The 2025 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship was an

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

competition for

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

which was the eighth season of the Formula One Esports Series and the second in the series to be named as the "Formula One Sim Racing Championship." It was held on

's official 2024 game, featuring all ten teams from the real-life sport. The championship started on 14 January 2025 and ended on 27 March 2025. Frederik Rasmussen of Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing entered the year as the defending World Driver's Champion, while Scuderia Ferrari Esports were the defending World Constructors' Champions. Red Bull would take back the Constructors' Champions crown for this season, with their newly-recruited

Jarno Opmeer Jarno Opmeer (; born 11 April 2000) is a Dutch esports driver and former racing driver, who competes in the Formula One Esports Series for Red Bull Racing. Opmeer has won a record three Formula One Sim Racing World Championship titles, which ...

winning his record third championship in F1 Esports history. Ismael Fahssi would come up second to Opmeer, while Bari Broumand finished third. This was also the last season for inaugural champion Brendon Leigh, who announced his retirement from

sim racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

prior to the beginning of the season.

Format

*Pro Championship The drivers raced 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 determined the F1 Sim Racing World Championship Teams’ and Drivers’ World Champions, with a total $750,000 prize fund.

Prize Pool

A prize fund of $750,000 was awarded to the teams and drivers at the end of the season.

Constructors' Championship

$650,000 of the total $750,000 is awarded to the teams.

Drivers' Championship

$100,000 of the total $750,000 is awarded to the drivers. Drivers who finish the championship below 5th place do not take home any proportion of the fund.

Coverage

The series is broadcast on F1 YouTube with commentary from lead commentator Alex Jacques and former Formula One driver

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Since retiring from racing, Palmer has been a pundit for the BBC, Channel 4 and F1TV. Prior to ...

, with Ariana Bravo as presenter and pit lane reporter, with analysis from Tom Deacon and Matt Gallagher.https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2025-f1-sim-racing-world-championship.5uC84qwxj3GeEWRt9DFdIK

Entries

Notes: * Rows are related to the position of the sim racing cockpit the drivers play on. Each team has two setups side by side, R means the Right side, the L the Left side simulator setup.

Calendar

The full schedule was announced on 19 December, consisting of twelve races across three separate events.

Calendar changes

The Albert Park Street Circuit returned as the season opener for the first time since the 2018 season, and the

Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit (), also called the SAIC Shanghai International Circuit () for sponsorship purposes, is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai, China. The circuit is best known as the venue for the ...

will host a round for the first time since the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

as the second round. The

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

and the

Las Vegas Strip Circuit The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a street circuit around parts of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, immediately adjacent to Las Vegas, Nevada. It winds through the streets of the city and comprises the Las Vegas Strip, a section of Las Veg ...

dropped off the calendar in return.

Results

Season summary

Season report

Event One

The championship started at the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

, where Ismael Fahssi of Williams took his first career pole position. At the start, he held onto the lead until defending champion Frederik Rasmussen snatched it from him on lap 7, leaving Fahssi pressured by runner-up Thomas Ronhaar and rookie Otis Lawrence, both driving for Kick F1 and Aston Martin respectively. When the round of pit stops came, the top four were all surmounted by Daniel Bereznay, who went on an alternative strategy. Towards the latter stages, Lawrence pushed Rasmussen wide at turn 5, who was then pushed by Lucas Blakeley at turn 8, shoving him down to only tenth at the race end. On the final lap, Fahssi overtook Bereznay, and Ronhaar attempted a divebomb on him, which resulted in both of them dropping down the order. Fahssi took his first victory in the series from István Puki and Bereznay.

finished fourth in his first outing for Red Bull Racing, followed by Lawrence and Ronhaar. Ulaş Özyıldırım was the next pole sitter at the

Chinese Grand Prix The Chinese Grand Prix () is a round of the Formula One World Championship. The event was held every year from 2004 until 2019 before it was suspended from 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The event resumed in 2024 and is con ...

, making his debut for Racing Bulls. During the first half, he became involved in a battle with Ronhaar, Lawrence, and Brendon Leigh, in which he eventually lost out and dropped to thirteenth. His teammate, Tom Manley, collided with Leigh after the round of pit stops, also removing Leigh from contention and instead making room for Jarno Opmeer to chase after Ronhaar. Opmeer came out on top for his first win of the season, followed by Ronhaar, Bereznay, and Fahssi in fourth.

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. 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

References

{{Reflist Formula One Esports Series

Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...