Almost every aspect of F1's cars can be customized, including gear ratio, suspension, brake sensitivity, front and rear wings, as well as tires and the amount of fuel racers choose to carry. Pit stops let players refuel and repair damage--which cars take realistically--and an announcer identifies racers' ranking, position gains and losses, and specific car damage.

There are 16 races in championship mode, each with weather conditions based on conditions found in the real event. A match-race mode lets two friends compete, which is ideal when you want to go head-to-head against a buddy. The only real drawback to this game is that it lacks the speed of an arcade-style racer, but this fact alone may be enough to scare away nonracing fans. --Robb Guido

Pros:

• Real F1 racers and their cars
• Beautifully modeled tracks and nice weather effects
• An in-depth car-setup screen

• Races are slower than they could be
• The controls are a bit difficult to master