So... do I understand this correctly, that you play from a top down view and with your mouse, the car following the mouse... not a driving game, no cockpit view? (if so DUMB! lol)

IMO

http://www.racedepartment.com/2012/06/f1...ampaign=twitter

Yeah, it's an arcade-style isometric racer.

It was never intended as a "racing sim" like we normally play here and hasn't been marketed as such. It's more of a "management-lite" type of game where you earn experience and money as you race in order to "level up" so you can build new parts, new buildings for your compound, etc. and enter higher tiers of racing.

The mouse-driving mechanic is surprisingly good once you get the hang of it. Don't expect sim-level physics but don't expect to just blast your way around the tracks, either. Best advice I can give is to keep your mouse cursor about half a screen ahead of the car, pointing to where you want the car to be similar to how (when you're driving) you keep your eyes down the track rather than at the nose of the car.

The biggest problem: other players. There is absolutely no penalty for ramming someone off the road, so people generally pay no attention to other cars and just drive however they want. If that means you're in the way, well, you're in the way and you won't be for long. I've had a ton of races ruined by people failing to brake for a corner and slamming me off course.

It's a very casual game, and it has a lot of potential as a fun little time-waster, so don't overlook it. Just be aware that alongside the potential it also has a lot of problems that keep it from being "great" rather than "good". I certainly wouldn't spend money on it (in the form of "Codemasters Points" that can be used to unlock things).

Not sure what I was expecting from that game, but that's not it. LOL
I didn't think you'd have control of the car at all, pure team and pit management. Seems better suited to a touchscreen than a mouse.

I would've preferred a pure management sim, that's for sure.

But they're going for an audience that doesn't include sim-racers and doesn't include management sim types. And that's fine. It's something casual and they're probably hoping to pick up the extremely large base of F1 fans worldwide who probably never play those types of sims.