It was made under an official FIA license[3] that featured the Formula One 1994 season, with all of the circuits, teams, drivers and cars.

The cars were painted with liveries reflecting the races that did not allow tobacco and alcohol sponsors (e.g. 1994 German Grand Prix).

Some circuits in the game show safety-related changes to the tracks made during the season, e.g. Silverstone, Estoril and Jerez have them included while they are missing at Barcelona, Montreal and Spa.

There was no "arcade" mode in Grand Prix II, per se, but it included the ability to turn on and off seven "driving aids":[6] steering help, braking help, automatic turn-around (has the car face forward after a crash), indestructibility, racing line help, automatic shifting and traction control.

The quickrace option was customizable, allowing the player to race as many laps as desired and letting them set their grid position.

Instead of a split screen game, The computer simulates the driving for the other players' cars when they are not being controlled by someone waiting their turn.

This meant cars not only could crash, but also have flames or smoke shoot out of their backs from engine failure, after which they raced around the circuit damaged for a limited time before parking on the side of the road or in the pits.

The game was developed by Geoff Crammond as a follow-up to 1991's Formula One Grand Prix (which was known as World Circuit in the US).

[21] Critics hailed Grand Prix II as stunning and the class of the field for Formula 1 simulations.

Jim Varner of GameSpot particularly applauded the way it breaks the convention of racing games always falling into either simulation-style or arcade-style, through the use of adjustable "driving aids", which when turned off, make Grand Prix II a phenomenally complex and realistic driving sim, and when turned on, make it one of the most fun and exciting arcade-style racers ever made.

[14] Grand Prix 2 and its predecessor, collectively, were named the seventh best computer game of all time by PC Gamer UK in 1997.