The first round of the F1 Sim Racing 2023 World Championship took place last November. What was supposed to be a two-race event became a single round, won by Thomas Ronhaar for Kick Sauber, after the organizers canceled the first race.
On April 2, F1 Sim Racing, formerly branded as F1 Esports, released the schedule for the second event. A three-day event was planned for April 10-12 for six races, two per day, with qualifying for the two races to be held in the morning.
Learn more about all six races that took place last week in the F1 Sim Racing 2023 World Championship.
Round 2 – Jeddah
The second championship race kicked off at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix venue, for a 25-lap night race (half the distance of F1).
Frederik Rasmussen of Red Bull qualified on pole position, followed by Bari Broumand of Ferrari and Alfie Butcher of Haas. The top three made an ideal start on the soft tires.
Williams Esports driver Ismael Fahssi lost places at the start because he opted for the medium tires. He managed to regain the third position once his medium tires switched on.
On lap nine, the top three made pit stops for medium tires, but Broumand and Butcher made contact on pit entry. Both cars sustained damage that compromised their races.
Ronhaar pulled off some impressive overtakes as he made his way to the front from sixth on the grid.
On the last lap, locked into a battle with Fahssi and McLaren’s Lucas Blakeley, Ronhaar went for a gap that barely existed between the inside wall and the McLaren. He made the move stick for the second position, but Rasmussen was five seconds ahead.
The top five were Rasmussen, Ronhaar, Fahssi, Blakeley, and Jake Benham of Mercedes. Ronhaar maintained his Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship lead for Kick through the first two races.
Round 3 – Spielberg
With the possibility of rain during the 36-lap race at the Red Bull Ring, home of the Austrian Grand Prix, Ronhaar looked to maintain his championship lead from pole.
Broumand and Ronhaar traded the lead of the race for 14 laps until Blakeley disconnected from the game. The organizers decided to neutralize the race with a Virtual Safety Car, which is uncommon for F1 Sim Racing.
This meant that some drivers who already pitted were now at a disadvantage and that Blakeley would get a chance to rejoin the session. One driver who felt his strategy was ruined by this VSC was Mercedes’s former champion Jarno Opmeer.
The ‘Flying Dutchman’ was so upset that he left his rig, which caused the AI to take over his car and lead to a speeding during VSC penalty. He did not finish Round 3.
Fahssi, Butcher, Broumand and others took the opportunity to pit.
Rain began to fall on the final lap. Butcher led the race since his battle for first after the VSC ended on lap 16. Ronhaar made some impressive overtakes on Fahssi and Benham to reclaim the positions lost during the VSC, but it was only good enough for second place.
The top five were Butcher, Ronhaar, Fahssi, Benham, and Broumand. Ronhaar maintained his Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship lead for Kick through three races.
After the race, Opmeer was frustrated with the VSC decision, and he claimed that it ruined the race strategy of five other drivers.
“I’m not sure who was in charge of this decision, but I think that person should never be allowed near any sports or Esports events again,” he said.
Round 4 – Silverstone
Opmeer qualified on pole position for Mercedes, but due to a three-place grid penalty, started at the 26-lap race at Silverstone (British Grand Prix) in fourth position.
Fahssi quickly passed Opmeer for fourth because the Williams driver started on softs, as did the top three drivers. Opmeer started on the alternative medium tires.
Mercedes driver Daniel Bereznay traded the lead with Blakeley, which allowed them to conserve tires and battery power.
By lap 10, everyone ahead of Opmeer had pitted, and he stayed out intending to nurse the medium tires deep into the first stint.
Opmeer pitted for soft tires on lap 15, which handed the lead to his teammate. Nicolas Longuet of Ferrari then took the lead from Bereznay one lap later.
Opmeer made his way to the front with some fantastic overtakes, the most notable being his double overtake on Bereznay and Longuet for the win.
The top five were Opmeer, Longuet, Bereznay, Fahssi, and Kick’s Brendon Leigh.
Championship leader Ronhaar only gained four points, which promoted Mercedes to the lead of the Constructors’ Championship.
Round 5 – Spa
The Spa Francorchamps Circuit, the venue of the Belgian Grand Prix, was dry for the 22-lap race.
Ronhaar was aggressive at the start, but lost three positions and dropped back to sixth place by lap four.
The long Kemel straight was the zone for overtaking in this race. Blakely, Broumand, and Alpha Tauri’s Tom Manley swapped positions on the Kemel for several laps.
The first round of pit stops came on lap eight, Manley, Rasmussen, Longuet, and Ronhaar pitted for medium tires.
Opmeer was well out of position in 16th on the grid and fought his way back to seventh by lap 19. He used a similar strategy to Silverstone earlier in the day.
Rasmussen led for some time, then Broumand took over until Blakeley went to the front on the final lap.
Into Blanchiment corner, on the final lap, Broumand sent it around the outside of Blakeley to win the fifth round.
The top five were Broumand, Blakeley, Rasmussen, Red Bull driver Josh Idowu, and Opmeer.
Ronhaar led the Drivers’ Championship by two points over Rasmussen, and Mercedes retained their lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
It was a frustrating two races for Ronhaar, who saw his championship lead disappear in one day. He was inconsolable after the race and appeared to be in tears.
Round 6 – Zandvoort
The entire field was running intermediate tires for a wet-to-dry race at Circuit Zandvoort, home of the Dutch Grand Prix.
The drivers completed one lap before they were told to stop racing due to a problem with grid positions. Many drivers and teams were confused during this period which lasted about 12 minutes.
The race was restarted with Longuet at the front, followed by Broumand, Butcher, Idowu, and Ronhaar.
There were few overtakes during the wet stage of the race. Ronhaar took the gamble for hards on lap 11, then Butcher, Idowu, and Blakeley did the same one lap later.
On lap 13, the track was considered dry and DRS was enabled. Broumand had defended the lead for Longuet, his Ferrari teammate, up to this point. The French driver had more than a three-second gap out front.
Broumand pitted for mediums, then Longuet came in one lap later. When Longuet left the pits he still had intermediate tires on his car, and his frustration was evident.
Broumand tried to slow the pack down again to allow Longuet a chance to rectify the situation, but Rasmussen overtook Broumand with some wheel banging.
Longuet pitted for dry tires on lap 19, but the damage was done to his race. Afterward, he was crying. The Ferrari team gathered around him to support him and block the cameras.
“I’ve put in a lot of hours, weeks, months of preparation into this,” he said. “To lose it like that in Zandvoort hurts a lot. Due to a fault of the game, not of my own.”
Rasmussen took the victory in what appeared at the start to be a Ferrari 1-2. The top five were Rasmussen, Broumand, Manley, Butcher, and Idowu.
Ronhaar finished in 11th position, outside the points, which meant that Rasmussen took the lead in the Drivers’ Championship by 22 points. Mercedes maintained their lead in the Constructors’ Championship by 7 points over Red Bull.
Round 7 – Austin
The final race of this LAN event was set for 28 laps around the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), home of the United States Grand Prix.
Blakeley started on pole position but lost places in the early stages because he opted for the hard tires.
On lap eight, Broumand passed Rasmussen for the lead at the end of the first sector. The soft runners came into the pits on lap 11 for mediums.
The hard runners pitted on lap 15 for medium tires. Broumand led Rasmussen, from Leigh and the Williams of Alvaro Carreton.
Blakely was unable to make his strategy of starting on the hard tires work, but he did overtake Carreton for fourth position.
On the final lap, it came down to Broumand and Rasmussen for the race win. It was Rasmussen who wisely waited in second position for the final lap, and he used DRS on the back straight to pass Broumand for the win.
Rasmussen extended his advantage in the Drivers’ Championship and secured the lead in the Constructors’ Championship for Red Bull.