With its release just a month away, Formula 1 fans do not have to wait much longer to get in the virtual driver's seat and race along the real season in F1 23. Official games have not always been released during the season, however, and as a result, a PS1 classic had a feature that the current series should adopt: Race-specific driver and team lineups.
The very first F1 game for the PlayStation 1 simply called Formula 1 was released in September of 1996 and featured the full 1995 season - releasing a game featuring a season that has been over for almost a year at the time of its launch would be unthinkable today. As the PS1 itself was only released in late 1995 in the majority of the world (September for North America and Europe, November for Australia - almost a full year after the December 1994 release in Japan), some delay had to be factored in.
Even if the game's content was outdated by the time it launched, it did have an interesting advantage in an age when games could not simply be updated via the internet: Formula 1 included all 35 drivers and 13 teams of the 1995 season. Starting grids were limited to 26 cars at the time, though - so how did Psygnosis and Bizarre Creations make this work?
As the season progressed, multiple teams made or were forced to make driver changes. This is accurately reflected in the game, with the most prominent example being Nigel Mansell: The 1992 World Champion initially planned to race with McLaren in 1995, but could not fit properly in the MP4/10, which was subsequently reworked to accomodate Mansell in time for the San Marino Grand Prix. After finishing in 10th at Imola and retiring with handling issues from the next race in Spain, Mansell never raced in F1 again. Accordingly, he appears in those two races in Formula 1, replacing Mark Blundell.
Interestingly, reserve drivers can replace the accurate ones, too, if the player wants to race as a substitute. An example: Even though Pedro Lamy only drove for Minardi from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, it is still possible to select the Portuguese for earlier rounds. He will then replace Pierluigi Martini, who was in the seat in the first half of the season.
The next step would be applying these changes to their specific races, which could be done via the updates that are released as the season progresses. After the real season concludes, players could be offered the option to use the grid that raced at the end of the season, or use race-specific grids.
Even better: As liveries get updated throughout the season and special car designs get released for limited times, seeing all these changes reflected for the respective races would add to the immersion of the game. Car models get updated as well, though with the pace of development, it would be tough to keep up with this for every race. Major updates or low-downforce versions for circuits like Monza would be more realistic to include.
As accurate as the series' representation of race weekends already are, this step would raise this bar even further - and by making it optional, it would not be forced upon those that would not want it.
Full Article
The very first F1 game for the PlayStation 1 simply called Formula 1 was released in September of 1996 and featured the full 1995 season - releasing a game featuring a season that has been over for almost a year at the time of its launch would be unthinkable today. As the PS1 itself was only released in late 1995 in the majority of the world (September for North America and Europe, November for Australia - almost a full year after the December 1994 release in Japan), some delay had to be factored in.
Even if the game's content was outdated by the time it launched, it did have an interesting advantage in an age when games could not simply be updated via the internet: Formula 1 included all 35 drivers and 13 teams of the 1995 season. Starting grids were limited to 26 cars at the time, though - so how did Psygnosis and Bizarre Creations make this work?
As the season progressed, multiple teams made or were forced to make driver changes. This is accurately reflected in the game, with the most prominent example being Nigel Mansell: The 1992 World Champion initially planned to race with McLaren in 1995, but could not fit properly in the MP4/10, which was subsequently reworked to accomodate Mansell in time for the San Marino Grand Prix. After finishing in 10th at Imola and retiring with handling issues from the next race in Spain, Mansell never raced in F1 again. Accordingly, he appears in those two races in Formula 1, replacing Mark Blundell.
Farewell, Simtek!
Driver changes in other teams are accurately reflected as well, resulting in players being able to choose out of up to four drivers for certain teams. Meanwhile, the grid is slimmed down to 24 cars after the Monaco Grand Prix due to the Simtek team folding after that round, meaning it does not appear in the game anymore either unless the player decides to drive one of their cars - in that case, 25 cars take to the grid.Interestingly, reserve drivers can replace the accurate ones, too, if the player wants to race as a substitute. An example: Even though Pedro Lamy only drove for Minardi from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, it is still possible to select the Portuguese for earlier rounds. He will then replace Pierluigi Martini, who was in the seat in the first half of the season.
More Immersion & Accuracy
With driver changes being much less frequent, the current series of F1 games would have it relatively easy in theory if they added all drivers of a season to the respective titles. Driver transfers are already present in career mode, and real-world driver swaps are usually reflected in the games' updates.The next step would be applying these changes to their specific races, which could be done via the updates that are released as the season progresses. After the real season concludes, players could be offered the option to use the grid that raced at the end of the season, or use race-specific grids.
Even better: As liveries get updated throughout the season and special car designs get released for limited times, seeing all these changes reflected for the respective races would add to the immersion of the game. Car models get updated as well, though with the pace of development, it would be tough to keep up with this for every race. Major updates or low-downforce versions for circuits like Monza would be more realistic to include.
As accurate as the series' representation of race weekends already are, this step would raise this bar even further - and by making it optional, it would not be forced upon those that would not want it.
Your Thoughts
Did you know about the driver swaps in the Formula 1 PS1 game already? Would you like race-specific drivers and liveries in the modern F1 games? Let us know in the comments below!Bonus Reading
All 1995 Driver & Team ChangesFull Article
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