Video Game / Braking Point

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Braking Point is a narrative-driven story mode in the F1 racing game series (F1 2021, F1 23, and F1 25), allowing players to experience the world of Formula One through a fictional character's perspective. It focuses on the challenges, rivalries, and drama of racing at the highest level, both on and off the track.

In Braking Point 1, the story focuses on a young, aspiring British racer and rising star named Aiden Jackson who graduates and transitions to Formula One, and a mature and experienced Dutch veteran racer named Casper Akkerman, who struggles to keep up with the pace with the new generation drivers. The two try to tackle their struggles as a team throughout both 2020 and 2021 as they attempt to fight their way through the season, whilst beating their rival, Devon Butler.

In Braking Point 2, after failing to sign in either of the top teams, Aiden ends up signing for Konnersport Butler Global Racing Team, the 11th team of the 2022 and 2023 season, paired with his former rival Devon, with the latter's father, Davidoff providing both the funding and sponsorship, whilst 2022 rising star and female driver Callie Meyer dreams of being in the most prestigious single seater category, where she assumes the role as Aiden's new teammate. With the team's fate at stake, the two must tackle in finishing fifth or higher in the standings in order for Konnersport to survive.

In Braking Point 3, with the team back in traction, Aiden and Callie are in high hopes of bringing Konnersport for the title fight for both the Drivers' and Constructors' World Champions.

Troping Point:

• Action Dad: Casper Akkerman, a Badass Driver who has a loving family. He has a wife named Zoe and a daughter named Lily. After retiring in 2021, he eventually becomes the new team principal of Konnersport, following Andreo Konner stepping down from his position. After being sacked by Devon Butler in Braking Point 3, he gets to feel the harmony of spending time with his family at his own home.
• Action Girl: Callie Mayer, the first female F2 champion, joins Konnersport in the premier level of formula racing for the 2023 season.
• Anachronism Stew: If you choose AlphaTauri as your team, Brian Doyle would already wear the namesake team's clothing during the 2019 Yas Marina F2 feature race^note which is held at December 1, 2019 It would still be called Scuderia Toro Rosso at that time in Real Life, and wouldn't be officially rebranded until February 2020.
• Artistic License – History:
  • The first Braking Point takes place in the 2020 F1 season's original calendar prior to the sudden change following the COVID-19 Pandemic. As a result, it ignores any of the events relating to the pandemic, and the championship is held on relative normality. For example, the Marina Bay, Melbourne, Montreal, and Suzuka circuits all feature in the game as originally intended in the calendar, despite the cancellation of these races in real life due to the pandemic. Even more egregious is the street circuit in Vietnam, which never even came to fruition!
    • On a related note, in the real 2023 season, the Emilia-Romagna GP was cancelled (and fairly last-minute at that) due to severe flooding in the region. In Braking Point 2's depiction of the season, the flooding never happens, the race goes ahead as planned, and is the site of Devon Butler's career ending crash.
  • The player is given a choice of one of five teams for Jackson to drive for in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, between mid to back of pack teams Alfa Romeo, Williams, AlphaTauri, Haas and Racing Point (later Aston Martin). Depending on which team you choose, Jackson and Akkerman will fill both seats in the team in place of whatever drivers filled them in real life (replacing Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi in the canon Alfa Romeo route, for instance), with one of the other teams' drivers being replaced by Devon Butler (canonically, AlphaTauri, whom he replaces Daniil Kvyat in 2020 and Yuki Tsunoda in 2021). This gets mitigated in Braking Point 2, where Jackson, Butler and later Mayer signed with Konnersport, the 11th team, upping the grid to 22 drivers.
  • Casper Akkerman revealed to Aiden Jackson after the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix that he told Brian Doyle regarding his retirement after the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix. This is what he'd involuntarily announce to Aiden following the 2021 Canadian Grand Prix, which followed after the aforementioned Dutch GP. The 2021 calendar shows that the Canadian Grand Prix is placed first before the Dutch, both being 3 months apart, only if the former weren't cancelled.
  • Braking Point sticks to the original roster, even if they didn't include mid-season driver changes, apart from Callie Meyer making her mid-season debut after replacing Devon Butler. While F1 23 was released on June 16, 2023, a month before Daniel Riccardo replaced Nyck de Vries for the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 23, F1 25 did not incorporate this, with Logan Sargeant being present in the entire 2024 season, despite Franco Colapinto replacing him at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. In 2025, it's shown that Liam Lawson is in Red Bull for the entire season, despite only driving in his first two races for the team before being demoted to Racing Bulls from there on, swapping roles with Yuki Tsunoda.
• Artistic License – Sports:
  • Neither of the drivers (whether Devon or Casper) receive warnings or penalties for causing a collision or a wipeout. Averted for Devon's end during the aftermath of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP as he's accused for his actions.
  • The collision between Callie Meyer and Liam Lawson during the 2025 British Grand Prix, where both got beached at the gravel trap, should immediately cause a red flag to be waved out, which doesn't happen in-game.
• Ascended Extra: While Red Bull are recurring foes, Braking Point 3 sees this getting a spotlight, being Konnorsport's rivals for the title fight, with Max Verstappen and either Sergio Pérez or Liam Lawson trying to hold off Aiden Jackson and Callie Meyer. And there is also one moment when Ferrari's Charles Leclerc did a late-braking divebomb on Verstappen during the final race in Abu Dhabi in 2025, ruining his pace and his chances.
• Badass Driver: It's natural in Formula One. But what goes amongst them all are the main characters behind the wheel: those are Aiden Jackson, Casper Akkerman, Devon Butler and Callie Meyer, who kick a lot of ass and does a lot of heroic drives from any worst-case scenario.
• Benevolent Boss:
  • Brian Doyle, the team's principal for the team you chose for, who looks after Aiden and Casper throughout the season. He'd mostly look up for the former as he pushes him to be the star player of the team, giving pit priorities and a Mid-Season Upgrade for his car.
  • Then comes Andreo Konner of Konnersport, who'd keep his personnel at check. Casper Akkerman steps up as the new team principal to keep watch of Konnersport after Andreo is gone following 2022's poor performance.
  • Downplayed and Zigzagged for Devon Butler, after taking over the team and business after his father Davidoff passed away, as he becomes a Mean Boss from firing Casper Akkerman to pressuring the team in strategies that'll help secure the Constructors title, to being just an egoistic jerk who cares about himself. When his sister Callie called him out and had a little talk, he gets better and better.
• Big Bad: Devon Butler in Braking Point, the primary antagonist. He'd make a Heel–Face Return and the deuteragonist for Braking Point 2 upon joining Konnersport, pairing with Aiden Jackson, much to his chagrin.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • In Braking Point, the team manages to secure 4th place following Aiden's 3rd place finish at Abu Dhabi in 2021, an has hopes of being signed in either of the three big teams (Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull), with him burying the hatchet with Casper, who retired at the end of the 2021 season, bidding his farewell to the team.
  • In Braking Point 2, Konnersport failed to finish at the top standings, but at least thanks to Callie's performance, manages to finish in the top four, thus securing a sponsorship funding for Konnersport, while Casper secures his job as team principal.
  • And finally in Braking Point 3, either Aiden Jackson or Callie Mayer is crowned the 2025 World Champion, Konnersport wins the Constructors' title. It's a shame Davidoff Butler won't be there to congratulate either of the two due to his sudden passing from an unexplained illness.
• Big Fancy House: The Butler Estate, where Davidoff's office is located in, given that the Butlers are wealthy and have a family business. This is where he holds meetings with Andreo Konner and Casper Akkerman, as well as holding virtual meetings with the team.
• Bookends: Long story short, the Braking Point trilogy starts and ends at a race in Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
  • Braking Point starts and ends with a race at Yas Marina Circuit. During the beginning, Aiden is shown celebrating at the podium while Brian Doyle is shown applauding and giving a thumbs up to him, signalling his future seat for his team. The same is said at the end when Aiden (and Casper!) are celebrating at the podium, with the team principal either of the three top teams also doing the same gesture as Brian.^note Red Bull has Christian Horner, Ferrari has Mattia Binotto and Mercedes has Toto Wolff.
• Broken Ace: Despite earning his stripes in his younger years, Casper Akkerman struggles to find traction in the twilight of his career, upon noticing that Aiden is more favored from the team. From pit priorities, to being given the new Spec II engine for Italy 2020 instead of him.
• But Now I Must Go: Both Aiden and Casper would leave the team after Abu Dhabi in 2021. The latter would negotiate a contract for either Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes (which didn't happen as he ended up in Konnersport for 2022), and Casper would retire from the sport for good.
• Butt-Monkey: Poor Aiden, you'd feel sorry for the aspiring driver who has gone into a lot of unfortunate moments, such as getting frequently rammed on the track, to suffering a puncture in his home GP at Silverstone, to suffering a poor performance in the first half of 2021, and having to retire the car several times as a Konnersport driver.
• Call-Back:
  • Devon losing focus and often being the Captain Crash in his tenure at Konnersport mirrors to the early years of Charles Leclerc, especially his 2019 Azerbaijan qualifying and his major crash at the 2022 French Grand Prix.
  • The crash at the 2020 Mexico City Grand Prix, where Aiden and Casper take each other out, as Brian Doyle furiously reprimanded the two for their ineptitude references to the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry, where they crashed three times that Toto Wolff could not tolerate the two coming together any further.
  • The nasty collision between Callie Mayer and Liam Lawson at the Copse corner during the 2025 British Grand Prix mirrors to how Lewis Hamilton took out Max Verstappen at the same Grand Prix in 2021, at the same corner.
• Captain Crash: While everyone crashes at the worst circumstances possible, like the notorious 2020 Mexico City Grand Prix that took Aiden and Casper out, Devon Butler is probably the worst. He'd rather be in a demolition derby than an F1 race as he divebombs his car, usually on either Aiden or Casper, and has a frequency of crashing out during his tenure in Konnersport, one that leads to his Career-Ending Injury, combined with being diagnosed with tinnitus.
• Chekhov's Skill: Remember when told Devon not to push the car at the beginning of Braking Point 2 only for him to push? Devon, as a team liaison does the same method to Callie Meyer during the final race at Abu Dhabi 2023, encouraging her to take it easy on the car, but only for her to do the opposite. This time, it pays off, with Callie finishing 4th, enough for Konnersport to finish 5th and secure a deal for the funding from Butler Global for future seasons.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Butler Global, a company owned by Davidoff Butler, Devon's father which sponsors Konnersport. What makes this trope qualify is when Callie calls Davidoff out when he was Only in It for the Money. That is when Davidoff passes the torch to his son Devon in Braking Point 3, following his tragic passing as he inherits both the company and his egoistic persona.
• Dialogue Tree: Happens after a Grand Prix at times, where Aiden, Casper, Devon or Callie partake a post-race interview and you choose a response from the interviewer's question.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: There's no need to come in first place to progress through the story as each chapter's objective are quite easy to achieve. Many of those are to just simply reach a certain place within a certain lap (usually a mid-pack position) or not let a certain rival pass you. Subverted by the time of Braking Point 3, as objectives become harder, with many requiring you to achieve at least a podium or even win a race.
• Down to the Last Play:
  • It all comes down at the 2019 Abu Dhabi F2 race when Aiden Jackson is locked against Nyck de Vries for the title fight during the beginning of Braking Point. Aiden manages to beat him at the finish line, netting him the championship title.
  • The battle between Konnersport and Red Bull during Braking Point 3 for the Constructors' title at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull's chances of winning the title gets thrown away when Charles Leclerc ruined Max Verstappen's pace when he undercuts him, allowing either Aiden or Callie to slip through the accident.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After going through years of being in the mid-pack, facing several mechanical problems and lots of Teeth-Clenched Teamwork, Braking Point 3, finally sees Aiden Jackson or Callie Mayer being crowned the 2025 World Champion, as Konnersport wins the Constructors' title.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The first Braking Point has as a few things that weren't present in its two sequels:
  • As with a very linear narrative with No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom, each chapter only has one simple objective in order to progress through the story.
  • The post-race interview Dialogue Tree do absolutely nothing, as oppose to its sequels where a certain choice may affect the reputation and performance between the team and the press.
  • Devon Butler being the primary antagonist before moving to be one of the protagonists in later installments.
• Feeling Their Age: That's the characteristic of Casper Akkerman, a veteran F1 driver, feels like he's going past his prime as he struggles to keep up with the pace against a wave of new generation drivers like Aiden Jackson.
• Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: The highest at its breaking point is when a tension at the paddock between Aiden and Casper at the 2021 Canadian Grand Prix, where it becomes more physical, that it took their team's engineer and Esteban Ocon to break the two from fighting.
• Friendly Scheming: During Braking Point 3, Aiden Jackson teams up with Andreo Konner in scamming an important meeting for Devon Butler and Callie Mayer, as a way for them reconcile and work together. And it worked, with Devon taking the fall for it.
  Devon: You played me, Andreo. That meeting between me & Cal. You were never gonna attend. I realised just now - it was a scam.
  Andreo: I told you, I got held up.
  Devon: It's very uncharacteristic of you, Andreo. You're not the scheming type.
  Andreo: Devon, I have no idea what you're saying.
  Devon: Yeah, yeah, yah. What am I missing here? OK, who put you up to this? I... I need to know what's going om. Oh my god. Jackson. It was Jackson, wasn't it?! That little piece of-
  Andreo: Woahwowowow OK - now look. Maybe... maybe we schemed a little bit... isn't that straight out of the Butler playbook? You need to talk to each other.
  Devon: Argh, God you're annoying... especially when you're right.
  Andreo: I'm always right, Devon. Even when I'm wrong.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • No matter if you win several Grands Prix, cutscenes will always show that you're barely scraping and struggling throughout the season.
  • In Braking Point 2, even if you choose your desired team from the previous story, the game's opening catch-up shows that Aiden Jackson and Casper Akkerman are racing for Alfa Romeo.
• George Jetson Job Security: As soon as Devon Butler took over the business and the team, the first action he did was to dismiss Casper from his duties as team principal. That was during the final stages of the 2024 season, where Devon summons Andreo Konner to temporarilty take his position.
• Glory Seeker: For Braking Point 3, Konnersport aims for the challenge in attempts for winning the World Championship. The 2024 season missed it by chance when Max Verstappen was crowned the champion, but in 2025, either Aiden or Callie manages to become the champion of the world.
• Handicapped Badass: In Braking Point 2, despite being diagnosed with tinnitus, Devon returns back on the track as the team's liaison, aiding both Aiden and Callie to be Determinators during the race.
• Heel–Face Return: Devon Butler, that Smug Snake bastard acts as both The Rival of Aiden Jackson and Casper Akkerman, and the first Braking Point's Big Bad. He'd return in Braking Point 2 as one of the main protagonists, pairing with his teammate Aiden at Konnersport, much to the latter's dismay.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Aiden gets into his own anxious breaking point after the argument in Canada 2021 when his actions caused Casper to involuntarily announce his retirement, causing this to go viral on social media with Aiden losing a good chunk of his fans, thinking Aiden is to be blamed for.
    Aiden: I'm sorry, Casper, I do respect you. Quite a lot, in fact, and I don't want you to retire. I don't want you to retire. I didn't mean the things that I said, and I want you to know that if you're retiring because of me, I'll...
    Brian: Will you tell him? This anxiety - it's no good for his performance.
  • Devon get his own BSoD after the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix when he finds out that his father Davidoff passed away.
• Heroic Resolve: No matter the problem Aiden, Casper, Devon or Callie has encountered, whether if its a puncture, a gearbox issue or a damaged front wing, they will still fight their way to the points position, or even at the podium, after starting at the near-back of the grid.
• Jerk Jock: Devon Butler, big time. He's a smug prick who take potshots at Aiden Jackson or Casper Akkerman during races, indulging in Unnecessary Roughness and having such an egotistic attitude. Though sequels has his redeeming qualities, making him more or less a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Large-Ham Announcer: As usual, Braking Point features David "Crofty" Croft. He'd go the extra mile of speaking at the top of his lungs during crucial points of the race, usually during in-game cinematics.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After spending most of the time delighting himself in sparking tensions between Aiden and Casper, even by ramming, Devon gets his just desserts when he attempts to ram Casper off the track during Abu Dhabi 2021, only for him to terminally wreck himself at the barriers. The post-credits shows in the news feed that Devon was charged by the stewards for his dangerous and unlawful actions.
• Manipulative Bastard: Devon, the ringleader behind manipulating Aiden and Casper in sparking tensions with each other.
• Multiple Endings: Braking Point 3 allows you to choose either Aiden or Callie on who will become the 2025 Formula One World Champion, which determines the final ending.
• My Nayme Is: For a surname variant.
  • The Akkerman family (Casper, Zoe and Lily) is a Dutch name derived from the usual "Ackerman", an uncommon surname used in many of its other media that depicts the name.
  • Andreo's surname Konner is an Irish variant of the typical "Connor".
• Never My Fault: Happens several times throughout Braking Point whenever Aiden or Casper can't admit their mistakes;
  • Aiden's maiden race 2020 at Melbourne went rock bottom when he refuses to admit to Casper that it was his fault, even if Devon is the mastermind behind this three-wide mess, and puts the blame on Aiden.
    Aiden: Casper, listen... I don't know what happened out there. It wasn't my fault!
    Casper: Well whose fault was it then? Who was the idiot behind the wheel of your car? Hm? (scoffs) You're pathetic. Won't even admit when you made a mistake.
    Aiden: I'm—
    Casper: How did they ever sign you?!
  • Then comes in the Chinese Grand Prix when Casper forces Aiden off the road and doesn't take full responsibility. Even Aiden's mom during a phone call stated how on earth Casper didn't even get a penalty for that.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: Oh boy, Braking Point has more job security issues than what you think of George Jetson.
  • Casper Akkerman was a racing driver at first for Braking Point. After retiring in 2021, he becomes Callie Meyer's coach for the 2022 F2 season, and moves to be appointed as the new team principal of Konnersport for the 2023 season, following Andreo Konner stepping down from his position. Then Devon chose to fire him after becoming the owner of both Konnersport and Butler Global.
  • Devon Butler on the other hand was a racing driver for nearly four seasons... then became the team liaison for Konnersport, then assumes the new role as owner of Butler Global and the team, then decides to let Andreo take the role as he chose to be the team principal instead.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Many of the characters bare resemblance and inspiration to Real Life racing drivers;
  • Aiden Jackson is blatantly Jack Aitken, a British F2 racer. Both share similarities, where both are of Asian ancestry and carry the #89 number.
  • Casper Akkerman is essentially a fictionalized copy of Kimi Räikkönen, known for being aloof at worst.
  • Callie Meyer is essentially an Expy to Jamie Chadwick, a successful female British driver who won all 3 seasons of the now-defunct W Series. Chadwick herself also did assistance with the development of Braking Point 2.
  • Devon Butler's father Davidoff, who funds his son's F1 career mirrors to Lawrence Stroll, who'd invest millions for his son Lance for a seat in F1.
• Old Friend: It's revealed that Casper Akkerman and Andreo Konner are close friends who knew each other for a long time.
• Pop the Tires: Aiden suffers a puncture during the 2020 British Grand Prix, his home Grand Prix where local fans are cheering for him. He also suffered a puncture during the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
• Pun-Based Title: The title is a reference to both the well-known concept of "breaking point" and to "braking point", an actual concept in driving that refers to the point where someone has to brake their vehicle before taking a curve.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Aiden and Casper's team principal Brian Doyle gets to his braking point— er.... "breaking point" when he was fed up with the two bickering with each other on the track at the cost of putting their hopes of the 2020 season to waste.
    Brian: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE?!! ...We've invested millions in you two. MILLIONS... and look at you both - acting like.... Like a couple of school kids! (to Aiden) You've got a LOT to prove this year, boy - and you're swanning around, like butter wouldn't melt... (to Casper) ...and as for you. You should know better. I'm disgusted. You should both be ashamed.
    Aiden: Brian, I—
    Brian: Not a word... not a SINGLE word. I should fire you both, right here and now. You've screwed our chances this season. The team is bigger than just you two, and your petty squabbles. Grow up! And more and you're BOTH out - you hear me?! I'll finish the season behind the wheel myself, if I have to.
  • Devon gets his own breaking point when an untimely end of his F1 career following the crash at Emilia-Romagna 2023 has him storm back in his room and throw a frustratingly pissed-off meltdown, throwing and kicking his stuff around. At least Casper was there to calm him down.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Casper during the 2021 Canadian Grand Prix, when Jeff orders him to let Aiden pass. Casper refuses so believing that Aiden is not faster than him.
• The Smurfette Principle: Callie Meyer shocks the world as the first and only female driver of the modern era, in an Always Male roster.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: In Braking Point 3, Davidoff has to leave for another business trip. But on July 28, 2024, after the Belgian Grand Prix when Callie celebrates her race victory, Devon killed the moment when he told to her that Davidoff suddenly passed away, much to her unsurprising shock. Aiden in an interview reveals that he kept his illness secret from the team.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The primary story of Braking Point when two sides representing a team don't get along. First is in the first Braking Point when Aiden Jackson and Casper Akkerman struggle to get traction across the 2020 season as they argue with each other, or even resort to taking each other out. Then Braking Point 2 has Aiden having to deal with his vitriolic teammates Devon Butler, then Callie Mayer. Braking Point 3 now focuses on a Sibling Rivalry between the latter two.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Aiden Jackson maybe a Nice Guy, but as Braking Point 2 goes through, he starts to become more irate and arrogant, as "he was too good for the team" and has a bigger attitude problem. Given that he wanted to sign for the 'Big Three' teams so he can have the glory for himself. It takes that redeemable smug Devon Butler to humble him back to his old Aiden everybody once knew. Oh, how the tables have turned.
  Devon: You think you're better than the team. I remember, I remember when Aiden Jackson was just, just happy to be behind the wheel of an F1 car. And we all liked that guy far better than this one.
  Aiden: You never liked me.
  Devon: (sigh) No, but Casper did. Once upon a time— Nah, you're different now - you think you're too good for the team. Your head's stuck in some imaginary 'Big Three' seat in cloud cuckoo land, mate. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. You have got to drive the car you're in.
  Aiden: You're lecturing me about ego?
  Devon: A subject I know well.
  Aiden: Oh, right, I get it. So you're allowed to be cocky but I'm not. Is that it?
  Devon: There's a difference.
  Aiden: How can there possible be a difference??
  Devon: This isn't you. [gets closer to Aiden] This isn't you, mate.
  Aiden: Oh, get lost! 'Be true to myself'? 'Drive the car I'm in'? The wisdom of Devon Butler! Should I be 'living my best life' too?
  Devon: (sigh) Just drive the car you're in mate, yeah? Ciao.
• Trade Your Passion for Glory: That is what Aiden wants to be after being fed up driving for Konnersport with a crappy car that can't deliver the results.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Downplayed, as the team Aiden and Casper drives for (in either of the bottom 5 teams of 2021) would eventually push for 4th in the constructors, which they eventually did in the final race at Abu Dhabi. Finally played straight for Braking Point 3, as Konnersport, soldiers their way from their struggles through the 2025 season, going from a mid-pack team from its past years to being the Constructors' champions.
• Unnecessary Roughness: Braking Point seems to stir up some drama with characters turning Formula One into a demolition derby, with basically either of them would Car Fu at each other, and deliberately not receive a penalty.
• World Tour: Just like a regular Formula One calendar, the characters race through various Grands Prix from around the world.
• You Are in Command Now: Following Davidoff's sudden death from his illness, his will states that Devon is now becomes the new owner of Butler Global.
  Davidoff: [in a pre-recorded video] Be a leader, Devon - the business is yours. I know you've got it in you.