EA Sports utilized a copy protection system called . When you installed F1 2002 , the software wrote a digital signature to the registry. At launch, the game would poll your CD/DVD drive, looking for a specific "weak sector" on the original pressed disc. If it didn't find that sector—for example, if you were using a burned backup or a disc image—the game would refuse to start, displaying an error like "Please insert the correct CD-ROM."
If you own the original F1 2002 CD, make a backup ISO and mount it. That’s the safest, cleanest way to play without the physical disc. f1 2002 no cd