The official licence means you'll find every team, driver line-up, car design and performance detail correct. All new track alterations for the 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship season - including the completely revamped and shortened German Grand Prix circuit are also included, giving you the most accurate recreation of Formula One ever released.

There are two ways to play. The Arcade mode is more easily accessible, and allows you greater leeway in how you can throw the car about through those tight Monaco Grand Prix streets or long, sweeping Japanese Grand Prix curves. This is the mode to choose if what you want is a quick blast.

If you're like most Formula One nuts, though, you'll be in it for the long haul and want to test your enthusiasm and knowledge - and, it goes without saying, your reflexes and driving skills - to the absolute limit. Simulation mode is the one for you, where unparalleled depth and incredible attention to detail draw you into one of the most immersive Formula One gaming experiences around.

Just like your millionaire driver rivals, you have testing and practice sessions with which to set your car up for the circuit. You'll perform minute adjustments to the car to tweak the maximum benefits from it, before splashing in the bare minimum of fuel and going flat out in qualifying, trying to shave fractions of a second from your lap times to get the best grid placing for the race itself. Finally the race comes around… you sit on the grid, sweating with your finger on the launch control button to time your start to perfection and hit the front in the flat-out sprint to the first corner; the lights come on in sequence; all around you engines scream out the revs…

The race itself is no mere thrash against identikit, computer drivers, either. As the race progresses, you'll notice that drivers mimic their real-life behaviour, with some more aggressive or reckless, while others are smarter or more cautious; some can be intimidated into moving over while others would rather lose their own wheels in a collision than let you through - all thanks to the extensive use of individual driver A.I. Even your pit crew and technical team is intelligent, making and adjusting decisions according to the circumstances of the race, based on unique parameters compiled by Formula One authorities.

The circuit details have been taken to new heights of accuracy, providing an unprecedented recreation of each Grand Prix venue. You'll hear the crowd roar as you flash through stadium sections. Realistic particle effects for tyre smoke, water and dust make every spin, downpour, misjudgement or coming-together a visual treat, whatever the outcome to you personally. An optional, in-game 50/60 Hz switch delivers intense racing action whatever your home entertainment set-up. And the complete Formula One experience is enhanced still further by the addition of pit-crews and podium celebrations, brought to life using the latest motion-capture technology.

The total tele-visual effect is completed by the inclusion of the official TV commentators, in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Finnish, featuring household names such as Martin Brundle and James Allen, Jacques Laffite, Pierre Van Vliet, Heiko Wasser and Christian Danner.