Lucas Blakeley and McLaren champion F1 Esports

One of the defining elements of the 2022 F1 Esports Pro Series season is probably the number of drivers who have emerged as potential candidates for the driver’s title. Unlike previous seasons where the battle for the crown was mostly fought between just two protagonists, in 2022, it was 5 drivers who could, more or less, believe in the championship title. However, among these 5, only one would be able to take home the trophy. That lucky winner is none other than Lucas Blakeley.

The Scottish driver has thus won the first Esports title of his career. This comes after an impressive season in the PSGL championship, which he had also won. Blakeley had joined McLaren at the beginning of the year after three years of good and loyal service at Racing point/ Aston Martin. 15th in 2019, 15th in 2020, 3rd in 2021, and then champion in 2022, the ascent has been meteoric for Lucas Blakeley.

The McLaren driver didn’t hide his joy on social media: “I can’t believe I am world champion. I have been chasing this dream for so many years, ever since I started really training for F1 Esports in 2018, and achieving it brings me so many emotions. I don’t have the words to describe this feeling, but I know it will truly hit me when I am back home. If you had told me in 2015 that I would one day be world champion when I had quit karting for financial reasons, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

The McLaren driver had announced from the beginning of the season that the combination on the podiums would be orange. Indeed, in the first 3 races, Blakeley made it to the podium each time and emerged victorious in Bahrain and Imola. Although it took until the 6th race in Zandvoort to see him back on the podium, he had secured significant points in Austria and Belgium by finishing sixth and fourth respectively. While his second half of the season was less dazzling with only 1 victory in Brazil and no podium finishes, the Scotsman never seemed to be in a slump. His worst position was 7th place in Mexico. Without gaining points on his rivals, the last 6 races of his campaign helped solidify his lead in the championship. His outstanding form in the first part of the season demonstrates how quickly Blakeley grasped the intricacies of the F1 22 compared to others, but this advantage slowly diminished as the races and weeks of training went by.

Lucas Blakeley finishes ahead of Frederik Rasmussen in the championship. This is the fourth consecutive season that the Danish driver has finished as the runner-up in the F1 Esports Pro Series. Despite achieving 3 more podium finishes than his rival (8 for Rasmussen and 5 for Blakeley), the Red Bull driver had one race outside of the points, which didn’t happen to Blakeley. Behind Rasmussen, we can find Thomas Ronhaar. The Haas rookie impressed spectators by securing 7 podium finishes, including 2 victories, in his first season. Bardia Boroumand finished in 4th position with 1 victory and 6 podium finishes. The reigning world champion, Jarno Opmeer, concludes the Top 5 with 3 podium finishes, including 2 victories. It was a relatively disappointing season for the Dutch driver, who only seemed to be a title contender intermittently.

With a total of 11 podiums and 5 victories, McLaren emerges as the champion of constructors for the first time in its history. The Woking-based team had been stuck in a meager 6th place for the past 3 seasons. It’s a meteoric rise in the hierarchy that allows McLaren to achieve the second most dominant season for a team. It surpasses Red Bull in the standings with a lead of 122 points. The most dominant season by a team had been accomplished by Mercedes in 2018 with 8 victories, 13 podiums, and a 172-point lead over Toro Rosso.