2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship

The 2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship was an esports competition for Formula One which is the seventh season of the Formula One Esports Series and the first in the series to be named as the "Formula One Sim Racing Championship." It was held on Formula One's official 2023 game, featuring all ten teams from the real-life sport.

After being runner-up in the standings for four prior seasons in a row, Frederik Rasmussen of Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing won the Driver's Championship for the first time in his career after a long battle with Thomas Ronhaar and Bari Broumand, the latter of whom helped his team Scuderia Ferrari Esports win the Constructor's Championship for the first time. Lucas Blakeley and McLaren Shadow were the defending champions, but scored no wins at all and dropped to the midfield.

The championship has been subject to significant backlash by both drivers and fans. The first issue was on the eve of Event One, which, despite being planned to host two races, only managed to host one due to complications surrounding legal contracts relating to the prize money for the series. Soon after Event One, it was leaked that Event Two, which was set to be hosted at DreamHack Atlanta, had been cancelled. Following this, the series sat in limbo until a set calendar was revealed on 2 April 2024, with the rest of the races starting on 10 April 2024 and ending on 9 May 2024.

Format

*Pro Championship
The drivers will race in a series of 3 LAN events that are broadcast live. Same as F1, drivers must make one pit stop if the weather is dry, and are not obligated to do so if it's wet. They earn points for themselves and their teams. These points will determine the F1 Sim Racing World Championship Teams’ and Drivers’ World Champions, with a total $750,000 prize fund.

Teams and drivers

Calendar

After the first round was held in November, a full schedule was announced in late March.

As per the official F1 Sim Racing Championship 2023-24 rulebook, the championship took place over three "race weeks;" all rounds were broken down into five events with each event consisting of two to three races.

Calendar Changes

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit replaced the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, making its debut on the calendar. The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and Suzuka International Racing Course were also absent, being replaced by the Las Vegas Strip Circuit and the Losail International Circuit respectively.

Season report

Event One: DreamHack Winter 2023

Round 1 was held during DreamHack Winter 2023, held in Jönköping, Sweden. It was the first F1 Sim Racing LAN event since 2019.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Kick F1's Thomas Ronhaar took pole position and led from the start, dominating the race. Nicolas Longuet was involved in a collision at turn 1 on lap 6, clashing with reigning champion Lucas Blakeley and rookie Alfie Butcher. Longuet managed to recover following a wing change to finish 3rd, while Blakeley was left dropping down the field on worn softs. Two-time champion Jarno Opmeer made his way through the field to P2, including making a double overtake, to finish 6 seconds behind winner Ronhaar from P9 on the grid. Ronhaar’s teammate, two-time champion Brendon Leigh, struggled with issues on his racing simulator, finishing down in twelfth after starting 14th. Jed Norgrove finished seventh on debut for AlphaTauri after starting P8. Ronhaar received a $5,000 prize for winning the event.

Event Two

After nearly five months, the season resumed at Jeddah with Frederik Rasmussen taking pole position. Rookie Butcher qualified an impressive third place, but shunted into Ferrari's Bari Broumand during their pitstops, giving him damage and forcing him into retirement. Ronhaar battled with Williams rookie Ismael Fahssi and Blakeley for the podium positions, and in the end Rasmussen took his thirteenth career victory from Ronhaar, Fahssi, and Blakeley.

Ronhaar took pole position in Austria and spent the first third of the race battling with Broumand for the lead. Blakeley disconnected from the race, meaning a Virtual Safety Car was called for a lap to allow Blakeley to rejoin the server. The incident affected several strategies and, after the round of pitstops, led to Butcher taking the lead from twelfth on the grid after teammate Ulaş Özyıldrım backed up the pack to form a clear gap for him. This allowed Butcher to take his maiden race win with Ronhaar second and Fahssi third. Rasmussen could only manage eighth, and Opmeer withdrew from the race after receiving a ten-second penalty in game for speeding under the VSC.

Opmeer received a grid penalty for the race at Silverstone for withdrawing from the Austrian Grand Prix without proper reason and exiting his simulator rig mid-race without permission. This meant that despite Opmeer setting the fastest lap time in qualifying, his Mercedes teammate Daniel Bereznay started on pole position. Opmeer responded by going on a longer strategy during the race, getting a set of six-lap younger tires than the rest of the frontrunners with twelve laps to go. He charged through the field and took his only win of the season ahead of Longuet, Bereznay, and Fahssi. Championship leader Ronhaar could only manage eighth.

Ronhaar's luck worsened during the Belgian Grand Prix, only finishing tenth. Pole-sitter Broumand battled with Blakeley on the final lap, eventually winning ahead of Blakeley in second with Rasmussen third and Idowu fourth, while Opmeer finished fifth with the fastest lap. Ronhaar's lead in the championship decreased to three points ahead of Rasmussen and seven points to Opmeer.

Longuet took pole at the Dutch Grand Prix, but as an originally wet track dried, he pitted for the mediums when the game bugged and gave him the wrong set of tires; he pitted again for the right set, dropping down to last. Rasmussen inherited the lead to take a comfortable victory, and with it not only became the first repeat winner of the season but also surpassed eleventh-placed Ronhaar for the championship lead.

Blakeley took pole at the United States Grand Prix, but lost out at the start to Broumand, Rasumssen and Alvaro Carreton at the start. His strategy didn't help him progress, leaving him stuck at fourth. Rasmussen tussled with Broumand to win ahead of him and Leigh, ensuring he would lead the championship for the next two rounds. Alpine scored their first points in the championship, with its drivers Patrik Sipos and Ruben Pedreno finishing seventh and eighth respectively. Rasmussen left Event Two with a 41-point lead over Broumand, with Opmeer a further point back and Ronhaar a further five. Red Bull Racing led the Constructor’s Championship by twenty points over Mercedes, thirty over Ferrari, and fifty over Kick.

Event Three

Broumand took pole for the Mexico City Grand Prix, and subsequently battled with Ronhaar and Rasmussen throughout the race. Leigh went wide at turn 11 midway and crashed out, marking the only damage-based retirement of the season. Ronhaar won the race, breaking Opmeer's three-win streak at Mexico City. Broumand, Rasmussen, and Butcher followed behind, while Pedreño got his best result of the season in fifth.

Ronhaar took pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix, while Broumand was forced to start in sixteenth following a rain-affected qualifying. After a lobby restart on the first lap, Blakeley and Simon Weigang battled with Ronhaar and Rasmussen for the lead, while Opmeer began a recovery stint from fourteenth. Rasmussen's strategy failed and put him sixth at the end, while Ronhaar won a second time in a row to put him twenty-two points behind Rasmussen. Carreton originally finished second, but received a post-race penalty and dropped out of the points. Butcher inherited second and Opmeer inherited third, while Ferrari left Brazil with no points; Longuet lost fourth due to a penalty, and Broumand retired late race due to a spin.

Ferrari redeemed themselves in the Las Vegas Grand Prix; Longuet took pole position for the race, and Broumand headed a 1-2 from Longuet in a battle-filled race. Opmeer and Ronhaar followed behind, while Rasmussen finished sixth and Blakeley crashed on the finish line in ninth. Ronhaar reduced his gap to Rasmussen down to eighteen points, meaning only he, Broumand, and Opmeer could challenge Rasmussen for the title.

Broumand took pole the same day for the Qatar Grand Prix, while Rasmussen suffered an exit in the second qualifying session. After the latter and teammate Josh Idowu made their pitstops, Idowu backed up the likes of Pedreno, Opmeer, and Leigh to give Rasmussen more leniency in overtaking them. Broumand headed another 1-2 finish, eliminating Opmeer from the championship fight. Broumand had a three-point gap to third-placed Ronhaar, and a further thirteen points to fifth-placed Rasmussen. Ferrari's maximized results put them forty points ahead of Red Bull in the Team's Championship.

Ronhaar took pole for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Broumand joining him on the front row ahead of Longuet, while Rasmussen only achieved seventh. Just like he did in Qatar, Idowu held up several cars to give Rasmussen a benefit, which left him, Butcher and Bereznay behind but on fresher tires than Ronhaar and the two Ferraris in the second stint. Butcher battled all of the top five, jumbling up the order and shoving Broumand down to seventh. In the end, Butcher won the race and ended the season as the highest-placed rookie in the drivers' standings. Ronhaar finished the race in second with Bereznay third. Finishing in fourth place, Frederik Rasmussen secured his place as the F1 Sim Racing World Champion after being the runner-up four times previously. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship, while Kick achieved second by out-scoring Red Bull in the final round, with Red Bull ending up third and Mercedes fourth. Ronhaar was runner-up in the drivers' championship with Broumand third, Opmeer fourth, Butcher fifth, Longuet sixth and 2022 champion Blakeley only seventh.

Results

Season summary

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points will be awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the race and one point will be given to the driver who sets the fastest lap inside the top ten. Starting from this season, one extra point will be awarded to the pole-sitter.

In the event of a tie at the conclusion of the championship, a count-back system is used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's/team's best result used to decide the standings.

Drivers' Championship standings

Teams' Championship standings

Notes:
*The standings are sorted by best result, rows are not related to the drivers. In case of tie on points, the best positions achieved determined the outcome.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.f1esports.com

Formula One Esports Series
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Formula One
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