F001

While this year’s Formula 1 championship has been one of the closest ever, it hasn’t stopped some from dismissing the sport in its modern incarnation for being like a full-sized Scalextric set.

While it’s true that some of the races have been dull processions with minimal overtaking, the use of the slot car racing analogy is slightly unfair.

After all, the expensive toy can be a thrilling affair, with overtaking manoeuvres and even collisions commonplace.

F001 seeks to replicate the distilled racing fun of slot car racing. It gets the feel of it just about spot-on, too, despite the limitation of having no analogue control.

This is one-finger gaming at its purest. You hit the virtual button at the bottom right of the screen to accelerate and release to brake.

As with the real thing, your car has only so much purchase on the track, so taking a hairpin at high speed will result in your miniature F1 car spinning out.

Of course, as in the real thing you’ll be returned to the track in no time, but by then your sole AI opponent will have made up significant ground (or shot off into the distance).

While the feel of the racing is right, it’s a crying shame there’s so little of it to be done.

There are only three tracks in the game, which is a ridiculously insufficient number. This is especially galling when you consider how quickly a four-lap race buzzes by.

It’s annoying, too, that you can only experience these tracks in one way – by playing through them in a linear tournament. If you want to practise the third track alone – and given the emphasis on online high scores that’s a distinct possibility - you’re out of luck.

Along with the sheer lack of things to do, it makes F001 far harder to recommend than it should have been.