E-sports: Brendon Leigh leaves Mercedes for Ferrari
It was on social media that the Esports team revealed its 2021 lineup for the upcoming F1 Esports season. Brendon Leigh will be joining David Tonizza at the Reds.
This Monday, January 18th, was marked by a shocking announcement in the world of sim racing. To everyone’s great surprise, double F1 Esports world champion Brendon Leigh has decided to leave Mercedes to join Ferrari in 2021. The British driver will thus team up with another F1 Esports Champion, pairing with David Tonizza who was crowned in 2019 during his first season in the discipline.
Brendon Leigh comes to replace Enzo Bonito, who had joined Ferrari in 2020 after a rollercoaster 2019 season with McLaren.
After his title in 2017, Brendon Leigh was immediately signed by Mercedes for the 2018 season: the first year of F1 Esports where Formula 1 teams got involved in the virtual championship. This first year of collaboration ended with a world champion title for both driver and team. The German team had crushed the competition because it was the first to invest so many resources in this new discipline.
While it was thought that Mercedes would be the team to beat in 2019, the star brand failed to keep up with teams like Red Bull, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and even Renault, which had doubled their efforts to beat Mercedes. Thus, a meager 5th place finish awaited Brendon Leigh and Mercedes in 2019. In 2020, the Silver Arrows managed to finish in 4th place, but this was largely facilitated by the misfortune of the reds with, for example, a double disconnection in China.
The choice of Brendon Leigh is a blow for Mercedes as they lose one of the best drivers on the grid. 2021 should provide us with some answers on Mercedes’ ability to bounce back after two challenging seasons.
