Formula One Esports Series

Last updated

FIA Formula One Esports Series
Current season, competition or edition:
Controller current.svg 2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship
F1 eSports Series logo.png
Sport Esports
Founded 2017
Owner(s) Formula One Management, Liberty Media
CEO Stefano Domenicali
CountriesWorldwide
Most recent
champion(s)		(Driver: Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lucas Blakeley)
(Team: Flag of the United Kingdom.svg McLaren Shadow)
Most titles Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brendon Leigh (2)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jarno Opmeer (2)
Official website f1esports.com

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]

Contents

History

The first Formula One Esports Series was announced on 21 August 2017, with the qualification and finals stages to be held on the official Formula 1 video game of the 2017 championship. [2] Over 60,000 gamers participated in the inaugural series, watched by 123 countries around the world and generating over 20 million impressions on social media. Brendon Leigh of the UK was the first champion of the series. [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.

For the next season, the championship would be renamed to "F1 Sim Racing" and was contested across late 2023 and early 2024.

Format

Results

YearGameVenueDriver's ChampionTeamConstructor's ChampionReport
2017 F1 2017 Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brendon Leigh Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Not awarded Report
2018 F1 2018 Gfinity Esports Arena, United Kingdom Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brendon Leigh Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Report
2019 F1 2019 Gfinity Esports Arena, United Kingdom Flag of Italy.svg David Tonizza Flag of Italy.svg Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team Flag of Austria.svg Red Bull Racing Esports Report
2020 F1 2020 Online (COVID-19) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jarno Opmeer Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports Flag of Austria.svg Red Bull Racing Esports Report
2021 F1 2021 Online (COVID-19) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jarno Opmeer Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Report
2022 F1 22 Online Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lucas Blakeley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg McLaren Shadow Flag of the United Kingdom.svg McLaren Shadow Report
2023-24 F1 23 International Report

Personal results (since 2018 format)

DriverChampionshipsVictoriesPole positions
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jarno Opmeer 2125
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brendon Leigh 264
Flag of Italy.svg David Tonizza166
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lucas Blakeley164
Flag of Denmark.svg Frederik Rasmussen01516
Flag of Hungary.svg Dani Bereznay057
Flag of France.svg Nicolas Longuet037
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Thomas Ronhaar036
Flag of Germany.svg Marcel Kiefer030
Flag of Iran.svg Bari Broumand023
Flag of Turkey.svg Salih Saltunç011
Flag of Germany.svg Cedric Thomé010
Flag of Spain.svg Dani Moreno010
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Alfie Butcher010
Flag of Spain.svg Álvaro Carretón002
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Josh Idowu002
Flag of Italy.svg Enzo Bonito001
Flag of Finland.svg Tino Naukkarinen001

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References

  1. 1 2 "F1 Esports Series about to start its second season". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "F1 enters eSport arena with official championships to start in September". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Massaad, Jay (11 December 2017). "20 million reasons for Formula 1 to reinvest in esports". Esports Insider. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "F1 New Balance Esports Series 2018 Watched By 5.5 Million People". F1Esports News. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Formula 1 New Balance Esports Series to kick off its third season". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  6. ↑ Errington, Tom. "Ferrari joins F1 Esports series for the first time with 2019 entry". Autosport.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
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