As the F1 Esports Pro Series kicks off, Mercedes sits well on top of the standings.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Esports team has shown they can match the Formula 1 Championship. After a successful launch of the F1 Esports Series this month, Mercedes F1 Esports drivers sit both first and second in the championship. They’ve shown they can meet the might of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, current Formula 1 drivers. Whilst Hamilton and Bottas sit first and fourth respectively, Mercedes is well ahead in the Constructors standings. The Constructors Championship is the equivalent to overall team results.
Mercedes F1 Esports drivers
Brendon “BrendonLeigh72” Leigh is in first place in the F1 Esports 2018 Pro Series. His teammate, Daniel “FormulaDani” Bereznay follows closely behind. This puts Mercedes in first for the team championship with a 58-point margin. The Toro Rosso driver, Frederik “Formuel 1 Frede” Rasmussen, comes in third. The opening of the season, held at the Gfinity Arena in London, showed a tough fight between the podium sitters. Similar to the Supercars e-Series, each live event consisted of three rounds at different tracks — Albert Park in Australia, Shanghai, then Baku street circuit.
Leigh mostly controlled the races with two of three wins. Bereznay followed Leigh around the track for the first two races, coming in a close second. Round 3 was the most spectacular. On the Baku street circuit, the three drivers battled it out around each corner. Leigh missed the apex on the final turn, giving Rasmussen the opportunity he needed. The Toro Rosso driver slip streamed past both Mercedes drivers and into first place at the checkered flag.
Finishes don't come much closer than this! 😮😮😮
Mercedes' Brendon Leigh is inches away from making it 3 wins out of 3, but is beaten on the line by @ToroRosso's Frederik Rasmussen#F1Esports @newbalance pic.twitter.com/EBEFUrJUph
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 10, 2018
Esports, a pro sport
Leigh revealed at the start of the New Balance F1 Esports Series what it means to be a pro esports driver. The Mercedes driver from Britain announced he had lost 20kg in preparation for the season. In a tweet, he commented on his weight loss and the impact it has had on his performance:
[losing 20kg] has had huge effects on my life, Also a big effect on the sim racing. Working out has made me much faster, consistent and a much more complete driver. Overall, no negatives.
The driver spoke in an interview with Sky Sports about the positive effects from working with Mercedes. As esports continues to grow and more sporting organisations jump on board, more positive impacts like this will be seen. Large organisations like Mercedes are able to pool their resources into training esports players in a similar fashion to their physical world counterparts.
At only 19 years of age, Leigh promises to be a competitive young driver throughout the season. Leigh returns to the 2018 F1 Esports Pro Series from last year. He’ll be defending his 2017 title.
F1 Esports Pro Series
The final rounds of the series are set to take place in November. Seven more rounds remain. All rounds will be held at the Gfinity Esports Arena in London. Check out the full fixture and driver standings at New Balance F1 Esports Series.
If you missed the start of the series, catch up on all the races at the F1 Esports page. Every race is live streamed on the site with plenty of additional content to watch while you’re waiting for the tournament to continue.
