F1 2010

And put the miles in you will. Although few of us will ever know what driving a single-seater that can do 0-100-0mph in around six seconds is really like, it's an effortless assumption that it should feel the way F1 2010 suggests. The behaviour of the game's cars comes across so naturally that you'd swear you can feel the aerodynamic forces at work. More importantly, however, it encourages you to push your own limits and when you're fully committed, the drive is both intense and hugely rewarding.

Key to the experience is the game's dynamic weather system. Just as it does in real-life F1 races, a sudden rain shower transforms the race and there are few things in life as rewarding as getting the jump on the competition with the judicious timing of a pit stop in anticipation of weather changes. In F1 2010 the forecasts will act as a guide but you can dictate the pit strategy should those clouds start to look ominous.

The AI intensifies things further. Admittedly, at their lowest level your competitors are little more than mobile chicanes, but up the difficulty and they become worthy – and mostly well-behaved – rivals, capitalising on the slightest overtake opportunity or valiantly defending their line. If there is a criticism it comes down to their occasional excessively skittish, nervous nature, which robs the game of a little authenticity. That said, there is a genuine tension when coming across the likes of Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel for the first time, even if their personalities aren't quite as apparent through their actions as you might hope.

1 of 6

Caption

Attribution

Other niggles are equally minor. Some of the penalties for corner-cutting are handed out too eagerly (although they're at least more consistent than the FIA stewards), the choice of on-screen display makes it tricky to spot crucial detail such as gaps to rivals (and purists will most likely bemoan the absence of the official graphics), the lack of telemetry will upset some, the flags system is occasionally slow to react, and it wouldn't hurt your race engineer to deliver a little more substance in his communications.

Real F1 die-hards will no doubt also pick on the fact that the mechanic that pushes your front wheels when you're rolling back into the garage doesn't bother to wear gloves, despite the coffee-hot temperature of the tyres. No doubt they're part of the hardcore that played Geoff Crammond's Formula One Grand Prix using their Amiga 500 keys, just as they argued – quite rightly – that the Mega Drive version of F1 Circus was one of the most engaging F1 titles of its generation. Or perhaps they imported Human Grand Prix for their Super Famicom before, a few years later, being pleasantly surprised by F-1 World Grand Prix's considerable competence, particularly given the general dismal nature of racings titles on the N64.

If you identify with any of these scenarios, you'll have been around long enough to know better than to trust a modern F1 game to do justice to the sport it depicts. But F1 2010 does just that. True, the out-of-car segments are still the length of one of Monza's straights from being convincing, but their inclusion remains welcome and will no doubt be improved in subsequent editions. The fundamental point is that in every other regard F1 2010 can consider itself champion material. The best F1 season in years deserves the best F1 game in years – thankfully, that's exactly what it's got.