Mercedes leads F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports driver Brendon Leigh tops the leader board, winning two out of three races at the first event of the F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series, Toro Rosso Esports Team’s Frederik Rasmussen is in second place, but with Leigh’s team-mate Daniel Bereznay in third place, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports sits firmly at the top of the constructor standings.

This first Pro Series live event was held at London’s Gfinity Esports Arena and streamed live via Facebook.Across social media the event has reached 2 million people and generated 1.2 million views to date. It was also broadcast globally on selected TV networks – bringing the excitement and exhilaration of Formula 1 to a new generation of fans across the globe.

Dominating in both the real-world and virtual world of Formula 1, Mercedes and its drivers have had a strong start to the Series. Mirroring the drama of the 2018 Formula One World Championship, in which Lewis Hamilton is approaching his fifth championship, reigning F1 Esports champion Leigh is now targeting a second title in the Pro Series.

The first race of the Pro Series saw the drivers take on the Australian Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne. In full control from beginning to end, Leigh started from pole position to take his first win. Then came Tino Naukkarinen of Williams Esports, followed by Red Bull Racing Esports Team’s Joni Tormala in third.

The second Grand Prix was at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. A dramatic race unfolded that saw Leigh work his way up the field from fifth, to secure his second win. Second place went to Toro Rosso Esports Team’s Frederik Rasmussen, with Daniel Bereznay of Mercedes in third.

The infamous street circuit of Baku was the stage for the final race, and it turned out to be a tense battle. Bereznay led for much of the race, only to be overtaken in a nerve-wracking few corners by both Rasmussen and teammate Leigh. The race reached a dramatic end on the final lap with Leigh overtaking Rasmussen, only for the Danish driver to steal the win from Leigh on the finish line. Bereznay crossed the line in third.

 

The overall standings so far are:

 

DRIVER STANDINGS
Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	Brendon Leigh	Mercedes AMG-Petronas Esports	68
2	Frederik Rasmussen	Toro Rosso Esports	45
3	Daniel Bereznay	Mercedes AMG-Petronas Esports	38
4	Bono Huis	McLaren Shadow	19
5	Tino Naukkarinen	Williams Esports	18
6	Graham Carroll	Red Bull Racing Esports	16
7	Joni Tormala	Red Bull Racing Esports	16
8	James Doherty	Renault Sport Team Vitality	14
9	F. Donoso Delgado	Hype Energy eForce India	12
10	Patrick Holzmann	Toro Rosso Esports	12
11	Salih Saltunc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Esports	12
12	Marcel Kiefer	Hype Energy eForce India	12
13	Enzo Bonito	McLaren Shadow	8
14	Allert Vanderwal	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Esports	6
15	Alvaro Carreton	Williams Esports	6
16	Martin Stefanko	Haas F1 Esports	1
17	Sven Zurner	Renault Sport Team Vitality	0
18	Michal Smidl	Haas F1 Esports	0
19	Sonuc Saltunc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Esports	0
20	Olli Pakhala	McLaren Shadow	0

 

TEAM STANDINGS
Position	Team	Points
1	Mercedes AMG-Petronas Esports	106
2	Toro Rosso Esports	57
3	Red Bull Racing Esports	32
4	McLaren Shadow	27
5	Williams Esports	24
6	Hype Energy eForce India	24
7	Sauber F1 Esports	18
8	Renault Sport Team Vitality	14
9	Haas F1 Esports	1

 
The F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series has brought together the most talented motorsport gamers in the world for the second year in a row. This year, the drivers had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with the backing of some of the most prestigious names in motor racing following an intensive selection process. The Pro Series comprises of three live events held at London’s Gfinity Esports Arena, with drivers competing for the coveted prize fund of $200,000 – allocated to the teams based on their positions in the team standings. The second event will take place on October 31st followed by the Grand Final across November 16th and 17th.

The Pro Series is the exciting finale of the award-winning F1 New Balance Esports Series, which saw 66,000 players compete over four online qualifying rounds earlier in the year to secure a coveted place in the inaugural F1 Esports Pro Draft in July. Completing 1.1 million laps in F1 2017, the official game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and PC. The Pro Series was the first time that the competing drivers raced on F1 2018, which was released on 24th August 2018.

Julian Tan, Head of Growth & F1 Esports at Formula 1 said:

“The Pro Series is the opportunity for our seriously skilled drivers to show just how capable they are, and the performances we saw at the first live event did not disappoint. With months of hard work under their belts in the lead-up to the competition, there is everything to play for. With fans watching across the world, the Pro Series is sure to keep audiences at the edge of their seat as we look forward to the next live event at the end of the month and of course the Grand Final in November.”

Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters said:

“As we’ve seen consistently with our drivers, the standard of racing was nothing short of breath-taking. The new manually operated ERS in F1 2018 perfectly added drama and excitement to the wheel to wheel racing, and it was great to see our drivers working as hard on their wheels as their real life counterparts. The sense of competition and camaraderie between all the drivers is now at an all-time high, and their performances have gone up another level since the official F1 Teams joined the Series, with many of the drivers having physically transformed themselves. Now the first results are in, the next couple of weeks will be crucial to get as much practice in as possible ahead of the second event on October 31st. It’s a 10 race championship with a double point’s final, so there is still plenty to play for.”

Mark Brittain, Chief Commercial Officer at Gfinity said:

“A worldwide audience tuned into the F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series and witnessed an amazing race. The skills of the F1 Esports teams generated an electric atmosphere in the Gfinity Arena that was felt across

the globe. The bar has been raised for the next live event and the final. We are witnessing the convergence of the real and digital worlds. And racing fans are loving it.”

The global Esports phenomenon continues to go from strength to strength with backing from some of the most exciting brands on the planet. The lifestyle brand New Balance was recently named the title sponsor of the F1 New Balance Esports Series and kitted the drivers out with the latest footwear for the Pro Series, while DHL and Fanatec also continue to sponsor the competition.

The F1 New Balance Esports Series is operated in partnership with Codemasters, the developer and publisher of the official Formula 1 video game franchise and Gfinity, one of the world’s leading esports companies.

For more information on the F1 New Balance Esports Series visit www.f1esports.com or follow all the action on F1’s official Facebook page.

 

Race 1: Final Classification
Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Penalties	Fastest Lap	Points
1	Brendon LEIGH	21:02.274			1:21.731	25
2	Tino NAUKKARINEN	21:07.268	+4.994		1:22.164	18
3	Joni TORMALA	21:09.927	+7.653		1:22.090	15
4	Graham CARROLL	21:14.287	+12.013		1:22.564	12
5	James DOHERTY	21:17.260	+14.986		1:22.495	10
6	Daniel BEREZNAY	21:17.605	+15.331	+15 secs	1:21.636	8
7	Alvaro CARRETON	21:18.167	+15.893		1:22.503	6
8	Salih SALTUNC	21:19.390	+17.116		1:22.263	4
9	Frederik RASMUSSEN	21:21.317	+19.043		1:21.721	2
10	Bono HUIS	21:21.458	+19.184		1:22.104	1
11	Fabrizio DENOSO DELGADO	21:23.676	+21.402		1:22.427	0
12	Martin STEFANKO	21:31.129	+28.855		1:21.745	0
13	Marcel KIEFER	21:32.979	+30.705		1:23.107	0
14	Michal SMIDL	21:35.305	+33.031		1:21.969	0
15	Sonuc SALTUNC	21:38.286	+36.012		1:22.253	0
16	Olli PAHKALA	21:44.076	+41.802		1:21.417	0
17	Patrick HOLZMANN	21:53.01	+50.727		1:20.922	0
18	Sven ZURNER	22:07.392	+1:05.118	+15 secs	1:21.586	0

 

Race 2: Final Classification
Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Penalties	Fastest Lap	Points
1	Brendon LEIGH	22:07.029			1:31.992	25
2	Frederik RASMUSSEN	22:08.480	+01.451		1:32.694	18
3	Daniel BEREZNAY	22:08.732	+01.703		1:32.085	15
4	Marcel KIEFER	22:13.365	+06.336		1:32.609	12
5	Fabrizio DONOSO DELGADO	22:17.584	+10.555		1:33.342	10
6	Salih SALTUNC	22:20.755	+13.726		1:33.206	8
7	Bono HUIS	22:24.098	+17.069		1:32.179	6
8	Graham CARROLL	22:24.462	+17.433		1:32.068	4
9	Patrick HOLZMANN	22:25.105	+18.076		1:33.138	2
10	Martin STEFANKO	22:26.890	+19.861		1:33.057	1
11	Sven ZURNER	22:27.348	+20.319		1:32.551	0
12	Joni TORMALA	22:29.555	+22.526		1:33.286	0
13	Alvaro CARRETON	22:31.514	+24.485		1:33.452	0
14	James DOHERTY	22:31.713	+24.684		1:33.964	0
15	Tino NAUKKARINEN	22:31.984	+24.955		1:33.876	0
16	Enzo BONITO	22:41.962	+34.933		1:33.485	0
17	Michal SMIDL	23:08.054	+01:01.025		1:32.405	0
18	Allert VANDERWAL		DNF		1:33.364	0

 

Race 3: Final Classification
Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Penalties	Fastest Lap	Points
1	Frederik RASMUSSEN	22:02.604			1:39.620	25
2	Brendon LEIGH	22:02.698	+00.094		1:39.392	18
3	Daniel BEREZNAY	22:04.153	+1.549		1:39.867	15
4	Bono HUIS	22:11.588	+8.984		1:39.892	12
5	Patrick HOLZMANN	22:11.707	+9.103		1:40.468	10
6	Enzo BONITO	22:13.813	+11.209	+5 secs	1:39.651	8
7	Allert VANDERWAL	22:14.503	+11.899		1:40.521	6
8	James DOHERTY	22:18.630	+16.026		1:40.828	4
9	Fabrizio DONOSO DELGADO	22:20.576	+17.972		1:39.565	2
10	Joni TORMALA	22:22.192	+19.588		1:40.149	1
11	Tino NAUKKARINEN	22:26.068	+23.464		1:40.689	0
12	Graham CARROLL	22:28.096	+25.492		1:40.479	0
13	Salih SALTUNC	22:29.737	+27.133		1:40.363	0
14	Marcel KIEFER	22:32.922	+30.318		1:40.671	0
15	Sven ZURNER	22:35.699	+33.095	+15 secs	1:40.050	0
16	Alvaro CARRETON	22:37.357	+34.753		1:40.567	0
17	Michal SMIDL	22:53.273	+50.669	+15 secs	1:41.155	0
18	Martin STEFANKO		DNF		1:40.404	0