Williams Esports has set up four sim racing rigs available for fans to use at The O2 Arena’s ‘Virgin Media Gamepad’ in London.
According to Williams Racing’s esports division, the rigs will provide professional racers and newcomers with the opportunity to experience F1 racing free of charge all week.
The initiative coincides with the upcoming F1 75 Live season launch event, taking place today from 8pm GMT at The O2 Arena. For this year’s season kick-off, Formula 1 has invited all 10 teams to unveil their new car liveries in front of a live audience.
Compared to other esports disciplines, especially mobile titles, sim racing has a relatively high entry barrier due to the required specialised gaming equipment. In recent years, however, several stakeholders have made attempts to increase its accessibility, launching more sim racing opportunities.
Similarly, some stakeholders are promoting the inclusion of disabled and neurodiverse drivers, such as UK racing team Quartermass Motorsport with its Para Racers Academy.
With the eyes of many F1 fans on The O2 Arena, providing racing rigs to all launch event attendees could be an opportunity for Williams Esports to promote sim racing to racing and esports communities.
Its parent company, Williams Racing, has been a driving force in the sim racing world after becoming the first F1 team to establish its own esports team in 2018. Since then, the organisation has created a content creator ambassador programme as well as a Student Racing League.
Last year, Williams Esports also recorded major competitive successes. The team ended the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series at the top of the team and individual driver leaderboards, with Williams driver Parker White becoming the Season champion.