Latest news with #LeMans
Top Gear
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Le Mans Ultimate review: does this endurance racing sim have staying power?
Gaming Good chance of it, considering it's packed with the most exciting racing machinery operating anywhere in the world Skip 5 photos in the image carousel and continue reading It feels like every racing sim these days debuts in unfinished, so-called 'early access' form. It's not something many other types of purchase can get away with; you wouldn't take a date to a restaurant, pay for full meals and be happy with just starters. Though yes, we confess, it does sound like we've just described tapas. Le Mans Ultimate arrived in February of last year in Steam Early Access, and while it was absolutely unfinished at the time, it at the very least landed with plenty of content. The entire 2023 Le Mans field and all the circuits from that year's World Endurance Championship were included and since then the sim has been kept bang up to date with DLC packs introducing new cars and circuits to represent the 2024 and 25 seasons. Advertisement - Page continues below As of now, the base game is considered completed and this 1.0 update arrives in some style. For a start, it brings with it the outrageous Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR LMH, the race-spec version of Aston's hypercar, complete with its screaming V12. If you aren't aware, real-world sportscar racing is currently enjoying a golden era of manufacturer support, meaning Le Mans Ultimate features arguably the most exciting contemporary racing machinery operating anywhere in the world. Avert your eyes, Formula One. These cars, along with a field of the ever popular GT3 machines, have helped position Le Mans Ultimate as the only credible threat to iRacing ' s simracing stranglehold. Le Mans Ultimate was built on the rock-solid foundation of rFactor 2's physics engine, but it's been refined and elevated to offer the most convincing, communicative handling model in sim racing. Every time you spin off the circuit, it's embarrassingly obvious that it was 100 per cent your own fault. You might like It's a good job the game is so fundamentally satisfying to drive, because it's still lacking a career or championship mode to provide connective tissue between single player races. If the idea of venturing onto an online multiplayer server fills you with dread, you're stuck with just individual race weekends against AI drivers. A proper, in-depth career mode is apparently in development, but won't be arriving until next year. More tapas, anyone? The game has already been embraced by online racers, though, and this 1.0 version will finally support multiplayer driver swaps for longer online endurance races. These epic, multi-hour scheduled events popularised by iRacing are designed be tackled as a team and are the most involving and challenging experiences in simracing, to the point where even Max Verstappen can't resist competing in them even if it clashes with a F1 race weekend. Advertisement - Page continues below Back in February last year, we reckoned Le Mans Ultimate was worth a punt even in its Early Access form. This full release reassures us that we made the right call a year and a half ago. It's still structurally a slim offering for solo players, but the handling model is second to none, the selection of cars and circuits is excellent and the online competition is justifiably pulling people away from tending to their precious iRacing driver rating. Le Mans Ultimate is one of the few racing sims that might make you feel like a 24 hour race isn't long enough... Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
The Star
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Star
If the Schu fits
Alpine Endurance Team's Mick Schumacher competing in the Hyperpole of the 2025 Le Mans 24 hour endurance race at the Le Mans circuit, northwestern France, on June 12. — AFP
The Independent
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Sebastian Vettel insists he's never returning to F1
Sebastian Vettel has definitively stated he will not return to Formula 1, nearly three years after his retirement. The four-time world champion, who retired at the end of the 2022 season, had previously been linked with a comeback. Vettel explained that F1 is "finished" for him, believing it is time for younger drivers to take over. He had a distinguished career, winning 53 races and securing 122 podium finishes across 16 seasons. However, Vettel did not rule out competing in other motorsport series, such as the World Endurance Championship and the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans event.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Sebastian Vettel makes final call on potential F1 comeback
Sebastian Vettel has categorically ruled out returning to Formula 1 – nearly three years after retiring from the sport. The German driver, who won four consecutive F1 world championships with Red Bull from 2010-2013, retired at the end of the 2022 season. Vettel also drove for Ferrari and Aston Martin in a distinguished career where he won 53 races and finished on the podium 122 times. Yet the 38-year-old has been linked with a return in previous years, not least at Red Bull amid their second driver issues. However, Vettel has now completely ruled out returning to the sport he competed in for 16 seasons. "F1 is finished,' Vettel told German outlet Auto Motor und Sport. 'At some point, the time is ripe to leave the field to others. 'You see that with the rookies. I think it's good that a lot of drivers have now been replaced. 'That's not a vote against the older ones, but for the younger ones. In the past, I didn't care who among the established drivers was no longer driving. The most important thing was that I was allowed to drive.' However, Vettel did not rule out competing in other motorsport series', such as the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and, consequently, the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans event. 'There have been talks, but somehow it hasn't come about yet," Vettel said, of a spot at Le Mans. Sebastian Vettel has ruled out returning to F1 (Getty Images) "In the past I was honestly not that interested in endurance racing, from my perspective as a lone fighter. 'Nowadays, I see it differently. I find it totally exciting, with this team structure, sharing a car and making compromises. 'In motorsport, it's difficult to say: I'll only drive half the races. WEC would actually be a good fit with its eight races, which are also structured differently than Formula 1. "It's always a question of how intense you want to do something. For me, it has always been that when I participate in something, I want to do it well. Just participating is nothing for me.'
The Independent
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Sebastian Vettel makes final call on potential F1 comeback
Sebastian Vettel has categorically ruled out returning to Formula 1 – nearly three years after retiring from the sport. The German driver, who won four consecutive F1 world championships with Red Bull from 2010-2013, retired at the end of the 2022 season. Vettel also drove for Ferrari and Aston Martin in a distinguished career where he won 53 races and finished on the podium 122 times. Yet the 38-year-old has been linked with a return in previous years, not least at Red Bull amid their second driver issues. However, Vettel has now completely ruled out returning to the sport he competed in for 16 seasons. "F1 is finished,' Vettel told German outlet Auto Motor und Sport. 'At some point, the time is ripe to leave the field to others. 'You see that with the rookies. I think it's good that a lot of drivers have now been replaced. 'That's not a vote against the older ones, but for the younger ones. In the past, I didn't care who among the established drivers was no longer driving. The most important thing was that I was allowed to drive.' However, Vettel did not rule out competing in other motorsport series', such as the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and, consequently, the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans event. 'There have been talks, but somehow it hasn't come about yet," Vettel said, of a spot at Le Mans. "In the past I was honestly not that interested in endurance racing, from my perspective as a lone fighter. 'Nowadays, I see it differently. I find it totally exciting, with this team structure, sharing a car and making compromises. 'In motorsport, it's difficult to say: I'll only drive half the races. WEC would actually be a good fit with its eight races, which are also structured differently than Formula 1. "It's always a question of how intense you want to do something. For me, it has always been that when I participate in something, I want to do it well. Just participating is nothing for me.'
