The champions of 2023-2024 F1 ESports Sim Racing series has been crowned with Ferrari taking constructors’ honours and Red Bull drivers’.
The F1 Sim Racing World Championship went down to the wire as Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team and Frede Rasmussen, of Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, sealed the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships respectively, each for the first time, in the final race of Event 3 at the Yas Marina Circuit. Despite having a Drivers’ Champion in the past, this was Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team’s maiden F1 Sim Racing World Championship, as they claimed the biggest share of the $750,000 prize pot on offer.
The two Championships, which see the ten F1 Esports Teams battle it out in 12 races across three Events, went down to the final Event of the season with Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing leading both standings with five races to go. However, Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team were able to turn the tide and take the Constructors Championship, thanks to some outstanding performances by Scuderia’s driver pairing of Bari Broumand and Nicolas Longuet including two 1-2 finishes in races 10 (Las Vegas) and 11 (Qatar).
Rasmussen had entered the final Event leading the Drivers’ Championship, but two of his closest rivals Thomas Ronhaar, of KICK F1 SIM RACING TEAM, and Broumand won two races each (Ronhaar – Mexico City and São Paulo; Broumand – Las Vegas and Qatar) across the first two days and close the gap on the Dane. This meant Rasmussen, who has been a consistent presence in F1 Esports since it launched in 2017 and holds the record for wins and podiums, needed just a fourth-place finish in the season finale to secure his maiden Championship after being a runner-up on three occasions. An exhilarating season finale on the famous Yas Marina circuit saw the lead, and title, change hands on multiple occasions, but Rasmussen kept his cool to secure P4.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team Esports’ Alfie Butcher ended the season on a high with his second victory of the season with a win at Abu Dhabi, ahead of Ronhaar who came in P2, the same position he ended the Championship, with Dani Bereznay of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports taking the final spot on the podium. Broumand finished in seventh in the final race, which was enough to secure third in the Championship. Bereznay’s Mercedes’ teammate, Jarno Opmeer secured the DHL Fastest Lap award for the season and finished fourth overall in the standings.
The F1 Sim Racing World Championship returned to LAN racing this season, with the drivers battling it in-person, following four years of virtual action. This year also saw the introduction of dedicated F1 Esports social channels, with fans now able to access and engage with more content than ever before.
Tiziana Mecozzi, Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team Manager, said: “Today we won our first F1 Sim Racing Team Title. We are all very proud and happy for this prestigious achievement. As the level was very high and the gaps so small, this result is even more prestigious. Bari, Nico and all the team were consistent, and we have always given our best till the last race.”
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