The FIA Formula One Esports Series is a professional esports programme promoted by Formula 1. The programme was created in 2017 to involve the official Formula 1 video game and its community of players, providing a new avenue for greater engagement with the sport of Formula 1. In 2018, the official Formula 1 teams joined the programme for the first time to set up their own esports teams to compete in the Formula 1 Esports Series championship.[1]
Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship | |
 | |
| Sport | Esports |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| Owner(s) | Formula One Management, Liberty Media |
| CEO | Stefano Domenicali |
| Countries | Worldwide |
| Most recent champion(s) | (Driver:  Frederik Rasmussen) (Team:  Ferrari Esports) |
| Most titles |  Brendon Leigh (2) Jarno Opmeer (2) |
| Official website | f1esports |
History
editThe first Formula One Esports Series was announced on 21 August 2017.[2] Over 60,000 players attempted to qualify for the LAN finals of the first season, which were watched by viewers from 123 countries. Brendon Leigh won the inaugaral championship.[3]
2018 was Formula 1's first full season in esports and was split into 2 stages. In the first stage that opened in April 2018, online racers were offered the incredible opportunity to earn a place on the official esports driver line-up for one of the official F1 teams. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Force India F1 Team, Williams, Renault Sport F1 Team, Haas F1 Team, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team all offered positions in their esports driver line ups as part of the series inaugural Pro Draft.[1] Over 66,000 gamers participated to vie for a spot in the official F1 teams' esports team who competed in the F1 New Balance Esports Series and a chance to win a share of the $200,000 prize fund. The series drew a record audience of 5.5million across selected TV networks and live streams online. Mercedes took the 2018 Team Championship and Brendon Leigh became two-time Driver Champion.[4]
On 8 April 2019, Formula 1 announced the third instalment of the F1 Esports Series, with an increased prize fund of $500,000.[5] Ferrari joined the series after choosing not to take part the year prior.[6] The series was won by David Tonizza, driving for Ferrari Driver Academy, with Red Bull Racing Esports taking the Constructors' Trophy.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 seasons were held remotely online rather than in a LAN setting. Both titles were won by Jarno Opmeer, in 2020 for Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports and in 2021 for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports. Frederik Rasmussen finished as runner-up in both championships. The championship remained online for the 2022 season when Lucas Blakeley and McLaren Shadow claimed their first titles in the series with Rasmussen again in second.
For the next season, the championship would be renamed to "F1 Sim Racing" and was contested across late 2023 and early 2024. It was won by Rasmussen, who claimed his maiden title after finishing as runner-up in four of the previous six seasons.
Format
edit- Qualification - The season opens with online qualification, a global call for participation. Qualification is open to players who own a copy of the official Formula 1 video game developed by Codemasters. There are two qualifiers and from each the top 9 drivers from each platform (Xbox, PlayStation and PC) get a main seat to the Challengers with next three getting a reserve seat.
- Challengers series - Qualified drivers enter the F1 Esports Challengers series, where they drive six races and the top 6 in the standings from each platform get a pro licence, that gives them the right to participate in the official F1 esports series.
- Pro Series - All participating teams have three drivers in their line-up that they can use however they want to over 12 50% races that are broadcast live to the official F1 twitch channel. They earn points for themselves and their F1 teams. These points count towards the championship, after which the winning team and driver will be crowned the F1 Esports Series Teams’ and Drivers’ World Champions respectively, with a portion of the prize fund distributed to the teams based on their standings.[5]
Seasons
edit| Year | Game | Venue | Driver's Champion | Team | Team's Champion | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | F1 2017 | Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates | Brendon Leigh
|
Toro Rosso Esports
|
Not awarded | Report |
| 2018 | F1 2018 | Gfinity Esports Arena, United Kingdom | Brendon Leigh
|
 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports
|
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports
|
Report |
| 2019 | F1 2019 | Gfinity Esports Arena, United Kingdom | David Tonizza
|
Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team
|
 Red Bull Racing Esports
|
Report |
| 2020 | F1 2020 | Online (COVID-19) | Jarno Opmeer
|
 Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports
|
Red Bull Racing Esports
|
Report |
| 2021 | F1 2021 | Online (COVID-19) | Jarno Opmeer
|
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports
|
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports
|
Report |
| 2022 | F1 22 | Online | Lucas Blakeley
|
McLaren Shadow
|
McLaren Shadow
|
Report |
| 2023-24 | F1 23 | Jönköping, Sweden (R1) Stockholm, Sweden (R2–12) |
Frederik Rasmussen
|
Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing
|
Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team
|
Report |
Statistics
edit| Driver | Championships | Victories | Pole positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jarno Opmeer
|
2 | 12 | 5 |
| Brendon Leigh
|
2 | 6 | 4 |
| Frederik Rasmussen
|
1 | 15 | 16 |
| David Tonizza
|
1 | 6 | 6 |
| Lucas Blakeley
|
1 | 6 | 4 |
| Thomas Ronhaar
|
0 | 5 | 8 |
 Dani Bereznay
|
0 | 5 | 7 |
 Bari Broumand
|
0 | 4 | 5 |
 Nicolas Longuet
|
0 | 3 | 8 |
| Marcel Kiefer
|
0 | 3 | 0 |
| Alfie Butcher
|
0 | 2 | 0 |
 Salih Saltunç
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cedric Thomé
|
0 | 1 | 0 |
 Dani Moreno
|
0 | 1 | 0 |
| Álvaro Carretón
|
0 | 0 | 2 |
| Josh Idowu
|
0 | 0 | 2 |
| Enzo Bonito
|
0 | 0 | 1 |
 Tino Naukkarinen
|
0 | 0 | 1 |
Excludes 2017 championship apart from Brendon Leigh's title that year
References
edit- ^ a b "F1 Esports Series about to start its second season". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ "F1 enters eSport arena with official championships to start in September". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- ^ Massaad, Jay (11 December 2017). "20 million reasons for Formula 1 to reinvest in esports". Esports Insider. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ "F1 New Balance Esports Series 2018 Watched By 5.5 Million People". F1Esports News. 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Formula 1 New Balance Esports Series to kick off its third season". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ Errington, Tom. "Ferrari joins F1 Esports series for the first time with 2019 entry". Autosport.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.