The crazy world of F1 esports - Part 2
- Marco Bise
- May 29, 2024
- 7 min read
After analysing the main issues that has put the series at risk since day zero, this second article focuses on a more in-depth analysis of the action on track.
As always, standards have remained very high, with fierce rookies, struggling champions and pleasant surprises. This nice mix led to a very tight and uncertain season until the very end.
Recap of teams and drivers
As mentioned in the last article, the championship is attended by the 10 Formula 1 teams, each through its official eSports team. Drivers are chosen from a draft to which entry is granted after two qualifying events – in which anyone can participate as long as they are at least 16.
Ferrari undoubtedly has one of the strongest and most complete line-ups, revolutionizing everything compared to last year: David Tonizza and Brendon Leigh out, the Iranian Bari Broumand and Italo-French Nicolas Longuet in, two of the most experienced and fastest drivers, although still very young. The great friendship between the two is an added value which, as stated by Longuet, helped them to push beyond their limits.Alongside them is the reserve driver Istvan Puki, who has performed well in Tier 1 leagues such as PSGL and WOR.
Red Bull is counting on an experienced lineup, with Frederik Rasmussen, returning from four consecutive second places at world championships, and Josh Idowu, newly promoted from Alpha Tauri.
As a reserve driver they rely on Sebastian Job, who joined the team in 2019 and is very active - and victorious - in the GT sector on iRacing and Rennsport.
Mercedes confirms two-time world champion Jarno Opmeer and young Jake Benham, already present last season. The latter alternated with the third driver Dani Bereznay, a highly experienced sim driver coming from Alfa Romeo.
McLaren kept reigning world champion Lucas Blakeley, while Dani Moreno (former Mercedes) and Wilson Hughes were chosen to replace Broumand, that alternated during the championship.
Kick Sauber, although not so performing in real life, has decided to strongly focus on the virtual, hiring the expert Brendon Leigh (also two-time world champion, although in slow decline) from Ferrari and confirming the young and very fast Thomas Ronhaar, returning from an excellent third place last year. The latter is even more motivated by the desire to silence once and for all the heavy allegations of cheating that have plagued him in recent years.
Williams and Haas decided instead to shuffle the cards and bet everything on two very young rookies, Ismael Fahssi and Alfie Butcher, who impressed during qualifying.
The rest of the teams split up the remaining sim drivers, which even if less renowned, remain among the fastest worldwide.
Rookies on track, gambling or winning choice?
That's a very interesting question.
Even if to bring a rookie on track in F1 can be difficult, in the esports world we find ourselves in a completely different scenario.
Indeed, there are several "Tier 1" leagues (PSGL and WOR on all) which, even though not officially organized by Formula 1, allows drivers to compete and train at their best during the season. It's a bit like if an F1 championship was organized parallel to the real one, with its own ranking and drivers mixed between professional and non-professional ones.
So, for an esports’ rookie it is much easier to get used to the rhythms of other sim drivers, having been able to race with them throughout the year.
Beginnings
As mentioned in the last article, lights went officially out on November 25, 2023, with the first race in Bahrain.
In the desert of Sakhir, Ronhaar immediately makes the big shot: pole, win, and a nice $5,000 check as an additional prize.
On the other hand, Ferrari‘s championship didn’t start well, with Longuet who, on lap six, remains involved in a contact with Blakeley and Butcher, and is forced to stop to change the front wing. He will still be able to finish on the lowest step of the podium, after a good recovery.
Jarno Opmeer was also forced to work hard: after an anonymous P9 in qualifying, the Dutchman had one of his masterclass races to finish second.
Rasmussen finished fourth, followed by Broumand - also author of the fastest lap.
Disaster for Leigh, Ronhaar's teammate, who remained behind due to hardware problems that also affected many other drivers during the series.
Theoretically, a second race in Jeddah would have been scheduled for the next day, but as mentioned in our prior article, various problems caused it to be cancelled.
Off we go again
Once the problems have been solved, which took 5 months, the championship can finally restart.
Getting to Jeddah, Rasmussen gets pole ahead of Broumand and an excellent Butcher, who already showed a decent speed finishing in the points in Bahrain. The latter two, however, vanished everything with a contact, giving the victory to the Red Bull driver.
The remaining steps on the podium were taken by Ronhaar and the other rookie Fahssi after a good battle.
The next race in Austria will again see Ronhaar start from the front of the group, followed by Broumand and Rasmussen. But the race was again marked by technical problems: Blakeley was disconnected from the session, forcing a VSC to allow him to come back.
Due to the failed strategies, Haas was undoubtedly the team that handled the situation best: the "sacrifice" of Ulaş Özyıldrım, left on track to slow down the group, allowed Butcher to create a gap and win ahead of Ronhaar and Fahssi. A real masterclass.
Title contenders Rasmussen and Broumand finished in P7 and P10 respectively, while Opmeer messed everything up by deciding to retire after a penalty that he defined unfairly taken under safety car.
This move will cost him, among other things, a grid penalty for the next race at Silverstone.
But, despite the penalty, the Dutchman from Mercedes wasn’t discouraged and still had one more card to
play for a monstrous performance, with a perfect strategy that allowed him to win ahead of Longuet.
It was a grey day like the English sky for the title contenders, with Rasmussen seventh, Ronhaar eighth and even Broumand, eleventh and out of points.
The Iranian, however, will redeem himself in the next race at Spa, taking pole and victory ahead of Blakeley and Rasmussen after a huge battle.
Still off the game, Ronhaar finished only tenth, while Opmeer managed to finish P5 and got fastest lap.
The standings tighten: Ronhaar leads by little, only 3 points on Rasmussen and 9 on Opmeer. But the championship is still long and all to be played.
The next race at Zandvoort was, once again, the theatre of technical problems, which this time affected Longuet: after starting from pole, a bug during the pit stop caused him to be fitted intermediate tires instead of slicks, forcing him to an additional stop and sending him to last position.
Rasmussen takes the stage and wins, followed by a stubborn Broumand and a surprising Tom Manley on the Alpha Tauri. Butcher fourth, whom continues to show an impressive pace.
Out of the points again Ronhaar, who loses the lead of the drivers' standings.
The last race scheduled for the second event is Austin.
On the American track, Blakeley takes the pole, but not an exactly flawless strategy leaves him outside the podium, behind Rasmussen, Broumand and a reborn Leigh.
The first points for the two Alpine are worth mentioning, in P7 and P8.
Full blind for Ronhaar, with the umpteenth race out of the points which makes him slide fourth in the standings behind Broumand and Opmeer.
Grand finale
In Mexico, after a great pole position, Broumand had to settle for second place behind an assaulting Ronhaar, eager to recover after the last disappointing performance. Disaster for his teammate Leigh, who left the scene in a crash.
Ronhaar will be able to seize another win at the next race in Brazil ahead of Opmeer and Butcher, while the Ferraris finish their worst race of the season without points due to Broumand's withdrawal for a spin and a penalty for Longuet, who sent him out of points in fourth place.
Despite this bitter performance, the two Ferraris will get their own back in the next two races of Losail and Las Vegas, catching two magnificent 1-2 finishes that allowed them to definitively close the games for the constructors’ championship.
For the final event in Abu Dhabi, three drivers were still fighting for the title: Rasmussen, Ronhaar and Broumand, although much further away and basically kept in play only by the math’s.
Ronhaar returned to pole again (the fourth of the season, more than any other driver), followed by Broumand and Longuet. Rasmussen only managed to take P7, but the good strategy acted by the team managed to bring him back to P4 and finally close the games.
The race will then be won by Butcher, the second win of the season in his rookie year, not a bad performance.
Final standings
So, after 4 second places in a row, Frederik Rasmussen finally managed to get rid of the name of eternal second, winning the championship ahead of Ronhaar and Broumand. Right behind them is Opmeer and Butcher, the best rookie. Sixth Longuet and only seventh Lucas Blakeley, former champion, at the end of a really crooked and swinging year. Behind them is another rookie Fahssi and Bereznay, the best among the drivers who didn’t participate in all the races. To close the top-ten Brendon Leigh, returning from quite an underwhelming year.
In the constructors’ championship, however, it’s finally the Red Maranello triumph, ahead of Kick Sauber and Red Bull. Fourth Mercedes and fifth Haas, ahead of a disappointing McLaren that on paper could certainly aim to something more.
Haas has thus shown that even with rookies it’s possible to achieve important results even if with little budget.
Disaster for Alpine that, with only 11 points won in 12 races, finishes at the bottom
This closes the 2023 season of the Formula 1 Sim Racing World Championship, undoubtedly one of the highest levels ever in terms of drivers' line-ups, but above all, one of the most exciting in terms of action on track.
If the problems that plagued the series will be solved (even if the new F1 24 does not give much hope), the next season promises to be absolutely crackling.
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