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P4 // 1 win // 115 points // Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports
Silver. Itâs bright, itâs beautiful, and itâs precious. But, itâs not gold. And one man who has taken the silver medal more than any other in F1 Esports is Frede Rasmussen. Coming home directly behind the driversâ champion in 2019, 2020 and 2021 means he is by far and away the most consistent driver.
But if heâs to ascend to the highest position possible in 2022, he needs a silver bullet. And this time round, itâs not a Silver Arrow in front of him. Rasmussen sits P4 in the standings, behind McLaren Shadow duo Lucas Blakeley and Bari Boroumand, and Haasâ Thomas Ronhaar. So, what can he do in the final event?
âWinning every race would be great!â said the Dane, looking ahead of the Grand Final.
âJapan is a good track for me – Iâve won a race there twice. Brazil is my worst track in the whole calendar.â
If Rasmussenâs worst track is Brazil, he certainly didnât show it last time out at Interlagos. The Red Bull Racing Esports star took victory there as the 2021 Pro Championship concluded, narrowly missing out on the title to Jarno Opmeer. Despite the success, Brazil doesnât hold a special place in Fredeâs heart. But Japan is a whole ânother story.
Suzuka has played host to two F1 Esports races. Rasmussen won them both. And the third track featuring in Event 4 is no slouch either.
âWith Abu Dhabi, Iâm not sure, as I havenât driven the new layout at all. But last time I drove it in 2018 I was pretty good at it.â
Indeed â a P3 finish at the 2018 season finale was nothing to scoff at, rounding out an impressive season which saw him finish third overall. Of course, since then itâs been all twos for him.
âThere have been two highlights so far: the win in Silverstone, and getting three pole positions in a row.â
The word âmixedâ could be used to describe all of our championship contendersâ seasons, including Rasmussenâs. But he really hit his stride in Event 2. Off the back of a win from Pole in Silverstone, he took the top spot in qualifying for the next two races, coming home second in both Austria and Belgium.
However, Event 3 didnât deliver the same levels of results for the Dane.
âEvent 3 was probably one of the worst Iâve ever had. I think the pace was still good, but we just couldnât really capitalise on it. Working out what to do during the races this season has been one of the toughest challenges.â
A pair of P5 finishes sandwiching a non-score in Mexico are not the standard one might expect from Mr Consistency. But all five title contenders have dropped points this year. Opmeer and Boroumand have had non-scoring races, Ronhaar suffered a DNF in the opening race in Bahrain, and even Blakeley had a lean third event, losing ground to the chasers.
So, how does that leave the state of play going into the last three races?
âEveryone is fast; everyone can win it,â he summarised.
âBut if everything goes well and we get a bit of luck, anything is possible. Iâm just going to do my best. I donât really have any goals, Iâm just going to see what happens!â
Tune into the Grand Final from Wednesday, December 14 to see if Frede Rasmussen can go one better than previous years! And join us on tomorrow, when weâll be quizzing Bari Boroumand on his feelings ahead of the Grand Final.
Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports driver Frede Rasmussen broke his duck on Friday night, claiming victory around Silverstone. Winning the third race of the opening event, the Dane now has his 2022 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship up and running, after a hit-and-miss start.
An uncharacteristic mistake in the curtain-raiser in Bahrain earned him a penalty, and he was stuck in a queue for the lead in Imola, unable to pass. Nothing and nobody would stand in his way in Silverstone, though, and he crossed the line just ahead of the ever-impressive Thomas Ronhaar.
The aforementioned race in Bahrain saw Lucas Blakeley win convincingly after resisting late pressure from reigning champion Jarno Opmeer, with team mate Bari Boroumand coming home third to make it a first McLaren Shadow double-podium in F1 Esports.
The Blakeley Train powered into Thursday, and he came out of the Imola round with another win, holding back the tide of Red Bull duo Marcel Kiefer and Rasmussen to extend his perfect start.
Get up to speed on Wednesday and Thursdayâs action here.
Qualifying in Silverstone came with a few shocks, not least of which was Thursdayâs runner-up Marcel Kiefer dropping out in Q1. Usual suspects Blakeley, Ronhaar and Rasmussen placed well, but Opmeer could only muster P9. Rasmussen put it on pole, with Red Bull family alumnus Sebastian Job filling the P2 spot for AlphaTauri, and Ronhaar just behind.
Not content with going backwards at the start in the first two races, Ronhaar powered past Job through Abbey and settled in behind Rasmussen for a long first stint. With no other option, Opmeer decided to run a contra-strategy, ditching his Medium tyres on Lap 10 to go long on the Hards to the end of the 26-lap affair.
Two laps later, the first of the leaders â Blakeley (P4) and Longuet (P5) – came in to trade for the Mediums, but they emerged ahead of Opmeer. The reigning championâs gamble on a tyre differential didnât work out, much like Ferrariâs at Monza just five days prior.
Leading duo Rasmussen and Ronhaar came in together and when the pit stops shuffled out, they maintained the lead. The loser in all this was Job, demoted to fourth, with Blakeley taking his spot on the podium.
Opmeerâs strategy left him in no-manâs-land in P7, but he was able to surpass both Nicolas Longuet and Brendon Leigh on the final lap, elevating himself to P5.
Rasmussen soared over the line to take his 11th win in F1 Esports, coolly taking the chequered flag ahead of Ronhaar, Blakeley, and Job. Opmeer consoled himself with fifth, followed by Longuet and Leigh. Patrik Sipos (Alpine), Fabrizio Donoso (Ferrari) and Luke Smith (Alpine) occupied the final three positions; all three opening their accounts for the season.
The first event leaves Lucas Blakeley firmly top of the pile, boasting a 21-point gap to Rasmussen in second. Ronhaarâs spellbinding first event sees him sat in third, ahead of double-champion Opmeer, and Boroumand rounds out the top five.
The team standings are are a similar story, with McLaren Shadow leading the way after three consecutive podiums for Blakeley. Hit and miss races for Red Bull Racing Esports and Mercedes-AMG F1 Esports Team means they have ground to make up, and Haas are in the mix, outscoring their 2021 tally several times over already!
We now wait four weeks for our second event, where three fresh rounds of racing action await us. Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands form a European triple-header, commencing on Wednesday, October 12. See you there!
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 weâre barely a week from Christmas. But only one can receive the best gift of all â the gift of victory…
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 venueâs swerves and kerbs.
From there, itâs a hop across the Atlantic to Mexico Cityâs Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and finally down to Sau Pauloâs Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. Thatâs a lot of Autodromos⊠and racing legends. Fitting then, that we should crown another legend at one of these three circuits.
With 78 points on the table, the top six drivers in the standings are mathematically capable of winning the driversâ title â but things would have to go VERY much their way for that to happen! Realistically, itâs 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 teamsâ title, itâs 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 Bullâs 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 teamsâ championship for the third year in a row, while Mercedes are looking to recapture it, having been trophy-less since 2018.
With three races in quick succession, Opmeerâs slender lead doesnât 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 elseâs.
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, heâll have all the motivation he needs to take the crown for himself and his team.
Emilia-Romagnaâs Imola is a new addition to F1 2021, so of course it didnât feature in last yearâs 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 yearâs Sao Paulo Grand Prix, was one to forget for all three of our championship contenders however â 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.
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 thereâs been plenty of airtime for him â 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 itâs not hard to see why Blakeley earns the accolade of most improved driver.
History isnât on the side of the Scottish Sensation, with a trio of zeroes in last yearâs 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.
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 â including three consecutive third places, Rasmussen epitomises control and consistency. What heâs 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 Monzaâs Round 5 race.
Rasmussenâs 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 driversâ crown is one that could spur him on to victory.
Glad you asked! As ever weâve got two days of action, from December 15-16. Weâre 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. Weâll see you there!
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 Bullâs third in a row.
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 â but losing out on a potential 1-2 finish stung, as Kiefer asserted after the race.
For a full breakdown of Wednesdayâs action, click here!
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 â 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 didnât 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 wasnât 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 wasnât 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, Opmeerâs Mercedes-powered car got past, with Kieferâs white car and Tonizzaâs 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.
With six races down and six to go, weâre perfectly balanced â 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.
âIâm feeling pretty mixed. Of course Iâm happy, itâs my first win of the season, and it was a great driveâ he said after the second race of the evening in Monza.
âBut 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.â
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.
âAustria actually has a bit of dirty air in the middle and final sectors, so itâs 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 Iâm actually not too happy. The first thing in my mind is that he got taken out, so itâs a frustrating one.â
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. Itâs 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.
âIt was the same thing last year, and before joined the team in 2020,â Kiefer continued.
âIn 2019 and 2020 the team won, and itâs the same for this year – we want to stay on top of the game and win again and make it three in a row.â
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 Bullâs 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?
âItâs always good to get a win, especially with the white Red Bull. I have a huge crush on it! So far weâve had some good luck with it – nearly a 1-2 which after the collision didnât happen, but letâs see, Maybe in Spa we can get it!â
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.
Red Bull Racing Esports made a return to form on Wednesday, as they swept both wins in Silverstone and Monza, in the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, presented by Aramco.
2020 vice-champion Frede Rasmussen, and then Marcel Kiefer both took their first wins of the season in a double-bill of frantic racing action. However, it was not without pain and controversy, as a potential 1-2 went begging.
Rasmussen took pole around Silverstone on Wednesday afternoon, putting his white-liveried Red Bull in prime position to take maximum points. The one-off livery has been available in-game for some time now, presenting the team with an opportunity to race it once again.
Pole was of course the best seat in the house, and Rasmussen led comfortably, pursued by Nicolas Longuet and Bari Boroumand. Lucas Blakeley lined up fourth, with his main championship rival Jarno Opmeer out of contention after qualifying a disappointing P15.
The pit stops shuffled the pack, Dani Moreno was able to jump from fifth to a net second place, behind Rasmussen and team mate Opmeer who had yet to pit.
That changed on Lap 11, when Moreno blasted past the Dane into Stowe. From then, it was a three-way duel between them and Blakeley, who patiently watched from third place, praying for an opportunity to get past.
The trio were inseparable in the dying laps, but it all came to a head on the very last lap, as Rasmussen used all his remaining power to get past on the back straight, crossing the line to deny Moreno his first win.
Blakeley completed the podium, with Longuet and Boroumand not far behind. Brendon Leigh equalled his best finish of the season so far in sixth, followed by Marcel Kiefer, Joni Tormala, Opmeer, and David Tonizza.
The excitement did not die down as attentions turned to Monza. Opmeer perfected qualifying this time round, and took pole position. No one could contain the pace of Boroumand, who started from P7 but rapidly ascended; the only driver to start on soft rubber. By Lap 3 he was in third place, and at the beginning of the fourth tour, he led after slipstreaming leaders Opmeer and Kiefer to make a double-pass for the lead!
Despite the spectacle, Boroumandâs alternate strategy meant the real fight for the lead was behind him. Pit stops came and went, and as the race developed, a Red Bull Racing Esports 1-2 looked to be on the cards, with Kiefer and Rasmussen leading the train.
The race reached boiling point late on, as Opmeer on Lap 15 appeared from nowhere to snatch P5 from Blakeley. The following lap, he went one better, taking Longuetâs fourth place, and team mate Moreno also barged his way through.
Rasmussenâs tyres were crying for respite with two laps to go, as he dropped to third after being dispatched by Fabrizio Donoso. That was nothing compared to the final lap though. After being mugged by both Mercedes cars into Turn 1, Rasmussen was tagged from behind by Tonizza, and half-spun, dropping way down the order.
Kiefer carried on and took the win, with Opmeer second and Blakeley third once again. Donoso took fourth, with Sebastian Job getting his first points in F1 Esports in a superb fifth. Boroumand was sixth, Moreno â who received a post-race penalty â took seventh, with Rasmussen taking a gutting eighth. Daniele Haddad came home P9, and Alvaro Carreton rounded out the points.
All this means Opmeer (83) retains his championship lead, with just a four-point advantage over Blakeley (79). First wins for Rasmussen (53) and Kiefer (50) launch them up the order, with the ultra-consistent Boroumand (51) sat in between.
Mercedes (122) hold a slender lead over Red Bull (103) in the team standings… sound familiar? Aston Martin drop to third with 87 points, and Alpine Esports are in fourth with 63.
Weâre not done yet! Join us for the third and final race of the event in Spa on Thursday, as we look to crown another race winner. Rasmussen won this race in 2020, but Dani Bereznay took the W in the two years prior. Can he spring a surprise and return to the top step this year?
Qualifying goes live from 1530 BST, and the race show from 1930 â see you then!