It’s fair to say the first ever Formula 1 esports series couldn’t have ended on a much more exciting note. Set in a garage at the Yas Marina circuit, the 20 drivers took part in a three-race shootout to decide who would be the champion.
The first race was won by Brendon Leigh, with race two being won by Cem Bolukbasi, who recently joined Fernando Alonso’s own esports team. The McLaren driver was even watching as he took victory – no pressure, then!
How far online racing has come….@G2Bolukbasi with his new boss @alo_oficial #F1Esports pic.twitter.com/qGVpR7cnSY
— Apex Online Racing (@ApexOnRacing) November 25, 2017
Going into the final race at Yas Marina itself, the three drivers at the top of the standings – Brendon Leigh, Sven Zurner, and Fabrizio Donoso – were separated by just one point and found themselves battling for the first three places in the race. Basically, whoever won the race would win the title.
Leigh led the early stages, but Donoso jumped the pair of them in the pit stops. Zurner tried a couple of risky moves to get ahead of Leigh, the second of which cost the pair a load of time and appeared to hand Donoso the title.
But Leigh put the hammer down, caught back up, and on the final lap…well, just watch it.
How good was that?! A last lap pass for the lead (and an awesome one at that!) to win the championship. Not only was the move from Leigh brilliant, but the sportsmanship from Donoso to hand the position back after cutting the corner with so much at stake was top notch.
Not fussed about esports or sim racing? Well, you should give it a chance, because F1 is going all-in with this and it’s only going to get bigger and better. Although judging by that awesome finale, that’s going to be a tough ask!
