Stewart's Debut Season | Round 16: Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying | Formula 1 '97 (PS1)

1997 was a year of change in Formula 1. We had the reigning World Champion racing for a backmarker, a GOAT PS1 game being released which still holds up today, and TWO brand new teams joining the grid in Mastercard Lola and Stewart Grand Prix.

One of these teams was more successful than the other, with Lola burning out so quickly that the didn't make the game...or even start a race! However, for those who don't know, the team we now know as Red Bull Racing got their start on the grid as Stewart Grand Prix all the way back in 1997. Drivers like Jan Magunssen, Johnny Herbert and, yes, Jos Verstappen, walked so Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen could run!

However, despite the advantage they had over their fellow rookie team, Stewart struggled in 1997 with only 8 finishes between both drivers and 9 Double DNFs in 17 races. So, in this series, we try to give Stewart a debut season more befitting of a team that would go on to much bigger and better things in the near and distant future, by taking the one and only Rubens Barrichello through the 1997 season in Formula 1 '97 for the Playstation.

Following a frustrating Luxembourg Grand Prix weekend, where we were unlucky to be caught up in a big Lap 2 incident and then a slow pit stop allowing a lot of the cars we were racing to pass us in the pit lane, we head to a fan’s favourite track, Suzuka, for the Japanese Grand Prix.

I think this track could favour us and the car, so I’m quietly confident of something good this weekend!

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