No F1 26: F1 25 Gets a Season Expansion Pack Revealed on May 20

The decision by EA Sports and Codemasters to replace F1 26 with a paid expansion breaks the annual release cycle for the first time since 2009, ending a 17-year tradition. The commercial success of F1 25, with sales up 27% year-over-year according to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, made this strategy possible. Codemasters Senior Creative Director Lee Mather justified the move by pointing to a multi-year plan aimed at delivering a fully « reimagined » F1 27 experience for 2027.

The 2026 expansion will include the new car designs based on the FIA’s 2026 technical regulations, updated team and driver line-ups and the new sporting rules. F1 25 ownership will be required to access it: the expansion will not work as a standalone title. Its price and exact release date haven’t been announced yet and will be revealed during the May 20 reveal. A preview event for content creators is scheduled for May 21, 2026, the day after the public trailer drop. Fans are reacting to the announcement with some skepticism. The timing is awkward: the 2026 season marks the biggest regulatory overhaul in years, with radically redesigned cars and a complete power unit reset, which makes a simple DLC potentially inadequate to capture the full scope of these changes.