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F1 Game Creators Hope that Real Drivers Can Win eRaces

Published 04/01/2020, 2:06 PM EDT

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With no physical racing action for the foreseeable future, some F1 drivers are turning to eSports to satisfy that urge. Formula One even created a Virtual Grand Prix to make up for all the missing races. Admittedly, F1 hoped that some of the F1 drivers would turn up and compete alongside each other.

To be precise, it would be fun to see the likes of Max Verstappen and other top F1 drivers battling at the front. Sadly, the virtual Bahrain Grand Prix witnessed only two current Formula 1 drivers as part of the grid. They were Lando Norris and Nicholas Latifi, while the gamers and drivers from other series populated the rest of the grid along with Nico Hulkenberg.

Max Verstappen is a keen sim racer, however he chose not to compete. Despite being an F1 driver, he doesn’t play the official Formula 1 game, so he is practically a rookie on the game. Add to that is his desire to win races, which will be impossible if he went up against professional gamers.

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Codemasters is aware that the Dutchman likes driving on other platforms. However, they still hold out hope that he can be tempted to join. A good way to convince him is if he sees that Esports racers are not actually “destroying” Formula 1 drivers.

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Will F1 drivers want to compete in eSports?

“When you race in or play any video game, each one’s got its own unique way of playing. You can only devote a certain amount of practice to any game,” Paul Jeal, Codemasters‘ F1 franchise director told RaceFans.net.

“So I know he’s very serious with a lot of his iRacing and rFactor stuff with Team Redline. So he’s probably in virtual championships and wanted to dominate that.”

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Jeal hopes that people start warming up towards esports. What they want is to see the real F1 drivers compete and not gamers destroying them.

“I think if you’re a fan tuning in and Max Verstappen is in 16th place, that’s not what you want. So I hope over time, actually, he’ll be more inclined to take part.”

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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