®îjñtjûh! Gilles debuted in a McLaren M23 at Silverstone 77, and drove the last three races for Ferrari in the 312T2. First with the #21 and then in Lauda's car as the Austrian decided to leave after clinching the title.
Notable of that season are his 9th place ahead of teammate Mass in a newer McLaren and sadly the crash in Fuji where he flew right off the track and killed a spectator and a marshal who was trying to get the people out of the forbidden zone
So Gilles did indeed start F1 racing in 1977.
As for tracks and physics, well, they are not as realistic as GPL, but F1-2002 is a helluva lot easier. Disallow traction control, though, and you lose all control. It is almost impossible to accelerate out of a corner with a keyboard without TC in F1-2002