Qualification for the 2022 F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco is GO! The month of October heralds the arrival of our first qualification route into next year’s F1 Esports Series, and it couldn’t be easier to take part.

Anyone with a copy of F1 2021 is eligible, and signing up take but the click of a few buttons. Here’s how to get involved!

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It…

Carlos Sainz has had a very strong season with Ferrari so far, racking up a trio of podiums and leading a good chunk of the race in Russia. In Austria this year, he converted a middling P11 start into a superb P5 finish. But your job is to take him even further. With a handful of laps remaining, it’s your job to ascend through the field and finish as high up as you can.

If you’ve taken part in one of these scenarios before, you know the drill by now. But if not, the premise is simple. You’ll be scored on your lap times, clean driving, use of assists, use of flashbacks, and most crucially, your race time and finishing position. Simply, maximise your points-scoring with the best performance you can, and you’ll stand the best chance of earning a spot in F1 Esports Series Challengers.

Challengers? What’s That?

Our core qualification route, that’s what! The very best entrants from this qualification event will be put forward into our cohort of Challengers for 2022. Combined with qualifiers from the second qualification event (coming November), we’ll embark on a 12-race championship in early 2022 to decide who the 10 official F1 Esports teams can pick from later in the year.

Crucially, make sure you have your PSN, Xbox Live, or Steam account linked to make sure your effort is counted. Simply head to F1Esports.com, scroll down to the bottom, and click the link that looks like this.

So get out there, and get racing! And who knows, maybe we’ll be crowning you as our next F1 Esports champion in years to come…

Lando Norris and George Russell are no strangers to virtual racing. Lando streams every week, and George is our two-time Virtual Grand Prix champion. But what happens when the real drivers face off against their AI opponents? Introducing ‘Me, Myself and AI’!

We gave both drivers a five-lap run at Silverstone against their AI to see if the human elements could overpower their digital counterparts, with some hilarious results! Check out the full video below.

F1 2021 is available globally on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, and PC. To get your copy, take a look here!

One week ago, the latest iteration of the Formula 1 game, F1 2021, launched worldwide. With loads of new features and more ways to enjoy the game than ever before, it’s sure to be a mainstay in our lives for the next year. Forming the basis of our 2021 Pro Championship, F1 2021 is super-important to F1 Esports. But first, we need a few lessons in how to play the game, and how not to…

With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at how racers have been playing the game so far – including some world-class overtakes, funny moments, and epic fails!

To The Fan Zone

First up, we took over the Esports area of the Fan Zone in Silverstone, where a sold-out capacity crowd rejoiced in the sun for a memorable weekend of racing. With 16 gaming rigs running F1 2021, the Fan Zone provided the perfect showcase for the launch of the game worldwide, on Friday July 16.

With dozens of races every day in front of the onlooking crowd, it was a chance for many to show off their skills and compete to win some awesome merch. And if that wasn’t for you, the F1 2021 area gave people the opportunity to race 1v1 on controllers for a more relaxed setting. Add to that the dazzling F1 2021-liveried car, and you have the perfect backdrop to the game!

Old Pits, Bro!

Twitter user and Twitch partner JDenman9 took a detour during a multiplayer Sprint Race at Silverstone, accidentally turning into the pits out of Woodcote, instead of the new ones between Vale and Abbey. Maybe it would’ve worked in F1 2010…

Alpine Felipe

Speaking of Abbey, Twitter user Matthew Karagich had a rather unique obstacle during some laps in Bahrain, when his cat perched atop his PS4. If I fits, I sits, right?

Tips From The Champ

Jarno Opmeer knows a thing or two about going fast in F1! The reigning champion has gone through all the settings he uses to get the absolute maximum out of his experience. Remember though, that what works for Jarno might not necessarily suit your driving style! He’s also promised via social media that he’ll be sharing his car setups for each track, in due course.

Did a Full 180

Alfie had a brown-trouser moment while negotiating a slippery Blanchimont corner at Spa during a Braking Point race, coming perilously close to smashing his Williams into the inside wall. But with some quick braking and steering just at the right time, he managed to save the slide, and just possibly, Casper Akkerman’s race.

Oh no, no!

One thing we don’t see too often is the expiry of a Mercedes power unit, but that’s just what Darien (NASCARUTFan on Twitter) saw whilst touring Bahrain. Lightning reflexes helped him avoid Bottas’ smoking W12 however, and he moved up into the lead. Nice work.

No Heroics Into Sainte Devote Please

Anyone who has ever raced around Monaco has ended up in the barrier. It’s inevitable – at some point, it is going to happen. Alex Cox found that out the hard way during a 25% lap race, in which an omnishambles of wall-rides collisions and crashes resulted in one of the most chaotic first laps since… well, last weekend!

And speaking of Sainte Devote, our old friend Ben Daly AKA Tiametmarduk got a very ‘special’ reminder of that fated corner when he loaded up his game…

UnSafety Car

User Camodo Gaming had a somewhat unfortunate indicent in which the Mercedes-AMG Safety Car didn’t quite live up to its name, causing a pretty significant incident in the process.

The Last Air(brush)bender

Justin, AKA trvprical, came up with this awesome throwback helmet, paying homage to Aang from the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. We’ll report back with findings on whether this design creates more downforce.

I Have Balls, But None Of Them Are Crystal

Sootie managed to perfectly predict the future, when he pre-empted Turn 1 chaos during a race at the Red Bull Ring. With the top two spinning out, the lead was his for the taking. gg ez!

What has been your stand-out moment on F1 2021 so far? Tag your videos and photos with #F12021 on social, and we might just feature them next time!

F1 2021 is available worldwide, for PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and the Xbox One S/X and Xbox Series X. Click here to get your copy!

The wait is finally over – F1 2021 is here! The brand-new official Formula 1 Game, developed by Codemasters and for the first time, EA Sports, hits store shelves around the world today, Friday July 16.

The game’s launch coincides with a sold-out British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, meaning fans at the track and back at home will have plenty of activities to keep them entertained!

What’s New?

F1 2021 comes with a bumper list of features, game modes and tweaks from previous years. There really has never been more to do in an F1 game, from a brand new story mode  to an enriched multiplayer experience.

It’s also the first F1 game to be released on the new generation of consoles: Xbox One Series X, and PlayStation 5. Both platforms offer the juiciest graphics, crunchiest car damage, and speediest loading screens around, so if you’re lucky enough to own one of these consoles, you’re in for a treat. That said, the game still performs fantastically on Xbox One/S, PS4, and of course PC.

Real-Season Start is another immersive mode which lets players in Career mode step in for one of the 20 Formula 1 drivers at any point in the season, and attempt to alter the course of history. At the time of writing, Max Verstappen leads the championship, 32 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The choice is yours – play as Verstappen and build your lead, play as Hamilton and hunt him down, or pick someone completely different and come through as a plucky underdog. Real-Season Start will update throughout the 2021 F1 season, so you can get the same history-changing experience no matter when you jump in.

Story Mode(s)

There are so many ways to immerse yourself in a season in F1 2021. The aforementioned Braking Point puts you in the shoes of Aiden Jackson, and sees you participate in an epic, engrossing story with characters that perfectly illustrate the euphoria and heartbreak of racing. Cutscenes, dramatic moments and the guy we love to hate, Devon Butler, make this an unmissable way to play the F1 game.

Career mode is back with double the fun, as you can now forge a two-player career mode, either co-operatively as team mates, or competitively as you vie for the championship. Create your driver, pick a team, and race however you want! Difficulty settings can be fine-tuned, and you can choose championship calendars and session lengths to suit your needs. The F2 career mode is also present, so you can race as one of F1’s Stars of Tomorrow too.

For a quick fix, Grand Prix mode has you covered, where you can race on any of the 21 tracks in game to your heart’s content. This track list includes venues which were planned to feature on the calendar, including Melbourne, Montreal, and Shanghai. And in DLC news, fans will be delighted to hear that Imola, Portimao and Jeddah will all come to the game as post-launch content!

Legend-wait-for-it-dary

MyTeam Mode is beefier than ever in 2021, with you put in control of your own team with the hopes of making it to the top. You can change just about everything in terms of your team’s look and feel, and there are some awesome options for your team mate too. In the Deluxe Edition of the game, you can select a team mate from not only the drivers of Formula 1 and Formula 2, but also one of seven legendary racers, if you can negotiate a contract. These are: Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Felipe Massa. Who would you have by your side?

Higher or Lower?

F1 2020 brought driver ratings to the franchise for the first time, and they’ve been refreshed and updated for this season. This includes ratings for the four drivers who weren’t part of the championship last season; Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, Nikita Mazepin, and Mick Schumacher. We had a lot of fun asking the Alfa Romeo, Williams and AlphaTauri drivers to guess each other’s ratings, which you can check out below! You can also see the full list of ratings here.

All eyes on you, Pro Championship

Of course, a new F1 game means a new platform for our F1 Esports Series. This year’s Pro Championship will see the new game running in its most competitive form, and we can’t wait to get going. As in 2020, our elite racers will utilise a unique build, with 35% race distance hitting a happy medium of strategy and sprint.

We’ve got big plans for the 2021 Pro Championship, and while we can’t confirm too much yet, keep an eye out for a new-look calendar which balances classics and contemporary favourites. The Pro Championship gets going later this year in October, so stay tuned for updates!

In summary, F1 2021 offers more game modes, customisability, immersion, and good old-fashioned fun than ever before. Click here to get your hands on a copy!