First videogame licensed by Formula One

Videogames have been imitating Formula One since the medium’s birth – Gran-Trak (Atari, 1974) being the earliest example – but it wasn’t until Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix 2 (Microprose, 1996) that a game carried full FIA licensing to depict all the drivers, cars and tracks of a particular Formula One season. In the case of PC simulation Grand Prix 2, it was the 1994 season that was featured, although drivers Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, who had died during the racing season, were left out of the game as a mark of respect. The PlayStation title Formula One (Psygnosis, 1996) was released two months after Grand Prix 2 and depicted the 1995 season rather than 1994, but the Microprose game still takes the spoils.