March 2019 represented a pivotal turning point for Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton was in the midst of his dominant run with Mercedes, Max Verstappen was an up and comer who was sure to get his shot at the championship soon, and a show called ‘Drive to Survive’ came out on Netflix. The show became an instant hit, specifically for the US market. In 2022, a poll in the United States showed that 28% of adults considered themselves F1 fans, and nearly half that number said it was due to the Drive to Survive series. Fast forward to Spring 2024 and Formula 1 has brought the countries first full F1 Arcade to Boston Massachusetts. Lucky for me, it’s no more than 20 minutes from my house, so of course I had to check it out.
What is it?
The F1 Arcade has nearly 70 full-motion racing simulators. There’s also a full bar with an impressive food and drink menu. The sims are decked out with some F1 stickers and have race-like bucket seat that you’ll be seated in. You have your typical F1-like steering wheel that includes paddle shifters, reverse button, and a change camera view button. The other knobs on the wheel are just for show. You have your typical gas and brake pedals.
Booking Tips:
If you’re deciding to visit the F1 Arcade Boston location, you’ll want to book your spot to race ahead of time. When booking for 5 people and under, you’ll get 3 head-to-head races. That gives you about 30 minutes on the sim. If you book 6 people and up, you’ll get 90 minutes of ‘team racing’. If you want some extra race time but you’re a small group (5 and under), I’d suggest still booking for 6 people and eating the cost of not having all 6 people there. The 90 minutes of racing gets you 13 races while the 30 minutes gives you 3.
The Race Experience:
Once your race time arrives, you’ll get settled into the seat on the sim. You have two curved screens in front of you. One is eye-level and is the main screen you’ll be focusing on. The top screen shows race replays to whoever may be watching. Gameplay is essentially like the Formula 1 video game, however, there’s no vehicle setup customization available nor do you get the in-depth race options. You also won’t be able to pick your driver/car/team. In ‘teams racing’ you and others in your party will race up to 20 AI drivers on a variety of F1 tracks around the world. You’ll score points based on race position, average speed, overtakes, number of collisions and time on/off track.
You’ll get to pick your difficulty setting from rookie to pro. Each setting adds/removes driving assists like auto-brake and traction control. Paddle shifters are needed when driving in pro mode but are not required in lower modes. A few laps with paddle shifters was certainly a lot of fun as you feel way more in control of the car and rip through the gears way faster on straight-aways. The simulator is really the highlight of the gameplay. You feel every bump on the track, you feel the car accelerate forward and brake, it leans into turns ever so slightly. The steering is responsive and relatively realistic with feedback. Depending on your difficulty setting, expect to spin out a few times as you get used to the feedback from the car.
Having gotten to race for 90 minutes it really was not until the last few races where I started to really feel used to the responsiveness and feedback from the game. As mentioned before, you do not get to select your track and the track changes every race which makes it more challenging to put down your best lap at given time. Adding to that challenge, is the lack of a formation lap or track overview. You’ll get a small map of the track in the far left corner, but other than that you’re left guessing when the next turn is, how sharp it is or where you can go all-out. Regardless of that, the 90 minutes absolutely flew by. With waiter service for a cocktail at your simulator it’s far too easy to want to spend the day sitting there and racing.
