PC Troubleshooting Information

[EA_Spectre]

You’ll find a number of helpful suggestions to try to troubleshoot some basic issues below. Please be sure to attempt the items in this thread first before anything else.

PC - Game Crashing/Not Loading

1: Try validating your game files.

1. Open Steam and go to the Library tab.
2. Right click on F1 2021 and select Properties.
3. Go to the Local Files tab and click verify integrity of game files.     

2: Make sure your drivers and OS are all up to date

Check to see if your video card, sound card, mainboard and processor are all up to date. If you are overclocking, try running the game without overclocking to see if that improves it.

3: Make sure your PC is or is above the minimum specs.

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (Version 2004) | For Ray Tracing: Windows 10 64-bit (Version 2004)
• Processor: Intel Core i3-2130 or AMD FX 4300
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 950 or AMD R9 280 | For Ray Tracing: GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6700 XT
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 80 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

4: Try limiting the FPS – In game go to Game Options -> Settings -> Graphics Options -> Video Mode.

5: Try running the game at a lower graphics setting - Game Options -> Settings -> Graphics Options -> Video Mode or Game Options -> Settings -> Graphics Options -> Advanced Setup.

6: If you changed your graphics settings and then the game won’t launch. This may have happened if you’ve enabled an option not supported by your graphics card, or set the resolution beyond what can be handled by your monitor. F1 2021 includes a 'Safe Mode' to help under such circumstances, this can be run by launching the game using the '-safemode' parameter. Safe Mode will simply boot the game using the lowest possible resolution and graphics settings.

1. Open Steam and find F1 2021 in your library. Now right click the game and choose Properties.
2. Next under the General tab select 'SET LAUNCH OPTIONS' and in the space provided enter -safemode.
3. Now Click 'OK' and then launch F1 2021 via the Play icon.
4. After exiting the game remove the '-safemode' parameter from the Launch options to allow the game to run as normal.

Alternatively, simply delete the hardware_settings_config.xml file in Documents\My Games\F1 2021\hardwaresettings and the game will generate a new one the next time it is run.

If the game continues to crash or not load after this, please let us know the following things in your report.

For crashing:

A copy of your DXDiag and Hardware settings - In the Run/Search box type (without the Quotes ‘dxdiag’. Then after it has finished loading choose ‘Save all Information’ to save the Output to a Text File. Please be kind enough to include the brand and model of your mainboard if it is not in the dxdiag (check the System Manufacturer: and System Model: fields at the top of the file - you can edit the text or add it to your post).

• Any crash dumps
• Where is the game crashing? For example, when loading onto a specific track or when the podium cut scene plays
• How many times has the crash happened? Can you repeat it?
• Does it crash in the same place each time?
• Does the crash only happen in one mode?
• Does the crash only happen on one track?

For not loading;

• At what point does the game fail to load?
• Has it happened once or can you repeat it?
• If it’s a particular track, can you try loading the track in a different game mode?
• Please add your reports to the forums

[EA_Spectre]

Try a clean boot

Clean booting cuts down the number of applications that run when you start your computer. This step is very helpful if any other programs on your system are clashing and causing problems.

Windows 10

• Open the Start menu and search for msconfig.
• Click on System Configuration.
• Click the Services tab.
• Check the box to Hide all Microsoft Services, then click the Disable All button.
• Click on the Startup tab, then click on Open Task Manager.
• It can take a few seconds for the Task Manager list to load.
• Click each of the Startup programs in the list then click the Disable button.
• Close the Task Manager window.
• Click OK on the System Configuration window to save your changes, then restart your computer.
• Once you restart your computer, try launching your game again.

Full link: https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/connection-troubleshooting-advanced-pc/

Don't forget to reset the setting to Normal boot once you have isolated and removed the troublesome startup program.

If there has been a recent hardware change, if possible revert the change and check if this has resolved the issue

While updating to the latest graphics drivers, please select “Factory Defaults” (AMD) or “Perform a clean installation” (Nvidia) to ensure the cleanest install"

[EA_Spectre]

NVIDIA:

For users experiencing issues on NVIDIA cards with F1 2021, pleases install driver 461.92 or later.