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It’s almost time. The 2021 F1 Esports Series begins in earnest on Thursday with the Pro Exhibition, but ahead of the show – which will combine elements of knockout racing and driver assessments – we can reveal record-breaking numbers in the build-up to the new digital season.
More than 494,000 people attempted to qualify for the 2021 F1 Esports Series, more than double the amount in 2020. The 108% increase saw people attempt to qualify via more routes than ever before, with the F1 Esports Series Challengers, the DHL Time Trial, the China Championship and the inaugural Women’s Wildcard all combining to produce a hugely-talented pool of hopeful racers.
Joined with the 30 existing Pro drivers from the 2020 Pro Series, the new cohort of sim racers will dazzle audiences for the first time on Thursday May 27 in the Pro Exhibition. This combine event will test the drivers to the limit through a series of in-game assessments, testing their abilities for the opportunity to be potentially selected by one of the 10 F1 Esports teams for their Pro Championship rosters later this year.
The event will take place on F1 2020, the official Formula 1 video game by Codemasters. Once the Pro Championship commences in October, all racing will transition to the 2021 game, which will be the first edition of the game since Codemasters’ acquisition by EA Sports. F1 2021 drops on Friday, July 16.
The Pro Exhibition show will be broadcast live across Formula 1’s streaming platforms on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Huya on the night, teeing off at 19:00 BST. The pre-recorded show will be fronted by F1 Esports frontmen Tom Deacon, Matt Gallagher and Nic Hamilton, and the trio will be joined by a raft of famous faces. These include ex-F1 star Romain Grosjean, F2 driver Guanyu Zhou and W Series driver Jessica Hawkins, and plenty more.
The hunt for our next superstar continues…
