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One of the first games most early Spectrum owners bought as Football Manager. The combination of picking a team and then watching helplessly as it played its matches was extremely addictive. Formula One has taken that idea and translated it into a motor racing background.

You have to guide your team of two cars through a Grand Prix season attempting to win both the Drivers and Constructors championships. You achieve this by selecting skill level, team name, your sponsors, and drivers. Then, using your sponsorship money you allot to your car, engine and crew, either buying a new one or improving the old one. The program then gives you details of the first race including weather conditions so that you can select the appropriate tyres. After that, all you can do is sit back and watch the race unfold. You do have a say when you cars suffer from assorted ailments and they have to go into the pits. You now have to manoeuvre your mechanic around the screen changing tyres etc. After the race is over, prize and sponsorship money is awarded depending on how well you did.

It all that sounds boring, well it is and it isn't. Yes it is if your car's engine blows up on the third lap with another sixty-eight to sit through but if there are several (up to six) of your playing simultaneously then it could get quite exciting.

A couple of other grumbles. It would be nice to be able to select from the menus using the joystick rather than the keyboard, and to know what effect some of your selections e.g. tyre choice, were having.

The ideas behind Grand Prix are quite good but it just doesn't work somehow. Maybe I've got used to driving the cars myself in games such as Pole Position or Chequered Flag and that's what is missing.