F1 Challenge '99-'02 announced

Following Electronic Arts' 2911095recent announcement that its UK studio is working on F1 Career Challenge for all current console platforms, the company has today revealed that a new F1 game for the PC is also in development. Like the console games, F1 Challenge '99-'02 will span four entire championship seasons and feature accurate team, vehicle, and driver data for each.

Across the four racing seasons, F1 Challenge '99-'02 will feature 14 different teams, 44 different vehicles, and 17 of the world's most famous racing circuits--some of which have slightly different configurations, depending on the year. The level of detail on the visuals promises to be second to none, with each circuit boasting its own real-life structures, bumps in the track, motion-captured pit crews, animated grid girls, and planes and helicopters in the sky above.

The cars in the game will feature realistic driving physics and damage models that take into account the materials that the various components are made of. Fortunately, players will have access to the same kind of data telemetry that real drivers and their teams do, so it should be possible to devise car setups that are appropriate for each circuit and so minimize the chances of crashing.

F1 Challenge '99-'02 is scheduled for release in Europe in May this year. No North American release for the game has been confirmed at this time, but we'll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.