As summer drifts away it can only mean one thing, F1 Esports is on the way!
The 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship is the fifth season of F1 Esports, and it sees some huge driver moves along with the most competitive grid in F1 Esports history.
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What can you expect from the 2021 season?
Champions on the move
After claiming his first F1 Esports Drivers' Championship with Alfa Romeo last year, Jarno Opmeer has been snatched up by Mercedes, who had an opening following Brendon Leigh's surprise move to FDA Esports, aka Ferrari.
Leigh takes his two Championships to Maranello where he partners with 2019 Champion David Tonizza in the scarlet Ferrari.
click to enlargeMeanwhile the two-time Teams' Champions Red Bull will return both Frede Rasmussen and Marcel Kiefer as they look to make it three titles in a row.
With the majority of the $750,000 prize fund handed out based on Teams' Championship standings, everyone will be taking aim at Red Bull's crown.
The complete lineup, along with the schedule and tracks on which they will be racing was all revealed in the Preview Show.
Complete driver lineup
| Team | Driver A | Driver B | Driver C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN F1 Esports | Simon Weigang | Filip Presnajder | Thijmen Schutte |
| Scuderia AlphaTauri Esports Team | Joni Tormala | Sebastian Job | Dario Lemmulo |
| Alpine Esports Team | Nicolas Longuet | Fabrizio Donoso | Patrik Sipos |
| Aston Martin Cognizant Esports Team | Lucas Blakeley | Daniele Haddad | Shanaka Clay |
| FDA Esports Team | David Tonizza | Brendon Leigh | Domenico Lovece |
| Uralkali Haas F1 Team Esports | Cedric Thome | Samuel Libeert | Matthjs van Erven |
| McLaren Shadow | Daniel Bereznay | Bardia Broumand | Josh Idowu |
| Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team | Jarno Opmeer | Dani Moreno | Bono Huis |
| Red Bull Racing Esports | Marcel Kiefer | Frederik Rasmussen | Liam Parnell |
| Williams Esports | Alvaro Carreton | Michael Romanidis | Alessio Di Capua |
Race schedule
Like last year, there will be 12 races split over four events, with each event running over two days. It's a blitz of action across two months for the 30 drivers, leaving very little room for error.
Once again drivers are competing from remote locations, with the broadcast being housed from the Gfinity Arena in London.
Event 1
The first set of races will run over 13-14 October and feature racing at Bahrain, China, and Austria.
Event 2
The second event runs from 27-28 October and will see a trio of historic venues used: Silverstone, Monza, and Spa.
Event 3
There is then a month break before event 3 which is 24-25 November. New circuit Portimao will feature, along with Zandvoort and Austin.
click to enlargeEvent 4
The Grand Finale will run from 15-16 December, and feature Imola as well as the Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix.
How to watch F1 Esports 2021
Fans around the world will be glad to hear that you don't need a Sky Sports F1 subscription or ESPN account to watch F1 Esports.
Every show this season will be streamed on the official F1 YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch channels.