The 1990s throwback continues: Immersion Modding Group have released their 1993 Formula One Season Pack for Automobilista 2, adding authentic liveries, helmets and more to the F-HiTech Gen 2 cars.
When Reiza Studios added the two generations of F-HiTech cars in late 2023, fans were surprised - the cars representative of the 1992 and 1993 seasons seemingly came out of nowhere. For the first time ever in sim racing, Active Suspension is simulated in-depth, and the single-seaters sport numerous other electronic gizmos.
Of course, that meant that @Immersion Modding Group had two more challenges to try and recreate. Their 1992 Season Pack for the first gen of F-HiTech cars was released in February 2024, and now, the 1993 Season Pack follows suit.
The early 1990s saw rapid advances in technology in Formula One. Gone were the days of cars with two or three buttons on their steering wheels and H-shifters - instead, by 1993, Active Suspension, Traction Control, ABS, Launch Control and even fully automatic gearboxes marked the pinnacle of development.
No team mastered these systems better than Williams-Renault. While they were the team to beat in 1992 already with eventual World Champion Nigel Mansell in the cockpit, they were in a league of their own in 1993. A returning Alain Prost took his fourth and final title with ease, eventuall finishing the season 26 points clear of Ayrton Senna in the inferior McLaren MP4/8.
For Estoril, IndyCar legend Michael Andretti was replaced by Mika Häkkinen at McLaren - and the Finn immediately impressed.
More scenarios could be on their way, too. The McLaren features an "ExtraSkins" folder, which contains liveries for Donington and Hockenheim in addition to those from Interlagos and Suzuka, which are used for the early and late season scenarios, respectively. Maybe track-specific liveries and driver line-ups could be added in the near future.
While the real championship battle was not really exciting, the 1993 season still was an interesting one in other aspects. Scuderia Italia, after years of running Dallara cars, were now aligned with Lola and even had Ferrari engines at their disposal - but failed to deliver and folded before the season ended. Sauber made its F1 debut with Ilmor engines (and "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" written on their engine covers), fielding Karl Wendlinger and JJ Lehto.
Sauber made a decent debut with Karl Wendlinger (pictured) and JJ Lehto in 1993.
Meanwhile, Jordan reestablished the promising form it had shown in 1991 but lost in 1992, and Benetton continued its rise to top team status with Michael Schumacher being on the podium in evey race he finished - a feat not even Senna or Prost managed to achieve.
Memorable races include the legendary European Grand Prix at Donington, in which Senna went from fifth right after the start to the lead in damp conditions in just the first lap. Damon Hill took his first F1 victory in Hungary after retiring from the lead in both of the previous races. Häkkinens McLaren debut in Portugal made headlines as the Finn outqualified Senna. The Brazilian took the final two victories of his career in Japan and Australia to close out the season.
For an overview of the tracks available, check out our Ultimate AMS2 F1 Season Guide - which is in for an update soon!
What are your impressions of the 1993 Season Pack by @Immersion Modding Group? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
When Reiza Studios added the two generations of F-HiTech cars in late 2023, fans were surprised - the cars representative of the 1992 and 1993 seasons seemingly came out of nowhere. For the first time ever in sim racing, Active Suspension is simulated in-depth, and the single-seaters sport numerous other electronic gizmos.
Of course, that meant that @Immersion Modding Group had two more challenges to try and recreate. Their 1992 Season Pack for the first gen of F-HiTech cars was released in February 2024, and now, the 1993 Season Pack follows suit.
The early 1990s saw rapid advances in technology in Formula One. Gone were the days of cars with two or three buttons on their steering wheels and H-shifters - instead, by 1993, Active Suspension, Traction Control, ABS, Launch Control and even fully automatic gearboxes marked the pinnacle of development.
No team mastered these systems better than Williams-Renault. While they were the team to beat in 1992 already with eventual World Champion Nigel Mansell in the cockpit, they were in a league of their own in 1993. A returning Alain Prost took his fourth and final title with ease, eventuall finishing the season 26 points clear of Ayrton Senna in the inferior McLaren MP4/8.
For Estoril, IndyCar legend Michael Andretti was replaced by Mika Häkkinen at McLaren - and the Finn immediately impressed.
XML Selector Included
With the release of the 1993 pack, sim racers can now try and stop the Williams dominance while looking the part - and against a full grid of 1993 AI drivers as well. The pack comes with car liveries, driver overalls and helmets, custom AI files, and an XML scenario selector like IMG recently introduced for their 1991 pack already. For now, it only changes the second McLaren driver from Michael Andretti to Mika Häkkinen, like it happened from Portugal onwards in 1993.More scenarios could be on their way, too. The McLaren features an "ExtraSkins" folder, which contains liveries for Donington and Hockenheim in addition to those from Interlagos and Suzuka, which are used for the early and late season scenarios, respectively. Maybe track-specific liveries and driver line-ups could be added in the near future.
While the real championship battle was not really exciting, the 1993 season still was an interesting one in other aspects. Scuderia Italia, after years of running Dallara cars, were now aligned with Lola and even had Ferrari engines at their disposal - but failed to deliver and folded before the season ended. Sauber made its F1 debut with Ilmor engines (and "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" written on their engine covers), fielding Karl Wendlinger and JJ Lehto.
Sauber made a decent debut with Karl Wendlinger (pictured) and JJ Lehto in 1993.
Meanwhile, Jordan reestablished the promising form it had shown in 1991 but lost in 1992, and Benetton continued its rise to top team status with Michael Schumacher being on the podium in evey race he finished - a feat not even Senna or Prost managed to achieve.
Memorable races include the legendary European Grand Prix at Donington, in which Senna went from fifth right after the start to the lead in damp conditions in just the first lap. Damon Hill took his first F1 victory in Hungary after retiring from the lead in both of the previous races. Häkkinens McLaren debut in Portugal made headlines as the Finn outqualified Senna. The Brazilian took the final two victories of his career in Japan and Australia to close out the season.
Calendar Almost Complete
Naturally, period-correct tracks are important as well to recreate the 1993 season. Luckily, Automobilista 2 has all but two locations F1 raced at that year, the missing ones being Magny-Cours and the Hungaroring. Of the remaining 14 tracks that were on the schedule, ten have the accurate layouts available in AMS2, with the rest ranging from slight differences (Hockenheim, Suzuka) to significant changes (Kyalami, Monaco).For an overview of the tracks available, check out our Ultimate AMS2 F1 Season Guide - which is in for an update soon!
What are your impressions of the 1993 Season Pack by @Immersion Modding Group? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
