Anyone who visited the official Formula One website this weekend to check the race results, get the latest news or watch the race highlights likely noticed a new eSports link in the website’s menu bar. But what is it?
ESports is the latest trend and is becoming quite popular around the world, with many other motorsports (like Formula-E) adopting it. Formula-E was the first motorsport series I can remember that was the first to adopt the trendy new activity. Unfortunately, the words “trendy” and “Formula One” haven’t meshed well together in the past.
Thankfully, the new owners of Formula One know what needs to be done to not only retain fans, but also draw in new younger fans. As such, Formula One has created the new F1 Esports Series. The competition is open to fans from around the world who own a copy of Codemasters’ F1 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or Windows PC and with a valid Xbox Live Gold Membership, PSN Membership or Steam account.
Qualifications for the event began today, running to September 26, 2017. There are two scenarios that must be completed to have a chance at qualifying for the semifinal. Each scenario involves racing AI cars and completing a specific task within five laps. There is no restrictions to what assists you can use to complete the task, although flashbacks are not permitted and the users that do not use any assists likely have a better chance of qualifying.
The first challenge runs from September 4 until September 12. In this challenge, you much drive the Force India car to a podium position around Monza. The second challenge runs from September 18 to September 26, in which you must win the race in Japan with a Red Bull.
The semifinals and finals will be broadcast live for free on the F1 Esport Series website.
If you qualify for the semifinal, you will be one of 40 racers to take part in the event at the Gfinity Arena in London on October 10. This will be a head-to-head race with four heats. The races will be at Silverstone and Interlagos. The top five racers in each heat will be headed to the final in Abu Dhabi.
This will be held on November 24 and 25 in the form of a three-round championship. The races will be in Canada, Belgium and Abu Dhabi. The winner will become the first ever F1 Esports Champion along with a Formula One Paddock Club ticket and Paddock pass for race day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The winner will also be added to the F1 2018 game as a non-driver character and automatically qualify for next year’s eSport event. They will also get to select a 2018 F1 race of their choice (with some exceptions), for which they will receive a trip for two including paddock passes, paddock club tickets, business class flights, paid stay at a hotel, transportation from the hotel to the race and $2000 US spending money.
The second and third place racers will also receive a paddock pass and grandstand ticket for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, along with spending money.
Anyone interested in the F1 Esport Series can visit the website, where you can view the full details about the event and register.
