[2] The game is based on the 1996 Formula One World Championship, and is the first of the Racing Simulation games made by Ubisoft, being the predecessor to Racing Simulation 2, which was released in 1998.

[11] Next Generation noted that the game only had the license for 1996 season, drivers and tracks in comparison to Formula 1 Championship Edition, but praised the graphics and gameplay elements.

[18] The game received a "Gold" award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) in August 1998,[19] for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

[20] The game was a commercial failure in the U.S., with sales of 12,570 units by April 1999.

Discussing this performance, Ubisoft's Tammy Schachter argued that "the install base of 3D cards was not in place for mass-market sales" when the game launched.