F1 2017 is the closest that games have come to recreating the real thing, and you can get behind its wheel for free this weekend. For the next 28 hours or so (until Sunday 1pm PT), you can play the entire game for free on Steam (opens in new tab) and if you want it for keeps then it's at its lowest ever price on both Steam and the Humble Store (opens in new tab): $18/£13.50. That's a 70% discount, and the offer ends on Monday at 10am PT.
I haven't played an F1 game since 2015, but reading back through Phil's review (opens in new tab) of Codemasters' 2017 outing has me tempted. The game came out just as the real Formula One's cars got significantly quicker thanks to changes in the sport's regulations, and that translates over to the game well, with vehicles that are simply more fun to drive than in 2016.
The AI is more realistic than ever, too: your opponents will leave you a reasonable amount of space when you're battling it out, but if you stamp on the brakes too early or too late then they'll pounce on your mistake.
Solid PC performance, a deep career mode and a roster of licensed cars round out an excellent racing sim. Once again, here's where to go (opens in new tab) for the free weekend.
