Funselektor Labs has proved it can get the best out of racing’s cult eras. Its excellent JDM-infused debut Absolute Drift arrived in 2015, followed up with the superb, lo-fi retro racer Art of Rally in 2020. Now it’s partnering with indie studio Strelka Games to take on Formula 1 with Golden Lap.
Unlike its predecessors, Golden Lap takes you away from the wheel and into the team principal’s box. It’s Grand Prix Story meets Football Manager, set in the 1970s–a decade of madness and experimentation for the sport when people drove fan cars and six-wheelers, team sponsors included Penthouse and Durex, and one driver managed to finish the 1978 German GP with DNQ, DNF, and DSQ by his name.
It might not appear as satisfying as Absolute Drift or pulsating as Art of Rally, but Golden Lap certainly looks more exciting and involving than the real-life 2024 Formula 1 season–and there’s more to it than may initially meet the eye.
Golden Lap looks just as beautiful and polished as Funselektor’s back catalog, adopting textbook minimalistic visuals that avoid compromising the information needed to make important, data-led decisions.
Each season sees you allocate your budget between drivers, cars, crew, and sponsors, before you head to the circuits themselves, as you balance and refine your racing strategy through qualifying and main events, tuning cars and timing pit stops. Between races, you ensure your car can compete in the ever-changing Wild West of 70s open-wheel racing.
Confirmed circuits in Golden Lap include lightly adapted versions of the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Imola in Italy, and Circuito del Jarama in Spain. It’s a true-to-form approach for Funselektor, which prefers to take inspiration from the past rather than use official licenses–something that extends to its team selection.
Dune Casu, the founder of Funselektor, said he and his team “wanted to try something different while staying true to our passion for racing,” choosing to celebrate “one of the most iconic eras of motorsport when it was exciting and dangerous in equal measure.”
He also hinted at a deeper experience inspired by a decade when “teams were experimenting with designs, and drivers were notorious both on and off the track.” Maybe a fan car will be an option after all.
Golden Lap is scheduled to land on Steam later this year, with no confirmation as yet for console or mobile releases–though if Absolute Drift and Art of Rally are anything to go by, it could well be ported.
