Jarno Opmeer was crowned champion of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco on Thursday, adding to his maiden title in 2020. Just like last year, Red Bull’s Frede Rasmussen was hot on his heels, and in the end the pair were split by just eight points.

Rasmussen trailed by 21 points going into the final race, but a sublime win from tenth place – surely his best in the series so far – cut the gap down to single figures. Lucas Blakeley, who dropped out of contention for the drivers’ title on Wednesday night, took the second spot on the podium, with AlphaTauri’s Sebastian Job completing the rostrum.

WEDNESDAY’S ACTION

The first two races of the Grand Final took the drivers to Imola and Mexico City for two wild races, culminating in Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Esports Team winning the teams’ championship for the first time since 2018.

FDA’s David Tonizza scooped victory in the first race in Imola, after long-time race-leader Josh Idowu fell off the road on the final lap. Meanwhile in Mexico, Opmeer tussled with Bari Boroumand and Rasmussen for several laps before emerging victorious for the fourth time of the season.

Get the full lowdown on Wednesday’s action here, and check out highlights from Race 10 and Race 11 of the championship!

THIS IS BRAZIL

History repeated itself in qualifying, with Alpine’s Nicolas Longuet grabbing pole position around the legendary Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. Starting on the soft tyres, Longuet made a mighty getaway, and built a solid lead from the off.

Championship challengers Opmeer and Rasmussen started P4 and P10 respectively, with the Dane moving up to ninth by the end of the first lap. Opmeer was soon dropped to P5, as the rapid-starting Alvaro Carreton sailed past, as the only other driver to start on the softs.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Carreton then pulled a superb double-overtake on Blakeley and Kiefer at Turn 1 just two laps later, putting himself in second place. It soon turned into the lead on Lap 8, when Longuet, Kiefer, Blakeley and co pitted – putting on soft tyres, which needed to last until lap 25. They all soon found themselves tucked up behind Simon Weigang, unable to make a move until Lap 14.

After passing Weigang, Kiefer soon passed Blakeley for the lead, and set about playing the team game, buying time for team mate Rasmussen and parking his Red Bull on every apex until Rasmussen finally pitted. After his mid-park start, only a dream strategy would work for him. Almost the entire field pitted before he finally came in on Lap 15 to remove his tortured medium tyres. With a fresh set of softs for the final ten laps, Rasmussen’s pace was absolutely electrifying.

He emerged P13, but quickly set about overtaking everyone in his path: Cedric Thome, Brendon Leigh, Weigang, Fabrizio Donoso and Joni Tormala were all dispatched within two laps. Boroumand fell off the road elevating Rasmussen to P7, and Carreton’s aging medium tyres were no match for the softs – Frede found himself P6 with seven laps remaining.

By Lap 19, Blakeley led from Longuet, Kiefer, Job and Opmeer, with Rasmussen bearing down on them all. Blakeley drove off into the distance, but the following five cars bunched up going into the tight Ferradura corner. Kiefer slowed going into the corner, in the process holding up Ompeer and letting Rasmussen streak past both of them.

This was a nightmare for Opmeer, who now trailed his championship rival on the road – but with a 21-point buffer, he only needed to maintain P8 or higher to guarantee the championship. Rasmussen passed Job and Longuet over the next two laps to put himself within striking distance of Blakeley, and strike he did on the last lap, snatching the final win of the season as sun set on 2021.

It wasn’t enough for Rasmussen however, and Opmeer finished fourth to claim the drivers’ crown! Behind Rasmussen was Blakeley, with Job taking his first podium in the series in front of Opmeer and Idowu. Matthijs van Erven finished sixth, to claim the first points of the season for Uralkali Haas F1 Esports Team in the final race! Longuet came home P7 after a penalty, with Carreton, Cedric Thome and Thijmen Schutte rounding out the final points of the season.

POINTS MEAN PRIZES

With Jarno Opmeer and Mercedes atop the standings, they’ll take home the greatest share of the $750K prize pool! In the drivers’ standings, Rasmussen makes it three years in a row as a runner up – quipping during the broadcast that he would “prefer second” rather than winning in 2022. Blakeley finishes a resurgent third, with Dani Moreno fourth on a nice round 100 points.

Bari Boroumand put a fantastic 98 points on the board, and will surely be one to watch in 2022. Former title contenders Tonizza, Kiefer and Longuet struggled to break into the championship race, and will hope for better next time around.

In the teams’ standings, it was a closely fought affair between Red Bull and Mercedes, mirroring the on-track battles of 2021. Aston Martin claimed third, with FDA, Alpine and McLaren Shadow only a few points apart. After scoring in the final race, Haas ensure that it’s points for every team this season!

So, the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco is in the history books. We hope you’ll join us next year! Until then, keep an eye on social, as we run through Challengers, which will decide some the pool of talent who could be up for selection next year!

Jarno Opmeer is within touching distance of defending his F1 Esports crown, going into the final day of racing in 2021 with a 21-point lead.

Just three days after fellow Dutchman Max Verstappen wrapped up the F1 crown in Abu Dhabi, Opmeer is on the verge of taking a second successive title after taking second place in Imola and victory in Mexico.

The only man who can now stop him is Red Bull’s Frede Rasmussen, who trails by 21 points. To do this though, he would need to win, with Opmeer finishing ninth or lower. Opmeer’s Mercedes squad did clinch the teams’ trophy, bringing silverware to Brackley for the first time since 2018.

Here’s what went down in races 10-11 in the enthralling 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, presented by Aramco.

HEARTBREAK IN IMOLA

The inclusion of Imola in the 2021 F1 season, and indeed in the F1 2021 game, was met with universal praise. The much-loved circuit offers tight and twisty racing, with only one real racing line. Overtakes must be timed to perfection.

Josh Idowu was the man who found perfection early on in the day, taking a shock pole position for McLaren Shadow in only his fourth race this year. He and 2019 champion David Tonizza took the front row, with the pair starting on the soft tyres, contrary to those around them.

They maintained positions at the start, but Tonizza took the lead on Lap 6, only to be re-passed three laps later on Lap 9.

When pit stops ensued on Lap 10 of the 22-lap race, things got dicey. The midfield melee saw Idowu in the net lead of the race, with Brendon Leigh making incredible gains in the pits. Championship leader Opmeer meanwhile found himself in traffic, and began overtaking the field, starting with Bari Boroumand on Lap 13.

Two laps later, Opmeer passed championship rival Lucas Blakeley, moments after the Scot made contact with the back of Tonizza. With a damaged win, Blakeley began to plummet down the order, ruining his chances of a strong score.

Tonizza soon usurped team mate Leigh on Lap 19, who held second place for much of the race. But as Opmeer tried to get past as well, Leigh put him on the grass, for which he received a warning. Opmeer got him on the following lap to take third, and it looked like that would be the end of it – Idowu controlling the pace, with champions Tonizza and Opmeer behind.

This is F1 Esports though, and absolutely anything can happen. Tonizza made a lunge at Turn 2, and stole the lead from Idowu, heartbreakingly, on the final lap. As he rejoined the track, Idowu hit another car and spun, reducing a near-flawless race to a pointless one.

Tonizza came home for his first win since 2020, ahead of Opmeer and Rasmussen, who made incredible but quiet progress from his lowly P15 qualifying slot. The points were completed by Joni Tormala, Leigh, Michael Romanidis, Dani Moreno, Patrik Sipos, Simon Weigang, and the unfortunate Blakeley.

THREE BECOMES TWO

With Blakeley now a long shot for the title, the duel between Rasmussen and Opmeer moved into the spotlight. The Dane did himself all kinds of favours when he stuck it on pole, but things didn’t go his way when lights went out. Boroumand, who started second, got a better getaway, and led the charge down to Turn 1. Then, as if from nowhere Opmeer emerged to snatch the lead, passing both of them in one fluid movement.

The trio were the only ones to start on the soft tyres, and eked out their advantage, quickly pulling away from Nicolas Longuet in P4. By the end of Lap 3, the gap was up to 2.5s and increasing. Meanwhile, Lucas Blakeley had ground to make up from P7 if he was to salvage his title hopes.

Boroumand struck the first blow. He got past Opmeer into Turn 1 on Lap 5, but the inverse move came just three laps later, and status quo was re-established. At the same time, Blakeley took a position from Idowu to move up to P6.

Laps 11-13 saw the top three pit on consecutive laps, but the order remained identical, with Opmeer, Boroumand and Rasmussen holding formation.

As the race entered its final laps, Boroumand once again overtook Opmeer on Lap 20, but yet again, Opmeer was straight back past him a lap later. This time though, Boroumand dropped a further position, as Rasmussen moved into second.

On the penultimate lap, coming into Foro Sol Stadium, Opmeer played ‘DRS chicken’, braking at the perfect moment to let Rasmussen past and gain DRS for himself for the super-long straight. However in doing so, Rasmussen went off-track.

Opmeer re-passed down the straight with his speed advantage, and led home Rasmussen and Boroumand. The lower steps of the podium were swapped however. Rasmussen’s off-track excursion cost him a 0.6s penalty after the race. Behind the top three, Moreno came home fourth to confirm Mercedes as team champions, creating a 50-point gap with just 44 to play for in the final race. Leigh took fifth, then came Blakeley, Nicolas Longuet, Marcel Kiefer, Tonizza, and Tormala.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Esports Team are champions once again! The virtual Silver Arrows took the teams’ trophy back in 2018, when Brendon Leigh and Dani Bereznay were the men to beat. Three years later, they overhaul rivals Red Bull Racing Esports, denying them three in-a-row. The pairing of Opmeer and Moreno have been lethal, winning five of the season’s 11 races hitherto contested. They, along with Bono Huis, earn the biggest chunk of the $750K prize pot, divided between the teams at season’s end.get

With Mercedes crowned champions, Red Bull could still bring home silverware in the drivers’ championship, but it will be a tall order. Opmeer has a 21-point gap over Rasmussen, with a maximum of 26 available at the final round in Brazil. Blakeley is eliminated from the running, with 39 points between him and Opmeer, but is guaranteed third place, an incredible improvement over his P14 placing in 2020.

The final round of the season gets going with qualifying live on Twitch and YouTube from 15:30 UTC, and the race from 19:30 on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook, where we’ll crown a champion!

Nine races down, three to go. The fourth and final round of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, presented by Aramco, promises to be the most explosive Grand Final in our five-year tenure.

Both championships are completely wide open, we have a brand new track joining the calendar, and we’re barely a week from Christmas. But only one can receive the best gift of all – the gift of victory…

WHERE WE DROPPING, BOYS?

The final leg of the F1 Esports tour in 2021 sees us touch down at the legendary Autodromo Nationale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, AKA, Imola. Home of two insane Emilia Romagna Grands Prix in 2020-21, it became part of F1 2021 earlier this year in a free content update. And that of course means we get to race there for the very first time! Doubtless, all of our drivers will have been pumping in hundreds if not thousands of laps over the last couple of months to get to grips with the venue’s swerves and kerbs.

From there, it’s a hop across the Atlantic to Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and finally down to Sau Paulo’s Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. That’s a lot of Autodromos… and racing legends. Fitting then, that we should crown another legend at one of these three circuits.

THE CONTENDERS

With 78 points on the table, the top six drivers in the standings are mathematically capable of winning the drivers’ title – but things would have to go VERY much their way for that to happen! Realistically, it’s a three-way fight between our runaway leaders: Jarno Opmeer (140 points), Lucas Blakeley (135 points), and Frede Rasmussen (132 points).

All three drivers have been remarkable in their consistency in 2021, with the top two scoring in every single round, and Rasmussen only missing out in China. Between them, the trio have hoovered up all but two victories this year.

In the teams’ title, it’s a two-horse race between… *checks notes* Mercedes and Red Bull. Huh. This could be interesting! Mercedes hold the lead, with 222 points over Red Bull’s 199. But that 23-point gap could come down just as easily as it could extend, with 132 points all to play for over the next three races. Red Bull are looking to take the teams’ championship for the third year in a row, while Mercedes are looking to recapture it, having been trophy-less since 2018.

OPMEER IN CHARGE

With three races in quick succession, Opmeer’s slender lead doesn’t count for all that much – but being in the lead and reigning champion means the target on his back is twice as big as anyone else’s.

To put simply it using a terrible, made-up word, Opmeer is the winningest driver of 2021, with three victories in China, Austria, and the USA. However, he had a strangely low-key Event 3, scoring P7 and P8 finishes before his win in the final race of the event. Still, Opmeer knows what it takes to win better than any other driver, and with the backdrop of the Mercedes Esports facility, he’ll have all the motivation he needs to take the crown for himself and his team.

Emilia-Romagna’s Imola is a new addition to F1 2021, so of course it didn’t feature in last year’s championship. The other two races in Mexico and Brazil did though, with Opmeer taking his fourth and final win of the season in the former. The latter, home of this year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, was one to forget for all three of our championship contenders however – only Opmeer registered points, and that was for P7! If he can gain confidence on this supposed bogey track, he may be able to gain the upper hand.

BLAKELEY ON THE WARPATH

Lucas Blakeley, and his 2021 pace, could be easily summed up in one phrase: Pleasant surprise. Perhaps the chattiest F1 Esports driver on the grid, Blakeley does his talking both on and off the track. And there’s been plenty of airtime for him – his two wins, five podiums and sole pole position have kept him at the sharp end for the duration.

Boasting by far the best average finishing position, Blakeley has not finished outside the top six all season. Contrast that with his 2020 form, where P6 was his best finish overall, and one of just three points finishes, and it’s not hard to see why Blakeley earns the accolade of most improved driver.

History isn’t on the side of the Scottish Sensation, with a trio of zeroes in last year’s Grand Final. But that was the Lucas of old. The new-and-improved green-bedecked driver is very much in it to win it. Just five points behind the reigning champion, it is almost too close to call.

RED BULL, DARK HORSE

The nearly-man of F1 Esports, Frede Rasmussen is third in the standings, but with just eight points separating him from the lead, there is absolutely no discounting him. Currently on a hot streak of four podiums in a row – including three consecutive third places, Rasmussen epitomises control and consistency. What he’s missed so far, is a killer instinct.

Never one to throw one down the inside, Rasmussen needs to get his elbows out in this final trio of races to stand a chance. Just two things are keeping Rasmussen out of the lead of the championship: A bad strategy gamble in the wet-dry Chinese Grand Prix in Round 2, and being clobbered from behind on the final lap in Monza’s Round 5 race.

Rasmussen’s slow start has held him back, but his freight train momentum could see him arrive at the Grand Final in imperious form. And after finishing second in the last TWO seasons of F1 Esports, surely the allure of the drivers’ crown is one that could spur him on to victory.

WHERE DO I WATCH?

Glad you asked! As ever we’ve got two days of action, from December 15-16. We’re live from 15:30 UTC for the qualifying stream on Twitch and YouTube, with Facebook adding into the mix for the race stream at 19:30, on both days. We’ll see you there!

Leading a race is a special thing indeed. The feeling of being out in front, setting the pace, is one that can make you feel on top of the world. It’s not the same as winning a race though – and leading is no guarantee of crossing the line first.

Alpine’s Nicolas Longuet found this out the hard way during our last race around COTA, when he fumbled the lead on the very last lap and wound up third. The tactical disadvantage conferred when leading on the final lap is colossal in F1 Esports, so to avoid being caught by those behind with DRS and extra energy to deploy, Longuet attempted a risky move. But as he explained post-race, it didn’t quite go to plan.

“It looks a bit strange from a third person view, but my thought process was that I had one lap fresher tyres than Jarno [Opmeer], so I expected to have a little bit of a pace advantage towards the end. I thought if I led the last lap, I would have enough ERS to defend. Crucially I made a couple of mistakes going into the start of sector 2, and I really overheated the tyres a lot, and I was just a sitting duck.

“What I tried to do was a bit cheeky; to let them pass so I could get the DRS and re-overtake them back. But it was too late, I made the wrong call. I’m pretty frustrated and I’m sorry to the team, because the race was going brilliantly until then.”

Slipping into the lead on the penultimate lap, Longuet, who scorched to a second pole of the season, was in prime position to take the win. However, with the lengthy back straight around Austin, he knew being caught with DRS was likely.

Instead, he engineered it so that he would gain the DRS on the final lap, by pulling over and letting Opmeer and Frede Rasmussen past. The prospect of a double-slipstream plus DRS assistance is a juicy one, especially when there’s a win on the line, but he missed the detection point, and ended up losing both positions without gaining DRS.

What possesses a driver to go to such lengths? Is it worth playing defensively at the risk of squandering a potential win? When you look at the track record in 2021, Longuet’s decision actually makes a lot of sense.

ROUND 1: BAHRAIN

Longuet was a contender from the off in 2021, setting a monstrous pole position in Bahrain and looking set for victory. Enter Lucas Blakeley, who snatched the lead on the very last lap, due in no small part to a helping of DRS and ERS on the main straight. With the twisty midsection, Longuet couldn’t get close again, and almost dropped into the clutches of Alvaro Carreton in third.

ROUND 4: GREAT BRITAIN

Dani Moreno grabbed the net lead of the race from Frede Rasmussen on Lap 11/18, and looked steady holding station at the front until the very last lap. Rasmussen, arguably the most patient driver in F1 Esports, just bided his time, and absolutely sailed past on the final lap, sweeping round the outside with just a few corners to go. Moreno’s search for a first win continued…

ROUND 5: ITALY

In a complete role reversal, Rasmussen found himself on the defence on the final lap in Monza, and it was Moreno who piled the pressure on. With team mate Marcel Kiefer leading out front, Rasmussen’s best hope was to take second. However, he was gobbled up by Opmeer heading into the final corner on the penultimate lap, before Moreno blasted past the pair of them on the start of Lap 19. To add further insult to injury, Rasmussen was then hit from behind by David Tonizza, and plummeted down the order.

ROUND 9: USA

As we explored above the final lap in Austin was ultimately what undid all of Longuet’s hard work. Making his move on the penultimate lap, Longuet had to defend on the final tour, which left him vulnerable. A scruffy first sector paired with his unfortunate timing meant that he didn’t have the opportunity, and missed out on becoming the sixth different winner of the year.

Never one to shrink from a challenge, Longuet is preparing to go all-out for the final event. This includes the Brazilian Grand Prix circuit, site of his last victory in F1 Esports.

“I need even more race experience – I thought my tryes were in a better condition than they actually were. So I think the main focus for next time will be focusing on race setups so that my tyres don’t just fall off the cliff like they did.

“I’m probably even more motivated to do well at the last event. I’ve shown that I’m back with this pole position in the USA, it’s time for me to be there consistently.”

With three races remaining, Longuet is currently P7 in the standings with 57 points, 10 points behind Red Bull Racing Esports’ Marcel Kiefer. Will he ascend the ranks in our final event? Tune in to all the action on Wednesday December 15 to find out!

Mercedes driver Jarno Opmeer struck back in Round 9 to claim his third win in 2021 and re-take the lead of the drivers’ championship. After an off-key Wednesday in the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco, he mustered his title-winning form of last year as Circuit of the Americas made its return to the calendar.

WEDNESDAY’S ACTION

Opmeer’s win came at the right time. Being reigning champion carries a heavy burden – finishing seventh and sixth in the previous two races is considered a below-par performance.

The first race of the event in Portimao saw Lucas Blakeley absolutely run away with the win, creating a huge gap to those behind him and crossing the line ahead of the midfield melee behind to score his second win of 2021.

Meanwhile in Zandvoort, it was Mercedes man Dani Moreno who prevailed, taking his maiden win in F1 Esports and becoming the 12^th different driver to stand atop the podium

You can catch up on all of Wednesday’s goings-on here, and see all the best bits from Round 7 and Round 8.

THE RETURN TO COTA

Absent from the 2020 calendar, Circuit of the Americas returns for this season. The scene of Brendon Leigh’s 2018 title win, it’s got a decent amount of history in F1 Esports, and the drivers all love it.

That much was proved in qualifying, with just ONE THOUSANDTH of a second splitting the top two. Nicolas Longuet was the man who put it into P1, snatching pole for the first time since Round 1, ahead of Bari Boroumand.

Off the line, Longuet was bested by his McLaren rival, and Boroumand took the lead on his soft tyres, with the majority of the field starting on medium rubber. He was soon joined by fellow soft rubber-user Brendon Leigh, who started P10 but made it up to second by the start of Lap 4.

However, the cracking start was too good to be true for the pair, who were Mercedes stablemates in 2020. Longuet, whom Leigh had passed for second, soon re-passed him for second as Lap 7 came around, just before the pit stop phase came into play.

Leading trio Boroumand, Longuet and Leigh came in on Lap 9, as did the majority of the pack, leaving David Tonizza to tour in the lead briefly.

Armed with fresh medium tyres, Frede Rasmussen was the man on the move, and he made a stupendous double-overtake on Lap 10 to get past both Brendon Leigh and Lucas Blakelely, and up into a net fourth place.

Rasmussen’s ascendency was mirrored by Boroumand, who soon found himself going backwards on the unfancied soft-medium strategy. With no answer to the superior grip of the soft tyres, Boroumand slipped from the net lead of the race as Jarno Opmeer got by on Lap 11, swiftly followed by Longuet just a couple of laps later.

Lap 15 rolled around and Rasmussen further relegated Boroumand to fourth, setting up the podium places for a showdown sprint to the flag. Longuet was content to sit behind Opmeer for the time being, waiting to deploy the now-commonplace last-lap overtake which has been so effective in 2021. Longuet though couldn’t wait, and excitement got the better of him, jumping past Opmeer on the penultimate lap, 19.

This was to be his undoing, and after a scruffy first sector, he unwittingly let both Opmeer and Rasmussen past in the hopes of gaining DRS. But he mis-timed the move, and was powerless to catch them on the back straight.

Opmeer brought it home for his third win of 2021, with Rasmussen taking a third consecutive second-placed finish. Longuet came home a devastating third, with Boroumand holding firm in fourth despite his tyre disadvantage. Tonizza, Blakeley, Moreno, Alvaro Carreton, Marcel Kiefer and Sebastian Job completed the points.

WHERE DO WE STAND?

Opmeer heads the drivers’ standings with 140 points, but is just five points ahead of nearest rival Blakeley, who has 135. Rasmussen is then a further three behind, meaning the top three are separated by just eight points! Dani Moreno (82) and Bari Boroumand (80) are further down the road in the battle for fourth, with Marcel Kiefer on 67.

In the teams’ standings, Mercedes have a haul of 222 points giving them a nice buffer to Red Bull, who are on 199. Aston Martin (144) and Alpine (107) are the other two teams to break into triple-figures, with McLaren and FDA fighting for fifth, on 80 and 78 points respectively.

NEXT UP: THE GRAND FINAL!

Unbelievably, we’re almost at journey’s end already! The final event is just a few weeks away, taking place after the 2021 F1 season. We’ll be racing around Imola, Mexico City and Interlagos, celebrating raw speed with twisty intrigue in equal measure. Join us for qualifying streams from 15:30 UTC, and race streams from 19:30 on December 15-16, as we crown our champions! Who will be victorious? Let us know on social, by getting involved with the conversation using #F1Esports.

Lucas Blakeley wrestled back the lead of the drivers’ championship on Wednesday night, as the thrilling 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco resumed.

The Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Esports ace claimed a truly dominant lights-to-flag win as the series made its inaugural visit to Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal. He then followed it up with another podium at the second race of the evening around Zandvoort – but it was Mercedes man Dani Moreno who perfected the twists of the Dutch location to take his very first win in the series.

Here’s what went down in each race.

PORTI-WOW

The gaps in F1 Esports are miniscule. In fact, qualifying for Round 7 in Portugal saw one of the smallest margins ever in qualifying, with the top seven split by half a tenth (0.050s)! However it was Blakeley who had the quickest time, and he put it to good use.

In truth, no one came close to matching his pace in Portimao. After a surging start, he flew off into the distance, building up a lead of over four seconds at one point. That might sound fairly normal in Formula 1, but in F1 Esports, but as commentator Alex Jacques aptly put it, “in real terms, that’s an hour!”

This was a race of two strategies. Blakeley started on the softs, and ended on the mediums. Rasmussen though chose the alternate, and pitted for soft tyres on Lap 13, coming out right between the Mercedes duo of Moreno and Jarno Opmeer.

Pitting earlier, Rasmussen’s pace was electrifying. After emerging seventh, he sliced past Moreno, Joni Tormala, David Tonizza and Fabrizio Donoso in five laps to take second. Blakeley though was too far ahead to catch.

Blakeley led home Rasmussen, Donoso, and Dani Moreno, who got past both Joni Tormala and David Tonizza on the final lap, the unfortunate duo finishing P5 and P6 respectively. Reigning champion Opmeer made up four places from his P11 qualifying performance, taking seventh. Michael Romanidis, Marcel Kiefer and Bari Boroumand completed the points.

GEN ZANDVOORT

Hopes of home heroics were dashed in qualifying, as Opmeer could only manage P7. However a rejuvenated Boroumand claimed his second pole of the season, and led away from pole position.

Despite Zandvoort’s narrow and precise nature, poleman Boroumand and challenger Rasmussen ran the entire first sector side-by-side, before the Dane eventually emerged ahead.

It wasn’t long before pit stops shuffled the deck, with Dani Moreno the first of a five-man group to stop just five laps into the race. Rasmussen followed suit the following lap, and was able to emerge just ahead of Moreno, who showed the awesome power of the undercut.

Blakeley though started on the medium tyres, in contrast to the other leaders, and came out in a net fifth position, running the much less durable soft tyre. After a pit stop for Patrik Sipos and sneaking past Boroumand, he moved up into third place on Lap 11.

Rasmussen’s tenure in the lead came to an end on Lap 19, when Moreno used the final corner baking and a DRS boost to slingshot his way into the lead, and there he stayed until the chequered flag on Lap 25.  Moreno, Rasmussen, Blakeley and Boroumand headed the points-scorers, with the most recent two champions – Tonizza and Opmeer – next up. Tormala added to his earlier points with P7, ahead of Sipos, who opened his account. Brendon Leigh and Kiefer rounded out the top 10.

Blakeley now leads the drivers’ championship with 127 points, leading Opmeer on 115, and Rasmussen just a single point back on 114. Mercedes break away from Red Bull in the teams’ championship, on 191 points to 179.

COMING UP NEXT

We’re not done yet, as there’s still the third and final race of this event to run! The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas is our canvas, and we’ll be painting a clearer picture of the championship with another frantic race.

Can Lucas Blakelely hold on, or will Jarno Opmeer and Frede Rasmussen be able to close the gap? Tune in to qualifying from 15:30 UTC, and the race from 19:30 UTC to find out!

Speed by name, speed by nature. Bardia Boroumandgohar, better known as Bari Boroumand or simply ‘SpeedBari’, is Iran’s fastest racer, both physically, and on-track.

A seven-time national karting champion in his home nation, the McLaren Shadow star has surpassed every expectation of him in 2021, and we still have half the season remaining! We caught up with him ahead of the third event of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, presented by Aramco.

SECOND DEBUT

With one race under his belt for Mercedes in 2020, Boroumand isn’t technically a rookie in F1 Esports. That one race in China saw him qualify a lowly P16, and though he was in a points-paying position until the final lap, he wound up P11.

Flash forward to 2021, and he has reinvented himself, sticking it on POLE in China, with a hatful of points, and a podium to his name. How has he managed such a reversal of fortune?

“Well, I can’t say that I have a secret or anything, it’s just practice, and keeping mentally fresh and positive. I’m really happy with McLaren this year, it’s been a great journey for me with them – but I’m still looking forward to getting better results in the next event.

“I think I could have gotten even more points from the first two events in terms of qualifying, race pace, strategy, luck and everything else. I have a little bit more experience, but I can’t say there’s a huge difference compared to last year, I’m just feeling really comfortable this year.”

McLaren and Mercedes are two of the biggest names in motorsport. Bono Huis made an opposite switch at the end of 2019, trading McLaren Shadow for Mercedes. So what is it like to jump in the opposite direction?

“The team have really helped me to get everything right, and I mean everything! I moved from Iran to Turkey this year, and I appreciate everything they did for me in getting set up. When you see that the team is supporting you in every way and you’re feeling really happy with them, it will affect on your driving.”

ON TO EVENT THREE

If you were to grade Bari Boroumand’s first half of the season, it would have to be an A. Consistent, fast, points in every round, and even on the podium. What he needs to do to take it to that A+ is obvious – score the elusive first victory. He set his sights firmly on the next trio of races to do just that.

“I’m really looking forward to get my first win, because I feel in terms of qualifying pace we are already there. In terms of race pace, with a little bit more experience I think I can get there so my minimum goal in the next event is to get a win… maybe two wins?! The more wins, the happier I will be! I just want to be able to say I did everything I could.

“I really like all three tracks that are coming up. My favourite of the three, just a little bit more than the others, is Zandvoort. But COTA is such a great track, and Portimao I’m really looking forward to racing there for the first time.”

WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER

The packed 2021 schedule means that the first two events of the 2021 Pro Championship were only two weeks apart. As Lucas Blakeley recently attested to, the longer gap this time is most welcome. Everyone has their own approach and upper limit of hours, including Boroumand.

“For the first event, I practiced about five hours per day on average, but for Event 2 I made a mistake. I practiced 8-9 hours per day which was way too much for me. Mentally in the last 2-3 days I was so tired, and I think it was one of the reasons I wasn’t happy with my Event 2 results.

“I learned from it, so for Event 3 I’ll be practicing 5-6 hours per day, and in the days up to the next event I’ll be doing a bit less to keep myself fresh. It’s not all about just practicing more – it’s about being ready. Maybe doing more works for others, but it’s not the best idea for me to practice 9-10 hours a day. A 4-6 hour day really works well for me. So with this, a bit more experience, and what I learned from the first two events I will be much stronger.”

So you’ve been warned – a fresher, stronger Bari Boroumand is coming for the third event. He’s fifth in the drivers’ standings, and has helped McLaren Shadow up to P5 in the teams’ standings with 100% of their points. With an 85-point gap to Jarno Opmeer, but 156 still to play for… who is the target?

“The drivers’ championship is still on. I think I have the potential still to fight back. I had a poor Event 2, but we have everything we need to fight back. It still feels like my first year, because I didn’t experience much last year, and it’s such a talented grid. Everyone around us is our rival, and I really enjoy driving against them.”

WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE

For seven years, Mercedes have won the F1 Constructors’ championship. People refer to as ‘dominance’. Imagine then, that you’re one of Boroumand’s rivals, karting in Iran. For seven years, he was the national champion, and his motorsport journey looked set to blossom from there.

“I’ve been racing since I was six, I loved racing since I was a kid. I went to football, basketball, and everything else, but I chose motorsport because I know I’m made for this.

“In Iran, I was unbeaten! When I was 14, we qualified for a karting World Final, where the 72 best drivers in the world go. We had two seats, one in the junior class, for drivers up until age 17, and one in the senior category, where you can race from 14-99. We had two seats, and the junior guy drove in that class because he was too young, and I had to race in senior as a 14-year-old. I qualified 16^th out of 72, but I got unlucky in the heat with a bumper penalty and it cost me the final.”

While the finals didn’t quite go as planned, it was just the beginning of Boroumand’s appearances on a global stage.

“You have to have sponsors to reach the top level in formula racing, so when I couldn’t move up there, I decided to move to F1 Esports, as I thought ‘maybe I can achieve my dreams there’. I started doing it because of that, so my plan is to be Esports champion and then make it all the way to be a Formula 1 driver. This is my dream, I would love to be the first person to do that.”

The list of Esports drivers who have crossed paths with racing on-track is ever-growing. So does speed in one guarantee success in the other?

“In terms of race-craft, when drivers from real life come to Esports they have a little bit of an advantage – they know how to battle and in terms of learning the racing line, the technique of the driving, that really helps them as well. You can definitely carry skills over.”

It’s good to dream. Watch this space then, as Bari Boroumand looks to make it to the top on-track while he continues to ascend the ranks of F1 Esports! Can he take that first win in Event 3? Tune in from 19:30 UTC on Wednesday November 24 to find out!

In 2020, the team finished dead last. The man, Lucas Blakeley scored a handful of points. And yet, with six races remaining in 2021, the Scottish sensation is just 14 points adrift of reigning champion Jarno Opmeer. A man of many words, we caught up with the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Esports racer ahead of Event 3, to see how he’s fine-tuning his approach to a title assault.

LUCAS 2.0

“I’ve driven better” he began, having been asked how he’s managed such a dramatic change of pace.

“But that’s not the biggest difference. There were a lot of small and big details last year that were completely wrong, which fundamentally didn’t allow us to be as competitive as we are this year.

“When I look back to last year, I’m not really surprised we weren’t competitive. If you stand still, you’re going to go straight backwards. You have to stay hungry and continue to want it bad enough. If you get complacent and think ‘yep, I’m quick enough’, you won’t reach perfection. That’s the only thing that’s going to allow you to win. We’ve seen how close the gaps are this year and it’s almost unhuman!”

AS YET UNTITLED

Much like the on-track duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco has been the closest contest for years. Okay, so maybe we’re only in our fifth year of F1 Esports, but it still counts! Jarno Opmeer is by no means guaranteed to retain his crown, and there are plenty of takers. Is Blakeley the heir to the throne?

“I don’t really think about the championship too much, because all you’re going to do by that is overcomplicate your thought process. I’m trying to take each session and each lap as it comes – there’s no point in thinking ‘what am I going to do at Round 12?’ when it’s not even round 7 yet.”

“It’s a good feeling to be up there, and it’s testament to how much hard work has gone into it. The hard work is not done though, you always have to keep pushing, there have been a lot of positives from this year, but still a lot of things we can improve on.

“I have to believe I can catch Jarno. If my answer was ‘no I don’t believe I can do it, he’s faster than me’, then what use would that be?!”

It’s been a mixed season so far, with new winners, new polesitters, and a new order. Old faces like Nico Longuet, Frede Rasmussen and Marcel Kiefer are all in the mix, while characters like Blakeley and Bari Boroumand have shot up the ranks.

“In that Bahrain race, I was having so much fun, my heart rate was through the roof, when you’re confident and in that groove, it’s the best feeling to be at the front, jostling for position. The pressure is always high, but if you get yourself in the right headspace and have the confidence in yourself, everything feels natural. It’s a new position to be in, but it’s something I’ve been longing for, so I want to make the best of it and trying to push for the next six races.”

SIX OF THE BEST

The halfway point of the season is as good a time as any to pause and reflect on the season so far. And while the second event didn’t match the status of the first for Blakeley, there is a lot to smile about.

“I’ve not given myself a stupid ego. I’ve been realistic and grounded and haven’t taken anything for granted. After Event 1, I think it would have been easy for me to get carried away. But going into Event 2, I probably wasn’t as confident as for the first one, and that’s because I don’t take anything from the last event as a guarantee of success for the future.

“It’s all about arriving in that particular session, doing as best you can and delivering in that moment. If I can do exactly that for the remaining six races, the championships will take care of themselves. My aim is to get confident, and keep a positive mindset. It’s been a positive first half to the season, so let’s try and make it a positive next half.”

With the first two events just two weeks apart, there was very little time to rest, with drivers having to nail six circuits over the span of just a fortnight. With more room to breathe for the third instalment, practice is somewhat less relentless – but never out of sight completely…

“Between Events 1-2, the gap was so small, so practically from the moment you wake up you’re on the rig, then you come off the rig and go straight to sleep. Thankfully we have a bit more time between Events 2-3.

“On a full day, you’d start driving at around 10, but wouldn’t finish driving until 11. You’d have breaks for lunch and dinner of course, but I’d say a light day is probably about six hours. Some people might think six hours isn’t that long, but we’re trying to extract performance, so you need full focus. It’s tiring, so when you can you try and take a break.

“In the past I’ve not had any breaks, so I take any opportunities I can to rest in between weeks. It’s a lot of hours, you’re really trying to train the muscle memory into yourself and get the confidence. People see it as ‘you play a game, it should be fun’, but this is the top level. We’re all out here trying to achieve our own goals, so it’s a lot deeper than a game in that respect, it’s relentless!”

GRIND-FULNESS

Practice alone does not a champion make. Blakeley’s marginal gains approach is something that can be applied to all walks of life. One cannot simply improve at driving and hope for the best; if you don’t have a 360-degree approach to all things in your life that contribute, you will go nowhere.

Rituals and routines are important, and he says he’s found one that works for him.

“On the morning of a race, I tend to get up at 7AM and go for a run. In the build-up to an event I will try to condition myself mentally and feel good physically. I’m not the fittest guy in the world but I go for a nice steady run in the morning, get some fresh air, and get the heart rate up. You can let your thoughts flow, listen to music, and it’s like a warm-up to the driving.

“When you’re qualifying, if you go straight from bed to the rig and then jump into the severe pressure of an Esports qualifying session, your heart rate just flies up, and it’s a massive rush of adrenaline and nerves all at once.”

By now, we’re all familiar with the effects of lockdowns and being within the same four walls for extended periods of time. But even when you’re on a tight schedule and need to put in the hours, the rest is just as important as the work.

“When I’m practicing intensely, it’s always good to get outside. I don’t do it often enough because I’m always in this room, but getting outside is good because it can totally change your mood, the fresh air’s excellent.

“At the end of the day, you need to be happy. If you’re not happy, you start to wonder why you’re not, and it’s important to be mentally in a good place. When it comes to performance, you need to be in a good state, you need to be positive and confident, so it’s all in the small details. The smallest details can give you the biggest results.”

Lucas Blakeley and co will be hunting down championship leader Jarno Opmeer as Event 3 gets under way! Join us from 19:30 UTC on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and on TV in selected regions as the racing resumes.

Was this the most incredible F1 Esports event to date?! Three virtual races that we will not soon forget are in the history books, with a flawless triple for Red Bull Racing Esports at event 2 of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, presented by Aramco.

After the disappointment of being clattered in Monza, Frede Rasmussen prevailed in a wet Spa thriller to take his second win of the season; Red Bull’s third in a row.

WEDNESDAY RECAP

Wednesday started perfectly for Rasmussen – pole position became victory for the Dane around Silverstone after a gutsy last-lap pass on Mercedes newbie Dani Moreno.

However, it all went wrong in the second event, when, trailing in a Red Bull 1-2, Rasmussen was whacked from behind at Turn 1, and tumbled down the order to finish a gut-wrenching eighth.

Team mate Marcel Kiefer continued in the lead, and was able to secure a second win of the night for Red Bull – but losing out on a potential 1-2 finish stung, as Kiefer asserted after the race.

For a full breakdown of Wednesday’s action, click here!

SPA TREAT(MENT)

Wet races are relatively rare in F1 Esports, but we were given our third of 2021 at Spa, as a wet start greeted the drivers after qualifying. David Tonizza set a shock pole position, with championship leader Jarno Opmeer dropping out in Q2, starting P14.

As the start lights beckoned, the grid was split – nine of the top 10 drivers started on full wet tyres, but second-placed Rasmussen opted for intermediates, along with the entire bottom half of the field.

It did not pay off in the short-term. Rasmussen descended to mid-pack by the time the field got to Pouhon half way round the lap, and finished the first tour in P7. Dani Bereznay didn’t even make it that far though, and crashed out on the run down from La Source

The race was one of risks and gambles. Would it clear up, or carry on raining? Pit for fresh intermediates or carry the tyres you started on to the end? Those questions were answered for several drivers on Lap 8, as Tonizza, Longuet, Blakeley, Boroumand and Tormala all came in for the green-walled inters.

The grip advantage wasn’t as dramatic as it might have been in the dry, but nonetheless, the group made inroads on the leading trio of Rasmussen, Kiefer and Opmeer, who all opted to remain on their starting tyres.

For the second successive race, a Red Bull 1-2 looked to be on the cards, but just as before, it wasn’t to be. Reigning champ Opmeer reeled in Kiefer by the start of the final lap, and pounced along the Kemmel straight. In true Hakkinen-Zonta-Schumacher style, Opmeer’s Mercedes-powered car got past, with Kiefer’s white car and Tonizza’s red Ferrari staying put.

Tonizza did not relent though, and in a carbon-copy of the final corner in Spa 2020, Kiefer was relegated at the Bus Stop chicane on the final lap.

Rasmussen romped home for dub number two of 2021, with Opmeer, Tonizza and Kiefer next in line. Nicolas Longuet took fifth, ahead of Blakeley, Bari Boroumand, Simon Weigang, and Daniele Haddad.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

With six races down and six to go, we’re perfectly balanced – and so is the team standings. Mercedes and Red Bull are tied on 140 points at the top, beautifully mirroring the on-track closeness of their F1 counterparts. In the driver standings, Opmeer leads Blakeley by 14 points, the exact same gap as was the case at the end of Event 1!

Take a look at the team and driver standings below.

Our next event takes us to the brand new location of Portimao in Portugal, as well as a return to Zandvoort in the Netherlands, and Circuit of the Americas in the USA. Join us for all the action from Wednesday November 24!

Red Bull Racing Esports star Marcel Kiefer felt both joy and despair on Wednesday night, as his team scored victories but also missed out on an even bigger haul of points.

“I’m feeling pretty mixed. Of course I’m happy, it’s my first win of the season, and it was a great drive” he said after the second race of the evening in Monza.

“But it was only a perfect strategy in terms of the team. Frede [Rasmussen] and I tried to replicate what we did last year in Austria, and it was 10 times harder because Monza is just a straight with chicanes.”

Austria 2020 is well-remembered as perhaps the peak of teamwork in the F1 Esports Series. Kiefer and Rasmussen broke away from the chasing pack early, forming a two-car DRS bubble. The Red Bull Wall, as commentator Alex Jacques put it, was solid. And though eventual champion Jarno Opmeer pressurised the pair in the closing laps with an alternate strategy, he could not budge the pair, and a home 1-2 was the sweetest reward.

But as Kiefer aptly puts it, Monza is a wholly different beast, with full throttle for most of the lap making such a strategy much more difficult.

“Austria actually has a bit of dirty air in the middle and final sectors, so it’s a bit easier to pull off. What Frede and I did there with me using my ERS trying to build a gap behind was awesome. But then Frede got taken out at the end, so I’m actually not too happy. The first thing in my mind is that he got taken out, so it’s a frustrating one.”

A 1-2 finish would certainly have been a welcome result for the team. Mercedes lead the way on 122 points after five races, with Red Bull trailing by 19 points on 103. It’s not hard to imagine a dead heat at the top of the standings in an alternate timeline where Rasmussen maintained P2.

Victory for Frede in Silverstone, and for Marcel in Monza, certainly makes for happy reading in the Bull pen. But the team have always put the needs of the many above the needs of the few. A 1-7 in the former and a 1-8 in the latter means even more points could have been on offer.

“It was the same thing last year, and before joined the team in 2020,” Kiefer continued.

“In 2019 and 2020 the team won, and it’s the same for this year – we want to stay on top of the game and win again and make it three in a row.”

NEXT UP: SPA

All eyes are now on the final race of Event 3 in Spa – a race where Red Bull again narrowly missed out on a 1-2 finish last season. Rasmussen and Kiefer controlled the race, but a last-lap lunge from Spa specialist Dani Bereznay divided the Bulls as they crossed the line.

They do have a lucky charm on their side this year however. With two wins in white, Red Bull’s special Honda tribute livery has treated them well so far, so could it see a third and final victory before it disappears from the game?

“It’s always good to get a win, especially with the white Red Bull. I have a huge crush on it!  So far we’ve had some good luck with it – nearly a 1-2 which after the collision didn’t happen, but let’s see, Maybe in Spa we can get it!”

You can catch Marcel, Frede, and indeed the rest of the F1 Esports gang going for the win in Spa on Thursday evening, from 1930 BST.