Ok now... time to put Formula One 2003 into the perspective that it needs to be viewed in.
Yes-the damage and collisions physics are very poor, Yes-the sound is lacking in certain areas and Yes-the car setup options are quite useless-BUT...and this is a very big (good) but, underneath its obvious shorting comings is a game that without doubt lives and breathes on the pure essence of Formula 1- speed, presicion and a huge amount of controlled aggression.

Its once you start to turn up the difficulty (and lower traction control down to at least 1) that this game comes roaring into life.

Take a middle order team car out to qualify on these settings and an almost error free lap could still see you back in the middle of the pack, most probally sittng right next to your team mate on the grid. (race after race I qualified with Button in the BAR and would end up within two places of JV in the sister car)

Onto the race and for at least the first five laps you will be hanging on for dear life to your grid position, wishing for that little bit more grip in the rear end...wondering how long you can keep that car in the mirrors at bay, when slowly but surely your tyres start to come to life and find their sweet spot...and suddenly that uncatchable car ahead of you starts to be reeled in a few tenths at a time...race on!!!

Throw in some great weather affects(even the amount of sun out affects your cars performance), some very handy pit-car communications and the crisp/solid graphics and this game leaves you with a grin from ear to ear.

And be warned...the sense of speed only really comes to life when things suddenly go wrong.

I agree with a previous reviewer, Formula One 2003 is very dissapointing, especially the hair trigger handling,i'm no expert, but should it be so twitchy, I also concur about the other cars getting away as though nothing ever happened after an encounter with yours. Fortunately rented this from a local library so was only out of pocket by £2.50.

Formula One 2003 is the most realistic F1 game to date, bar the fact that there are no penalties for speeding in the pit lane or other trivialites as such which you don't want to concern yourself with behind a joypad. The handling is fantastic and graphically it is sound. A good arcade mode tops it off for times when you cannot be bothered with a full career mode; the career mode is awesome, but very frustrating as you can easily blow an engine on the 12th lap of a race if you're gear ratios aren't right. AI is also spot on. The game is very hard and tyre wear is a most important factor.