The F1 eSports Series in 2020 helped to round off a big year for F1 and virtual racing after a 11.4 million fans tuned into the live stream action across various digital platforms.
This was, believe it or not, a 98% increase on the previous year. Due to record-breaking year, it has been decided that virtual Grand Prix will return in 2021. Keep reading to find out more.
Jarno Opmeer Was the Champion
Jarno Opmeer, racing for Alfa Romeo, won his premiere Formula 1 eSports title in the Grand Final event in December as the Teams’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship came down to the last race of the season. Nearly 3 million people tuned in to watch the Grand Final, which set a record for any Pro Series event. While Opmeer won the Drivers’ Championship, Red Bull won the Teams’ Championship, successfully defending their title.
The Grand Final, which also went down to the wire, was spoken about 1.7 million times on social media platforms, which was another record for F1 eSports event. This rounded off what was already a huge success for Formula 1 eSports when it came to social media interaction – throughout the event there were 291 million social media interactions, which was a 151% increase on the previous season.
Furthermore, the 2020 series got just under 24 million video views, which was a 29% increase from 2019. This increase can be put down to the social media output of the 2019 campaign – following the popularity of the 2017 Pro Series, more people tried to qualify for last year’s season. Participation increased to 237,000, which was a 117% increase from 2019.
Julian Tan, the Head of Digital Business Initiatives and eSports for Formula 1, said, and we summarise here, that it was great to see F1 eSports break engagement and viewing records after a great championship where we saw high drama and competitive racing at all events. Adaptations had to be made in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we are absolutely thrilled to see that it had no effect on enjoyment or consumption by Formula 1 fans.
Last year was a difficult one for us all, but we are really looking forward to providing fans with more excitement in 2021, beginning with Virtual Grand Prix returning to the screens as we welcome back those who made it a great experience last year as well as a few new ones, in the name of charity.
Betting on Virtual Formula 1
Virtual sports have become so popular over the last few years that they are definitely going to stick around. Bookmakers are well aware of this, which is why any bookmaker worth its salt will offer their customers odds and markets for various Formula 1 eSports events.
Before you can bet on F1 events, whether they are virtual races or real ones, you need to open an account with the best F1 betting sites. Follow the link provided and you will find one of the best comparison sites in the United Kingdom – their experts will provide you with best bookmakers for betting on F1 as well as valuable information regarding different types of bets and payment options.
Virtual Grand Prix 2021
Looking ahead to the rest of this year, Formula 1 eSports aim to build on the success that they had in 2020, and they are kick-starting this New Year with Virtual Grand Prix – the first one being a competition made up of three races and a big cash prize for the charity of the winning team’s choice.
The Virtual Grand Prix started on January the 31st and there were three events over consecutive weekends. There ten teams battled it out to win money for charity, and the participants were represented by a mixture of current and former Formula 1 drivers, eSports series gamers, and celebrities.
More than 30 million people watched the Virtual Grand Prix season in 2020 to see sporting icons, music chart toppers, and stars, represent the 10 Formula 1 teams in eight different live events that replaced the live calendar that was suspended due to the pandemic.
The format was slightly different this year as the professional gamers now participated in a 5-lap Sprint Race to determine what the grid order will be for the Feature Race. The teams’ duos, which were made up of famous faces, then took part in a 50% race distance to earn points for their overall standings. And the organisers then tracked the team championship standings across the different events, and this was be used to determine the prize fund distributed among each teams’ nominated charities.
While the Virtual Grand Series is going to be the main Formula 1 eSports event at the beginning of the year, it is only one of many virtual F1 events scheduled to take place in 2021. Another event to keep an eye out for is the Formula 1 eSports Series China Championship that is due to take place this week.
There will also be another eight rounds of Formula 1 eSports across Xbox, PS4, and PC platforms right up until April, and then in autumn the F1 eSports Series Pro Championship will return.
