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Silly Season continues! Esports is taking centre stage in our current sport-less climate, and Ferrari Driver Academy Hublot Esports Team made a big announcement on Thursday morning. Long-time veteran of the F1 Esports series, Enzo Bonito, will be linking up with them for 2020.
It means that Bonito will team up with 2019 drivers’ champion David Tonizza, in what is sure to be a very explosive duo.
🚨 Our 2020 #FerrariEsports line-up is complete 👥
Current Champion David Tonizza will be joined by new recruit, Enzo Bonito ðŸ¤
From rivals to teammates, Bonito has been involved in #Esports for 5 years and made his #F1Esports debut in 2018 🎮#FDAEsportsTeam pic.twitter.com/vZr2N47CiG
— FerrariEsports (@FerrariEsports) March 19, 2020
Bonito has for the past two seasons raced with McLaren Shadow, alongside Bono Huis. He enjoyed a reasonable 2019 campaign, picking up 46 points, including a best finish of second at the penultimate race in Austin. His team, McLaren Shadow, placed fifth overall, breaking the 100-point barrier.
So on to pastures new. Ferrari were a force to be reckoned with in 2019, but with Tonizza scoring all of their 184 points, they were unable to challenge Red Bull for the teams’ championship. In Tonizza and Bonito, the digital Prancing Horse will be hoping to gallop towards more silverware this time round.
His change from McLaren directly to Ferrari mirrors real-life changes too. Alain Prost made that switch after a hair-raising 1989 season. After his duel with Ayrton Senna, he joined the Scuderia for the 1990-91 seasons. Just two years later, Senna’s next team mate Gerhard Berger also made the switch, leaving McLaren for Maranello after the 1992 season.
The Prancing Horse. A team named for the incomparable Enzo Ferrari. It’s an easy link to make – but there’s so much more to this signing than the opportunity to replicate Il Commendatore’s name. Bonito represents that rarest of talents; one who can translate to the physical racetrack, as well as simulated.
He took centre stage when he knocked out motorsport champions Lucas di Grassi, and Ryan Hunter-Reay at the 2019 Race Of Champions in Mexico City. And while his on-track exploits will be of lesser significance in the F1 Esports Series, it’s a very handy string for him to have to his bow.
The lines between motorsport and #F1Esports get blurrier by the day…@EnzoBonito17 converts sim racing to on-track precision at #ROCMexico 👀 pic.twitter.com/2qmKoIrDeF
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 21, 2019
It’s the second big driver transfer thus far announced in 2020. Just recently, Nicolas Longuet was announced at Renault Sport Team Vitality for the upcoming season, having spend 2019 at Red Bull Racing Esports.
Who will be next to switch? Keep your eyes on social media and right here on F1Esports.com for more up-to-date news.
