Fix F1 22 Crashing, Crash at Startup, Won’t Start, and Not Launching

F1 22 is a great game and a yearly title that thousands of players wait for. But, historically, the game has always had problems on mid and low-range PCs. Similarly, with this title, players are already reporting F1 22 crashing and crash at startup during the Early Access. The game releases on the 1st July, but players who ordered the Deluxe Edition get to play early on the 3 days early. If you have been experiencing launch problems with the game, this guide would help you resolve the problem. 

Fix F1 22 Crashing on PC

Before we start with the solutions we suggest that you ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements to play the game. F1 22 is a demanding game, so unless you are on a high-end PC, keep the setting of the game at default. Only meddle with the settings one at a time after spending some time on the game. With that cleared up, here are the solutions to fix F1 22 crashing on PC.

1. Get the latest driver
   • The first solution is the most obvious and should be your modus operandi as a gamer. The game is likely crashing as you do not have the latest GPU driver software. Both Nvidia and AMD release new GPU driver with day-one support for new games. GeForce Game Ready Driver Version 516.59 supports F1 22, so ensure that you have installed the latest software.  
2. Verify Integrity of game files
   • If your game is crashing mid-game, a possible cause could be corrupt or missing game files. Steam has a quick and easy way to verify and repair the game files.
   • To perform the repair, go to Steam Library > right-click on F1 22 > Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity of game files.
3. Disable Steam Overlay
   • The Steam Overlay is a great feature, but not an essential feature to play any game. The feature is known to crash games at startup or mid-game. Try disabling the Steam Overlay and the F1 22 may stop crashing.
   • Go to Steam Library > right-click on F1 2021 > Properties > General > uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
4. Change Nvidia Control Panel Settings
   • Here are some settings that we suggest to get more performance from the GPU. The GPU may not be providing enough power or may be unstable that’s causing the crash. The below settings should help.
   • Right-click on the desktop and choose Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D settings > Program Settings > F1 22.
   • Change the below settings:
     • Image sharpening- Off
     • Low latency mode – Off
     • Power Management- Prefer maximum performance
     • Texture filtering – Quality – Performance
     • Threaded optimization – On
5. Uninstall the DLC if Any
   • If you have installed any DLC for the game and the crash started to occur after installing the DLC, which may be the cause. Simply uninstall the DLC, Verify integrity of game files, and try to play the game, the error should not occur.

Here are some solutions that have worked for individual users. They are not guaranteed to fix the issue for you as different systems may have different issues, but we thought we would put it out there.

1. Reinstall Windows – A drastic solution that most players would not want to try, but it’s fixed such issues in the past.
2. F1 22 crashes when loading into races may indicate a problem with the game files. The fix that’s worked for some users is to Verify the integrity of game files. Also, turning Texture Streaming from Graphics Settings to High fixed the problem for a few user.
3. If you are on the latest GPU driver for F1 22, try to revert back to older ones.

Fix Crashing on PlayStation

For players on PS4 or PS5, if you are experiencing a crash with the game, rebuilding the database is a known solution. We will update other solutions as we keep track of the F1 22 crashing problem on PS4 and PS5. If you know of a better solution, share them in the comments.  

Fix F1 22 Crash at Startup, Won’t Start, and Not Launching

Solutions 1, 2, and 3 also apply to the game if F1 22 is crashing at startup, won’t launch, or is not loading. Besides those solutions, there is a range of other solutions you can try to fix the problem.

1. Start the game in a clean boot environment
   • We start the game in a clean boot environment because it eliminates a few potential causes of the game crashing at startup such as third party software interfering with the game’s process, third-party software consuming too many resources on the PC, etc. Here are the steps you can follow to perform the clean boot.
     • Press Windows Key + R and type msconfig, hit Enter
     • Go to the Services tab
     • Check Hide all Microsoft services
     • Now, click Disable all
     • Go to the Startup tab and click on Open Task Manager
     • Disable one task at a time and restart the system.
2. Do not overclock
   • Overclocking is bad and causes crashes in games because it makes the CPU/GPU unstable. An instable GPU would crash all the current operation as it cannot provide the required resources by the game. So, if F1 2021 crash at startup is happening, it may likely be because of the overclocking. Sometimes the Intel Turbo boost can also crash game, so disable that as well. 
3. Whitelist the game in your antivirus
   • If your antivirus or the Windows Defender is blocking the files of the game from being executed as it’s detecting the game or part of it as malware, it will crash the game. The fix for it is to whitelist the game on your respective virus and malware protection. 
4. Lower the graphics settings using the config files
   • If the settings of the game is too high that the resources of your PC are failing to render that may be causing the crash. Locate the F1 22 config files and reduce the settings or disable some things. We will do a guide on the best settings for F1 22, so lookout for that. We will link the post here so you can check this page as well.

At the time of writing, there are the solutions we know may help to fix the F1 22 crashing problem on PC, PS4, and PS5, but we will update the post when the game releases with more effective solutions if there are any bugs with the game that’s causing the crash.  

F1 2020 Crashing Issues (Solutions from past year title) Published 10 July 2020

With the onset of the new title the F1 2020, users are experiencing a range of errors that’s neither uncommon with the F1 titles nor with other titles released in the recent past. The errors users are experiencing are F1 2020 game crash, F1 2020 crashes mid-game, and F1 2020 DirectX 12 crash. The cause of all the errors are the same or similar and can range from Overlay in software, an unstable DirectX 12, an old operating system, your system not complying with the minimum requirements, or corrupted game files.

Besides the other cause, under some cases, we have observed the F1 2020 crash can also arise when the user has not provided the game admin privilege when the Firewall or the third-party antivirus is blocking some functions of the game, and the hard drive has bad sectors. To effectively resolve F1 2020 from crashing at startup or mid-game, you should address the above issues.

I suggest you try the fixes we suggest one at a time and between each fix, try to run the game and check if the error occurs. If it does, return to the guide and try the next fix. For this, you can bookmark this page. Let’s proceed with the first fix.

Fix 1: Disable Steam Overlay

The first fix you must try is to disable the Steam Overlay. It has been noted that the Steam Overlay does not pair well with the game. You can disable the Steam overlay with global settings for all games or just for F1 2020. Here are the steps to disable Overlay for the game.

1. Launch Steam client
2. Click on Library and right-click on F1 2020
3. Select Properties and uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.

Close Steam and check if the F1 2020 in-game crash or crash at startup still occurs.

Fix 2: Disable MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner causes issues with the game and it has also for the last installment the F1 2019. Therefore, you must close the MSI Afterburner from the Task Manager. If you cannot do without the software, consider playing the game on DirectX 11.

Fix 3: Update the Graphics Driver or Roll Back

If you have not updated the graphics driver for a while, visit the official website of the graphics card manufacture and download the latest update copy. Do not update using the GeForce Experience, uninstall the current driver, download a new copy, and install. Now, check if the error still occurs.  

If you have already updated the drier and the F1 2020 crash started after the update, you can roll-back the driver to the previous version. Here are the steps:

1. Press Windows Key + X and select Device Manager
2. Expand Display adapters, and right-click on the dedicated graphics card and select Properties
3. Go to the Driver tab
4. Click on Roll Back Driver

Fix 4: Play F1 2020 on DirectX 11

If the F1 2020 Game Crashes at Startup, Crashes Mid-game, and DirectX 12 Crash is not fixed using the above fixes, you can try and run the game on DirectX 11. Here is how you can force the game to start with DirectX 11.

1. Lunch Steam > Library > F1 2020
2. Right-click on F1 2020 and select Properties
3. Click on Set launch Options and type -force-d3d11
4. Click Ok to save changes.

Fix 5: Disable Shader Cache

For Nvidia users, you can disable the Shader Cache which is known to crash F1 2020. Here are the steps to disable Shader Cache from the Nvidia Control panel.

1. Right-click on Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel
2. Expand 3D Settings > Manage 3D settings > Program Settings
3. Click Add and select F1 2020
4. Under Specify the settings for this program, locate Shader Cache and select Off.

Check if the F1 2020 Game Crashes at Startup, Crashes Mid-game, and DirectX 12 Crash errors still occur. If they do, try the next fix.

If you are experiencing F1 2020 stuttering problem or performance issues, you can refer our other post. The post also details on the optimum settings for the game.

Fix 6: Verify Integrity of Game Files

If the game itself is corrupted that could also lead to crash at startup or mid-game crash with F1 2020. Here are the steps to check and repair corrupt files on Steam.

1. Launch the Steam client
2. From the LIBRARY, right-click on F1 2020 and select Properties
3. Go to LOCAL FILES and click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES…

Fix 7: Remove Bad Sectors from the HHD

If you have bad sectors on your HDD, it could also be causing the crash. Although you could correct the corruption in the file system via CHKDSK on Command Prompt, here is a simple alternative.

1. Right-click on C drive or the partition where you have installed the game and the launcher.
2. Select Properties and go to Tools
3. Click on Check and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. Try playing the game.
4. After the process completes, the window will auto-exit.

Now, try playing the game and check if F1 2020 crashing error still occurs.

The above steps should resolve the crashing problem under most circumstances. If they do not, try addressing other causes we highlighted at the start of the post. If you have a more effective solution let us know in the comments.