It’s been revealed that nine of the 10 world championship teams will be competing in the second season of the Formula 1 Esports Series. The only team that hasn’t entered the virtual racing scene is Ferrari.
The Formula 1 Esports Series will see online drivers compete on F1 2017, the game played in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, in hopes to qualifying for a place in the inaugural Pro Draft in July.
The Pro Draft will see the following teams select the drivers they wish to represent them in the second half of the season. The teams involved are as follows: Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Hype Energy eForce India, Williams F1 Esports Team, Renault Sport, Team Vitality, Haas F1 Esports Team, McLaren, Toro Rosso, and Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team.
There will be four qualifying events for players to enter the drafting stage, kicking off on April 13th. The first event will see drivers behind the wheel of Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes in Shanghai, with the 10 fastest players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC progressing to a live-streamed final. From there, the top three on each platform will cement their place in the Pro Draft.
Once teams have chosen their drivers, they will compete in the second half of the season where a $200,000 (£142,418) prize pool is up for grabs. There will be three live events to decide the World Champion, much like Brendon Leigh who won the very first season in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Just last month it was announced that DHL is the first official partner of the Formula 1 Esports Series, acting as a natural expansion of the logistics company and Formula 1’s longstanding relationship.
Esports Insider says: It’s good to see (almost) all of the official F1 teams wanting to be represented in esports. The Pro Draft seems like it will be just as exciting and intense as the competition itself, which is great news for the series.