It sounds similar to a problem I had, though this was 3dfx card related.
I had been able to play the game prior to installing my Voodoo 2 card,
but after this and even after a complete re-install of the game it just
would not run.
To remedy my problem I downloaded a patch from the Ubisoft site - either
www.ubisoft.com or www.ubisoft.co.uk, can't remember which - and all was
fine. The patch was called f1rs109d = F1 racing patch 1.09 for directx
3d cards.
HTH
--
Peter Ives