eSports: New Automotive Discipline?
With video games becoming increasingly realistic, like the latest F1 2017, a benchmark in motor racing games, it was only natural for F1 eSports to be born.
We were familiar with Formula 1, IndyCar, or even Formula E, the recent descendant of the top discipline, now here are the F1 eSports Series.
After months of competitions during which the best e-drivers from around the world faced off on the virtual tracks of the game F1 2017, the first world champion of the F1 eSport Series has now been revealed. It is the British Brandon Leigh, only 18 years old and still unknown to the general public.
This competition, which began in September, saw the 40 best F1 2017 players compete. Among them, 20 gamers reached the much-anticipated final. The winner thus earned the privilege of attending the race of their choice in 2018 and will have the chance to become a character in the F1 2018 game. This further explains the fans’ interest in this discipline.
Furthermore, the enthusiasm surrounding it is not limited to fans. Indeed, drivers and teams are getting in on the action. The McLaren team, in this regard, launched an eSports competition last spring in partnership with Logitech: the World’s Fastest Gamer, aimed at selecting its new official simulator driver for a duration of 1 year. Zak Brown, McLaren’s executive director, stated: “This is undoubtedly the right time to implement a unique and exciting proposition that connects the worlds of racing and gaming in a way never explored before.” Very recently, double world champion Fernando Alonso, a driver for this very team, announced he was creating his own eSports team in partnership with Codemasters. He stated in a press release: “Every Formula 1 driver is a gamer at heart.”
