Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition
- Ferrari Roma
- Ferrari F8 Tributo
- McLaren Artura
- McLaren 720S
- Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro
- Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series
Each is faithfully recreated including the interior and unique engine sounds. You can use assists such as traction control, driving line and automatic braking, just as with the F1 cars. There are eight camera angles: bumper, bonnet, bonnet alt, cockpit, roof, cockpit near, near chase and far chase.
How to unlock supercars in F1 22
Aside from driving the supercars in the F1 Pirelli Hot Laps, you can unlock supercars in F1 22 using Supercar Tokens.
Unlocking a supercar allows you to display them in your F1 Life area and in one of the Supercar Bays.
This is also the only way you can drive a supercar in the Time Trial game mode too. Once unlocked, you can drive them on any circuit in the game, but you cannot set up a supercars race in Grand Prix mode.
How to receive Supercar Tokens in F1 22
You receive Supercar Tokens in F1 22 simply by playing the game. There are a series of simple tasks, upon completion of which a new Supercar Token will unlock.
The main F1 22 home screen will pop up and display what you must do to receive a new Supercar Token.
For example, we were told to drive 100 miles in an F1 car across any game mode to unlock one. Other objectives have been to drive 30 miles in a Formula 2 car or simply drive 110 miles in total. All very straightforward.
You can also find out what you need to complete in order to unlock further tokens within the ‘locked supercars’ tab, which only appears upon assigning a newly unlocked supercar to a bay.
How to change your supercar’s colour
The supercars do come in multiple colours which you can switch between. To so do, visit the F1 Life tab of the main home menu, and then select your unlocked supercars. Simply select a car that’s in one of your allocated bays and then an options menu will appear.
From here you can drive it, or visit the F1 Pirelli Hot Laps challenges. Alternatively, select ‘Change Paint Colour’ and you can cycle through the various options.
Trophies and Achievements
According to TrueAchievements, there will be six supercar-related Trophies and Achievements to unlock:
- Getting The Hang Of It: Drive 25 laps in a Supercar in any game mode – Silver/25
- Gold All Around: Earn a gold medal in each type of Supercar Invitational – Silver/25
- Supercar Superstar: Fill all 6 bays in F1 Life with unlocked Supercars – Gold/30
Can you drive the safety cars in F1 22?
Yes, it is true you can drive the two official safety cars in F1 22, but only if you purchase the F1 22 Digital Champions Edition of the game, or the optional extra F1 22 Champions Edition Upgrade Pack DLC. The pricing of this DLC pack is yet to be revealed.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG safety cars are based on the Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition and Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series cars already in the game, but with the lights on the roof and F1 branding.
- Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car
- Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Safety Car
Image source: F1 22 game and Motorsport Images.
