How to play EA Sports F1 24 early

Check out how to get early access to F1 24, and play the game as soon as possible

It's race week! For the first time this year, Formula 1 cars are about to hit the track, with the inaugural Bahrain GP taking place on Saturday. Luckily enough, EA Sports and Codemasters have something special for fans to get ready for the new season. We already have two different ways for players to start playing F1 24 before the official release, and we're breaking them down below.

For all the details about the upcoming game, check out our F1 24 release date reveal news.

F1 24 liveries coming to F1 23

If you still own a copy of F1 23, there's good news for you. By pre-ordering F1 24 ahead of its May 31 launch, you'll be able to take part in F1 23 Time Trial challenges with selected cars from the 2024 season. You can play these until April 24, using any F1 24 edition.

Pre-ordering F1 24 before April 24, 2024, unlocks 2024 liveries in F1 23 Time Trial / EA Sports

These are the cars you'll get to test ahead of F1 24:

• Alpine
• Haas
• McLaren
• Williams

A second wave of new liveries will be available "at the end of April", although it's not clear which ones we're going to get at that time.

How to get early access to F1 24

The good news isn’t over yet, as EA Sports has planned full early access to F1 24 similar to last year's game. F1 24 is scheduled to launch on May 31 on PC (Epic Games Store, Steam, EA App), PlayStation, and Xbox. However, there's an easy, if not exactly cheap, way to get on track a little early.

Players who pre-order the Champions Edition will have up to three days of early access, starting on May 28. This will be the full version of the game, so if you pre-order, you'll enjoy the full experience of the new Formula 1 game, and not just the F1 24 demo. The Champions Edition is the most expensive version of F1 24, and not everyone can afford to spend the extra money just for early access and a handful of other trivial in-game bonuses.

EA Sports is also kicking off a new fidelity program this year, making things a bit easier. If you own at least one of F1 2021, F1 22, or F1 23, you can get a 15% discount when you pre-order F1 24 Champions Edition. This should make the demanding Champions Edition's price less steep, and open up the number of players that can play during the early access period. As a bonus, you'll also unlock the 2023 season esports McLaren and Alpine liveries.

F1 24 release date set for May 2024