how playable with a keyboard is F1 2020? advice on a controller?

[Ludwigven]

This will be my first time purchasing the game, as I am feeling very interested in F1 lately.
I want to buy this game for pc since I don't own a console and my pc is quite good.

Is it playable with only a keyboard? Is it much harder than a controller?

Or is buying a controller absolutely advised?
If so, which one would you recommend?

[Dein Lieblingslehrer]

Dont use a keyboard for any racing games, but as there are also some problems with a controller I would recommend getting a cheap wheel
I got the Thrustmaster T150 and it works just fine

[Ümit Bulut]

Hi @Ludwigven, I've come discussions to see something about this subject as well. Thanks for asking. Let me tell you my experience in F1 games so far. I've bought and played 2019 with keyboard and to be honest I didn't look for an external controller. For me it was just racing experience and it was fun with keyboards as well.
There are some aspects you need to choose. For example are you into competitive online racing or you just wanna race? AI Driver level is a big issue as well. Competitive guys plays with 110% percent which in my opinion really hard to crack. I've usually played with easy-medium settings. For starters don't go overkill with AI level.
At start I'm assuming you will use guide lines while racing and auto breaking assists which is helps if you play with keyboards. Of course without controller you need to be really map the keys in your brain otherwise you'll lose time on the breaking zones, corner exits and maybe this time overtake deployment as well and this may lose you some time around 5-10 seconds which is very much time in Formula 1.
So in short, if you wanna just play and race keyboards are just fine. If you will invest some time in this game, still, start with keyboard then buying a controller instinct will come eventually. Hope this helps.
Cheers! :)

[Cave Vale]

In an absolute sense, yes, you can drive even with a keyboard, the game has the option.
Practically, no, you're not driving, you're just giving to the car some general indications about speed and trajectory; it's like driving with the autopilot enabled.
The keyboard works with an ON/OFF input, consequently, you can't control the car without a massive assistance: The AI will turn, accelerate, decelerate, control the traction for you, etc..
In my opinion, buying a controller you will have a more fun experience.

[Maya-Neko]

On a scale from 0 to 10 it's propaby:
Wheel: 10
Controller: 8
keyboard: 1

It's not unplayable, but the time you've to put into it to get decently good is propably enough to master 10 other games in the same time.

[Dagný]

If you only want offline fun, go for it
You're gonna need full assist on traction control, but you can play against 70ish AI just fine

[Tech Enthusiast]

As someone that bought a controller for F1 Games:
Don't expect it to be THAT much better than a keyboard.

Yes, in theory you can use the sticks to get your car to "only slightly turn", but in reality? The stick has so little travel that you will be hard pressed to make fine adjustments in fast corners.
Long streched corners that are almost a straight? Sure, with a little practice. But the one thing that makes a wheel just flat out better is being able to fine tune the wheel movement (duh!).

But yes: A controller is better for driving, also for the menu actions tbh. The game feels pretty bad with a keyboard all around. So even tho I barly notice the difference in the situations I need it most, the controller is still used 100% of the time anyways.

[mcgeehe]

I would not recomend playing this game with the keyboard, a gamepad should be used if a wheel is not an option, and of the gamepads Xbox One is the best choice.

Best advice is to set the steering linearity to 50 and learn to be very light with steering, throttle and brake inputs. Also use the rumble feature for the triggers if you have an Xbox One gamepad, it's a game changer.

Once you get the hang of it this game is extremely drivable with a controller. Left trigger rumble = braking grip limit, right trigger rumble = acceleration grip limit, pad rumble = cornering grip limit.

[Maya-Neko]

Originally posted by Tech Enthusiast:

As someone that bought a controller for F1 Games:
Don't expect it to be THAT much better than a keyboard.

Yes, in theory you can use the sticks to get your car to "only slightly turn", but in reality? The stick has so little travel that you will be hard pressed to make fine adjustments in fast corners.
Long streched corners that are almost a straight? Sure, with a little practice. But the one thing that makes a wheel just flat out better is being able to fine tune the wheel movement (duh!).

Not just in theory, but also in practice. There are techniques to make it way easier to be more precise, which you propably would've known about, if you really would've tried to learn it.

So unless you're disabled in some way and can't do small movements with your fingers, it's not that hard to get precise enough to play at 90+ difficulty with like 50-100 hours of training. The difference between a keyboard and a controller is significantly bigger than the difference between controller and wheel. The driving style and basic knowledge about racecraft is more important here than picking wheel over controller for propably 99% of the players. It's the feel and the comfort, which makes the biggest difference for most players, not their potential on different input devices (because lets be real: Most players doesn't really play enough to make a wheel worth it in terms of being more competitive).

[Tech Enthusiast]

To be frank here: Playing on 90 is not exactly something you need training for with a controller.
Hell, I barly use the stick to fine tune the wheel movement and just turned up to 95 to get a challange.

My text was not about any AI difficulties tho.
I just pointed out that the difference is not as big as one might think. A controller is better than a keyboard, but you won't even come close to a wheel with it.

[Massa.88]

As far i know my friend playing with keyboard and he do not Have any problems,also normaly is faster than me playing on controller