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The Women’s Wildcard is a new route to the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Exhibition. Along with our Challengers winners, DHL Time Trial specialists, 2020 China Championship trailblazers and a selection of Pro Series drivers from 2020, one talented female racer will make it to the show, which takes place at the end of May.
If you’re part of the female sim-racing community, you might be wondering how to get involved? Well wonder no more, as we’re here to break down the process. Here’s how you could make history in 2021.
As the name tells you, this route is open exclusively to female racers, aged 16 or over at the time of entry. You must also own a copy of F1 2020 for Xbox, PlayStation or compatible PC devices in order to take part.
If you fit those criteria, you’ll also need to sign up to take part in the F1 Esports Series, which you can do here. Simply fill in your details and link your relevant gaming account, and you’re good to go!
This is a one-lap, offline time trial, so you’ll be competing against the clock rather than other competitors. Head to F1 2020, and load up a Time Trial. Select Modern F1 Cars from the options, and choose whichever car you like – car performance will need to be set to equal, so your choice of team won’t be a factor. Select Silverstone Circuit, turn off assists, set weather to dry and time of day to official, and you’re all set!
Mode: Time Trial
Circuit: Silverstone
Modern F1 Cars
Assists: Off
Weather: Clear/dry
Time of day: Official
Once you’ve got yourself dialled-in, you’ll need to record your best lap, making sure the lap counter and your gamertag are visible at all times throughout. You’ll also need to show your lap time and assists used as you end the session. This screen will look a little something like this:
When you’ve got all this compiled, send it to support@f1esports.com within three days of the competition ending (ends on May 9, so get your evidence across by May 12 at the latest), and the fastest will win!
Up for grabs is a place in the 2021 F1 Esports Pro Exhibition. Here, the 10 official F1 Esports teams will get a glimpse of the talent on display, with driver evaluations helping to pinpoint the best of the best. After this, a one-month signing period will commence, during which the teams must make their selections for the 2021 Pro Championship. Teams can select any driver who qualifies for the Pro Exhibition, as well as any drivers from the 2020 Championship.
The show will be going broadcast across F1’s social channels on Thursday May 27, so tune in then to see the breadth of talent on display!
We’ve seen some serious talent since we launched our F1 Esports Series back in 2017. And while we’ve been joined by some brilliant female talent, both in the studio and in racing roles in our Virtual Grands Prix, we’re yet to see a woman driving in the Pro Championship itself. Whilst there is an extremely talented and passionate female sim-racing community, we see a disproportionately low number of these drivers entering F1 Esports Series events. The Women’s Wildcard is a way of encouraging women and girls to get involved with the F1 Esports Series at a grassroots level.
By introducing an extra opportunity, we hope it will inspire hundreds, maybe even thousands of other ultra-fast speed queens to hop on F1 2020 and put down their fastest lap time.
We don’t want to separate men and women from one another – far from it. As part of Formula 1’s #WeRaceAsOne initiative, we believe that everyone should have the equal opportunity to take on the world. Introducing the Women’s Wildcard will open up the F1 Esports Series to the female sim-racing community and provide a platform for these talented drivers to showcase their skills and compete with the very best in the world at the Pro Exhibition (whatever their gender). It is our hope that it will lay the foundation for more women and girls to get involved for 2022 and beyond!
