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It’s nearly time! The F1 Sim Racing World Championship Event 2 is about to get underway in Stockholm, Sweden. A few teams have changed their 3 driver line up ahead of the green lights in Jeddah, on April 10th.
This is the first time since Haas had a driver who was unwell in 2018 and called up Tom Parker, that we’ve had mid-season driver swaps. each team has a reason to bring in new talent, as they continue to search for the top slot of the Team Championship.
Let’s take a look at each team change below and catch up with each of the new drivers to see how they’re settling into their new teams.
Here is a summary of the three main changes, going into Event 2.
| Team | In | Out |
| Alpine Esports | Filip Prešnajder | Luke Smith |
| KICK F1 Sim Racing | Xander Van Dijken | Matthijs van Erven |
| Williams Esports | Will Lewis | Marcel Kiefer |
We caught up with each driver to see how they’re settling into their new teams.
Over at Enstone, Alpine have been making changes to their 2023/24 World Championship line up. We see Luke Smith departing the roster and Filip Prešnajder, who stepped down last year, making an unexpected return to the grid.
Filip has worked with Alpine previously over the past 2 years, he stepped back at the end of the 2022 series and into a part time role which allowed him to focus on his university work. But 2 years later, in 2024, he’s back and itching to get started in the F1 Sim Racing Championship.
“It has been really difficult so far in F1 Sim Racing with not so great performances on my end and it has definitely became a tough situation to be in, especially mentally after stepping down to a part-time role within the team at the start of last year. However looking back at it, I feel like it was a right decision at that time. I have started my full-time university studies last September, studying Computer Science, along with the development driver role at Alpine for this season and I feel like during this time I found the passion and mental strength again. This has really helped to push me forward.
I also owe a huge thanks to the people around me, my family, girlfriend, the whole team that has supported me all this time, never giving up and still believing in me. After getting the call to come back to the series, I just couldn’t say no! These opportunities don’t come around often and it would be crazy to not agree on a return! I’d be kicking myself later in life and I believe I am ready to prove to everyone why I’m back.
I’m really excited to be back in the series and my redemption starts now. I have been putting a lot more hours ever since getting the chance and even if it is sometimes tight timing wise with the dates of each event, I love every second of it.
Everyone has been extremely supportive within the team and people around me. My team mates, Patrik and Ruben are amazing teammates and I feel like we have good chemistry between one and another. So, I can’t wait to go out there and get the most out of this opportunity and obviously do my best!”
KICK F1 Sim Racing Team have freshened up their line up and are looking to continue the form – and points – that Brendon Leigh (2017 + 2018 World Champion) and Thomas Ronhaar (2023 Pro Exhibition Champion) have started them off with in Event 1. Bringing in Dutchman Xander Van Dijke, who’s looking to keep the current form going, which we wish him the best as that’s no easy feat! We caught up with Xander, who is very excited to get started in the Series, when the time is right.
“Looking forward to start the season in a few days with alot of hard work done from everyone inside the team over the last few weeks. For myself I started racing 4 years ago on F1 2020 and i only could have dreamed of being in a F1 team. I managed to qualify for the challengers series, where I just missed out on the chance to qualify for the main series. But I kept working hard and with alot of hard work I finally managed to make the step up and I cant thank the team enough for giving me that chance.
When the announcement was released my family were over the moon, as I kept it a secret and I didnt tell them that I to be signed by an Official F1 team. They were very happy and it was a nice surprise.
Its been a amazing time so far being with KICK F1 Sim Racing Team. Its a a great team to be in with alot of laughs but also very serious ans productive when we have to be. I think that sort of balance is great to have on the inside of a team. We havent really set a specific target but i think we have shown alot of pace in pre season that we can fight at the front of the field.”
Williams have changed their line up, with Marcel Kiefer no longer racing the team who are based in Grove, UK. Replacing the German is 18 year old Will Lewis from Stevenage, UK.
Will originally qualified for the F1 Sim Racing Challengers 2023, via the in-game qualification route. Now being signed by an official F1 team, the Brit is raring to get started in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship. We reached out to Will to ask him how he’s settling into his new team.
“To get called up to race in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship is an extremely proud moment for me as I’ve been working for this since I was a kid. I cant wait to get started and show everyone what I can do! As for when you will see me I’m not going to try and force things I’m just going to keep working with my team behind the scenes as hard as possible; and when the opportunity arises ensure that I am as ready as I can be.
My main aim for the championship personally is to achieve a couple of point finishes and get myself off the mark to solidify myself as a solid competitor, My family are so proud of how far I’ve come since last year with some personal things taking place and cant wait to see how i do competing for a flreal Formula 1 team. Williams have been absolutely amazing with me since I first joined in February 2023 and have really taken the time to progress me on and off the track and I cant thank them enough for the opportunity they have given me.”
With all three of those changes, we’re sure to see some exciting action on the virtual track! Let’s take a look at each teams overall line up, and reflect on the standings – we’ll also throw in some timezones for you all!
| Team | Drivers |
| Alpine | Filip Presnajder, Patrik Sipos, Ruben Pedreno |
| Alpha Tauri | Jed Norgrove, Joni Tormala, Tom Manley |
| Aston Martin | Fabrizio Donoso, John Evans, Simon Weigang |
| Ferrari Esports | Bardia Broumand, Istvan Puki, Nicolas Longuet |
| Haas | Alfie Butcher, Bence Szabo-Konyi, Ulas Ozyildirim |
| KICK F1 Sim Racing | Brendon Leigh, Thomas Ronhaar, Xander van Dijken |
| McLaren Shadow | Dani Moreno, Lucas Blakeley, Wilson Hughes |
| Mercedes Esports | Daniel Bereznay, Jake Benham, Jarno Opmeer |
| Red Bull | Frederik Rasmussen, Josh Idowu, Sebastian Job |
| Williams Esports | Alvaro Carreton, Ismael Fahssi, Will Lewis |
You know the line up for each team, but let’s break down Event 2’s Key times, for each time zone.
Key Dates:
| Date | Show & Time – CEST |
| 10th April | 12:00pm – Qualifying Show 5:00pm – Main Show |
| 11th April | 12:00pm – Qualifying Show 5:00pm – Main Show |
| 12th April | 12:00pm – Qualifying Show 5:00pm – Main Show |
The Qualifying Show:
| Name/Zone | Time |
| CEST (UTC +2) | 12:00pm |
| BST (UTC +1) | 11:00am |
| UTC/GMT | 10:00am |
| ADT (UTC -3) | 7:00am |
| EDT (UTC -4) | 6:00am |
| CDT (UTC -5) | 5:00am |
| MDT (UTC -6) | 4:00am |
| PDT (UTC -7) | 3:00am |
| WST (UTC +8) | 6:00pm |
| CST (UTC +9) | 7:00pm |
| CDT (UTC +10) | 9:00pm |
The Main Show:
| Name/Zone | Time |
| CEST (UTC +2) | 5:00pm |
| BST (UTC +1) | 4:00pm |
| UTC/GMT | 3:00pm |
| ADT (UTC -4) | 12:00pm |
| EDT (UTC-5) | 11:00am |
| CDT (UTC -5) | 10:00am |
| MDT (UTC -6) | 9:00am |
| PDT (UTC -7) | 8:00am |
| WST (UTC +8) | 11:00pm |
| CST (UTC +9) | 12:00am |
| CDT (UTC +10) | 1:00am |
We’ll see you on the official Formula YouTube or Twitch channel, on Wednesday for lights out!
