It is surprising that EA relaunched F1 Championship Season 2000 with the complete 2000 season quite so soon, but eventually every EA Sports title takes to the annual update trail.

For statistical die-hards the game is up to date until Spring 2001, which some may perceive as an advantage over Formula One Grand Prix 3. If your machine is powerful enough, all the visual trimmings to make the race the way it's watched at home can be re-enabled.

The radio link purports to be the same as heard by real-life drivers. In real life it's doubtful that common sense is spelled out to the driver like, for example, the necessity of staying on the track. It's another feature that would be tried and forgotten other than for the lap time updates--if you don't have the seconds necessary to read the onscreen displays.

Then there is the pace lap, EA's homage to televised Formula One racing coverage. Sadly it's a waste of time when you want to get your hands dirty competing. It's not all bad, however, and the best new feature is the driving school where your general skills are tested, including achieving a certain manoeuvre or distance in a given number of seconds, and graded by shades of medal. As a training mode it's quite effective.

That training is affected when set to ultra-realistic and the cars slide across the track as if still in arcade mode. The physics have improved, but in the benchmark GP3 the car's visual reaction fits the handling. If you have the original EA F1 2000, it's best waiting for the inevitable 2001 edition for this problem to be addressed rather than settling for this interim update