Much has come to pass in the world of Project CARS since we first interviewed Slightly Mad Studios back in 2013 . Originally scheduled for release last November, the game was delayed until March 2015 in order to polish the final product and avoid the super-competitive Christmas rush – the time of year when most big publishers dump their product on the market in the hope of festive sales. This was hard enough to bear for those who had hoped to find the game in their stocking from Santa, but there was more bad news to come – when 2015 arrived, it was revealed that Project CARS would incur another delay to April. As if to prove all things come in threes, that date has now been shifted to mid-May.

Since the delay, the grid has become a little more crowded. We've seen next-gen racers in the shape of The Crew , Forza Horizon 2 and DriveClub , all of which could be seen as swallowing up the market share that should really have belonged to Project CARS.

However, speaking exclusively to Red Bull, Slightly Mad's creative director Andy Tudor is unconcerned, insisting that he and his team are committed to making their own game as polished as possible, rather than worrying about what their rivals are up to. "Whilst we keep an eye on the competition, we don’t let them lead us," he says.

"That’s never been our attitude and is why Project CARS innovates in so many ways; such as its free-from career mode, removal of ‘grinding’ cash or XP systems, dynamic time of day and weather, support for 12K resolution and virtual reality devices like Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus, and performance at 1080p, 60fps – not to mention its multi-platform approach." That’s without getting into the nitty gritty of the game’s clever physics, including its Seta Tire Model (STM) which carefully simulates the physics of the exact point of wheel contact with the track at any point, and even the heat transfer between rubber, frame and brakes.

So, what have those extra months of development time given us? Quite a lot, actually. "Online stability, additional hardware support, user interface flow and tiny ‘technical requirements’ from the console manufacturers," rattles off Tudor. The wait may have been torture for those who have dutifully followed the development of this impressive racer, but it's clear that the additional time has been spent wisely, and has also gifted us some bonuses that won't be apparent until launch – Tudor confirms with a wry smile that some "last-minute" surprises will make the cut.

Slightly Mad Games has also been able to watch its rivals struggle with various issues – such as DriveClub's disastrous launch and online problems – and take notes. Tudor insists that his team have kept a close eye on the online side of things, and shouldn't experience any similar issues on launch day. "Due to the way we’ve been developing the game with the community involved from day one, multiplayer has been working for over two years now," he says.

"We’ve fine-tuned the feature set and flow around how different sets of players like to play, whether that’s against strangers around the world, casual friends, or organised groups. So, although you can never be 100 percent certain until launch day, there’s historical confidence that we’ve been in a good position for a while now."

Still, it's worth pointing out that Tudor and his team are tackling a much bigger beast than Evolution Studios did with DriveClub. Project CARS isn't just coming to one platform, but five – Xbox One , PS4 , PC, SteamOS and Nintendo Wii U .

Balancing the game over those systems – each of which boasts wildly different specifications – is clearly a challenge, but one that Slightly Mad has risen to. "Both [Xbox One and PS4] run at 60 frames per second – that’s super-important for racing games which need that sense of fluidity," explains Tudor.

"Of course, PC can go much higher and take advantage of the very latest graphics card techniques, but by making the decision to be multi-platform from the start we knew that ensuring parity across them all was tantamount whilst designing the technology and our proprietary engine to take advantage of each console's individual hardware by scaling correctly. So Xbox owners will know they’re getting the very best version of the game compared to the PlayStation 4 version, whilst PC owners know that their various multi-CPUs are being utilised to push their rigs."

Tudor also feels that the difficult decision to drop the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions back in 2013 has been totally vindicated. Not only has it given the team a tighter focus, the commercial success of Sony and Microsoft's new consoles has proven it was the right choice to make.

"The next-gen machines are far more powerful, easier to work with, and open up new gameplay or game feature possibilities so it seemed like the best decision from those perspectives," Tudor says. "And then with a little foresight into what the gaming scene would be like at the end of 2014 I think we definitely made the right decision – media coverage, online stores, retail shops, TV adverts and so on – are all about Xbox One and PS4 since gamers have embraced them so heartily."

Project CARS © Slightly Mad Studios

Excitingly, Virtual Reality will also be part of the Project CARS universe, too – the nascent tech will be used to place you even closer to the on-track action. "VR is perfect for racing games," Tudor says, excitedly.

"The sense of depth you get allows you to judge braking distances better, the immersion makes you feel like you’re really in the driving seat, the ability to freely look around the cockpit showcases the insane detail our car artists have put in, and the greater degree of spatial awareness allows you to quickly glance sideways at a passing car, or up at the rear-view mirror, and get a greater sensation of speed and proximity to other drivers as you’re out on the track. So overwhelmingly it’s more intense, more authentic, and – incredibly – it actually makes you a better driver."

By pushing the game back, Slightly Mad has been able to implement improvements and create a more assured end product, but Project CARS isn't your typical project. It was part-funded by the community – hence the name Community Assisted Racing Simulation – and those who coughed up cash a few years ago were also promised a percentage of the game's profits after release. Any hold-up in the game's launch ultimately impacts these individuals, as it means they have to wait longer to get a share of any cash raised.

"There’ll always be concern and debate over decisions like this, but ultimately the overarching opinion is one of agreement that it's in everyone’s best interests to launch a game that we’re all proud of," states Tudor. "Doing so hopefully gains it the critical acclaim and commercial success it deserves and therefore the most likely scenario for contributors to gain fees back from their involvement."

Part of assuring the game's commercial success was partnering with veteran publisher Bandai Namco Games – a union which Tudor feels has put Project CARS in an even stronger position. "We chose them for a reason due to their heritage in Ridge Racer and other iconic titles, their ability to spread the word about the game worldwide, and the pure logistics of shipping a product to multiple territories in multiple languages," he reveals.

"So they’ve helped us with events like Gamescom and Eurogamer Expo, got us coverage in mainstream press, and worked with various partners to boost the game’s visibility and credibility, so we couldn’t be happier."

As Project CARS rolls out of the garage and towards the grid in preparation for its new May launch window, Tudor's thoughts are naturally turning to what happens post-launch. As Tudor explains, there's plenty to keep his studio occupied, even after launch day. "We'll be continuing to monitor online stability, pulling data and feedback from players to identify the ‘hot topics’ surrounding the game, working on the initial content for the next six months, engaging with the community around the Driver Network features of photos/replay sharing, asynchronous time trial and leaderboards and community events, plus general support around the game and any new hardware that may be released."

And what about DLC? Tudor refuses to be drawn into giving up details, but reveals that updates will be forthcoming. "We’ve got an extremely solid plan that’s already in action and we’ll be releasing info on that soon, but right now the team are laser-focused on perfecting the core title. Rest assured though that players will see Project CARS expand in numerous and regular ways after launch."

But what of the future? Another team within Slightly Mad is currently working on World of Speed – a free-to-play MMO racer which shares a common DNA with Project CARS – but could we see more titles from the studio? "Project CARS is the start of a brand new franchise so we have initial plans and plenty of discussion internally already on where we would like it to head, the steps needed to get to those places, and in what time-frame," Tudor concludes. "Once Project CARS launches you’ll start to see some of that direction and growth occurring from day one as we’re definitely building Project CARS for the future."