F1 2010

That fantasy will find voice between races and sessions in F1 2010's evocation of the Formula One's famous paddock. A development of ideas explored by Codemasters with the RV in DiRT 2 and garage in GRID, this aspect of the game will allow you to move between your garage and hospitality suite, interacting with the media as well as your engineer, team-mate and agent and rubbing shoulders with other drivers. Finish in the top three and you'll even participate in the post-race press conference.

In your trailer, you can view standings, the latest contract offers and use your agent to find yourself a new seat, if you're so inclined. In the paddock, journalists will ask you questions based on your performance - or perhaps ignore you, if your team-mate is a better story - and you'll be able to choose your answer, be it diplomatic, or a strong dig at your team-mate or team. This kind of psychological warfare will have a secondary effect on whether you're considered the preferred driver in the team, how good the team's in-season upgrades are, and whether your car setup is tailored to your driving style or your team-mate's.

These factors will also be influenced by your performance in races, qualifying and (if you take part in it) testing. Beating your team-mate will increase your standing with other teams and lead to better contract offers, as will beating your championship rival (who you can pick from three offered by the media). Putting in more laps will give the team more data and improve your upgrades. The idea is that you won't be driving the same car all season; real F1 drivers don't, and it has the added benefit of giving players the sense of technological progression they so obviously enjoy in the likes of Forza and GT. Your involvement in the setup of your car can be as sim-deep or as shallow as you like.

"We're quite adamant, especially after talking to Anthony Davidson [F1 test driver and consultant on the game] - he's very keen for us to replicate what goes on in real life," Hood says. "It's not about you being the engineer, as it is in most racing games, where you start with a base setup and, what do you tweak? Camber? What do all these things mean? You can access all that because it all runs through the physics engine, but if you basically drive the car and think it's not turning in enough, you can interact with the race engineer and say, maybe, the car's not turning in enough, you want more oversteer."

Although one F1 car is hardly going to differ from another like a Renault Twingo from a Bugatti Veyron, they will all settle onto a spectrum between neutral and aggressive, oversteering setups, according to the preference of the dominant driver in the team (e.g. Jenson Button for the former, Fernando Alonso for the latter). Codemasters is keen for there to be some differentiation across the field.

"We're very big on trying to have some differentiation for the player between driving for team X and team Y," he continues. "It comes through on the team's ability to upgrade your car, the expectations for them and who your team-mate is for example. But also in the handling, it's about how much you can shift the ballast around in the car, the power of the engine, the type of tracks that it suits, the way that it eats its tyres... some subtle things."

It's a fascinating proposition. On already solid-looking racing foundations, Codemasters is building a blend of interactive sports drama and the sense of progression offered by the RPG schematics of Forza and GT. What's more, it's doing so in a way that's sensitive to how involved the player wants to be, and most importantly of all, that reflects what's interesting and exciting about Formula One as a sport.