While EA's perennial sports release often come under fire for offering little more than tweaks over last year's iteration, there are some serious enhancements to F1 2001 that make it a more attractive proposition than usual. While it will come as no surprise to find all the new cars and drivers from the 2001 season, there is more to this title than a glossy makeover. Yes the graphics have been tweaked--and it does look gorgeous if your hardware is up to scratch, but the biggest improvement comes in the driving experience itself. With some help from BAR racing team, EA has revised the driving physics considerably, giving you a far more convincing feel for what it must be like to drive an F1 car.

For beginners, there is plenty of help to get you started, with a range of settings to make things simple, plus a driving school type tutorial which helps you get through individual corners--not letting you progress until you've made a half decent job of it. The interface will be familiar to any fan of EA titles, though, as always it looks more at home on a console than a PC. Despite this it is reasonably intuitive and won't cause any major headaches.

There are a variety of driving modes to cover everything from arcade-style racing to full-blown championship seasons. You can delve into advanced settings on the car, apply rules for proper F1 racing, complete with Stop/Go penalties requiring you to get in the pit lane within three laps, or you can just set it all to novice and go out and have a blast round the track. Whichever you opt for, you'll be impressed at the sense of speed, the looks of the individual cockpits, and the sumptuous circuits.

You may not be quite so impressed by Jim Rosenthal's repetitive additions, but otherwise the audio is also a treat--with helpful cues to your car's reactions on the track and the roaring engines of competing cars--a welcome new addition.

F1 2001 ultimately has to face comparison with Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 3 and as long-time fans of that series, it's a stiff test to face. However F1 2001 doesn't disappoint. There are pros and cons to each title--GP3 wins for advanced telemetry, while F1 2001 has proper F1 rules. Overall it's too close to call. We'd recommend that any genuine fan of F1 racing should have both these titles in their collection.--Jason Weston

I found it strange for instance that the latest nVidia drivers which will support the upcoming XP operating system were not supported by the game. Once I had loaded version 1241 of these drivers though everything worked fine.

The detail on the game is excellent, particularly when you combine it with a speed and fluidity of operation that I have never seen on an F1 simulation before. The physics of the cars and the AI are all significantly better in this version. Granted I have a GeForce 3 card, but I too found the frame issue until using the correct drivers.

Summarising then, spend a bit of time setting this game up properly and you will surely reap the rewards.


You can see the PS2 version got the development   October 11, 2001
 8 out of 12 found this review helpful

I love PC F1 games, where GP3 still rules complete with the Season 2000 add on. I have what I would consider to be a fast machine; 1.2ghz Athlon, Geforce 3 card, 512mb RAM. When I bought this I had seen the PS2 version and had been really impressed with the level of detail. The drivers heads turning and helmets reflecting their immediate environment; the tear off strips, the cars becoming dirty etc. I was really looking forward to firing up the PC version and My God was I disappointed. It chugged on my machine, the detail was not nearly as good as the PS2, the mirrors didn't work. Basically it was rubbish. Buy a copy of Grand Prix Legends and feel true motorsport fire instead of this poor shadow. Alternatively get the PS2 version which, just for once, kills the PC version.


NO TELEMETRY ! JESUS ! BAD FRAME RATES AGAIN !   October 9, 2001
 10 out of 14 found this review helpful

Quote:

"F1 2001 is the most advanced and fully featured F1 simulation of the F1 2001 FIA Formula One world championship available for the PC"

Why then, has telemetry been left out? I would have thought in a 'simulation' it would be imperative to included this. How can you tweak the car without knowing what it is doing, minutely?

Even with a Geforce ddr 256 (numerous detonator drivers tried), 512 Mb of ram and an 800 PIII it still runs like a dog. I had F1 2000 which was as bad, if not worse (no, it was alot worse). This went he way of e-bay, after weeks of trying.
The blurb and previews seem to say this had been fixed.
Quote:

"Native support for DirectX 8 and the latest 3D accelerators mean more detail, faster frame rates and a better sensation of speed than in any other PC racing game."

It definitely has not been. I just cannot 'feel' the car as the frame rate is too low or too variable ( this at really low resolutions as well). And yes, the graphics acceleration is working!

On really low sensitivity on a Guillemot wheel the car will not keep a staight line, and no I am not a complete novice. I can win at all circuits on GP3 with max realism. I know a GP car is a handfull, but it does not meander like a drunk, over or under compensating all the time.

I am really disappointed with this con. May be it is playable on a 2GHz P4, with a Geforce 3, but I just won't pay that kind of silly money to find out.

Ps. Why don't the wing mirrors work either. Roll on GP4! I hope someone will prove me wrong and explain how to get this running, even reasonably.


F1 2001 rules!   September 29, 2001
 11 out of 34 found this review helpful

Battle for position at every sweeping bend, high-speed straight away, and hairpin turn within the world's most glamorous sporting arena. From Monaco to Monza, take on the most intelligent and daring racers to hit the formula one circuit. The circuit comes to life with fully interactive pit stops, roaring crowds, a buzzing grid, driver animations, and a full spectrum of driving conditions, including torrential downpours and other mid-race weather changes. Add the official 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship license and F1 2001 is poised to reach new milestones in motor sports gaming.