The 2020 F1 Esports Series will be the fourth running of the world’s premier digital racing competition. It will feature 10 teams competing for the lion’s share of a US $750,000 prize pool, which marks a 50% increase from the $500,000 offered in the 2019 F1 Esports Series.

The action will get underway with the Pro Draft Reveal Show, where the 10 official F1 teams will reveal their rosters for the season. The rules state each team must select at least one driver from a pool of 45 individuals. They will then add the selected driver(s) to their existing roster and assemble a new three-man team.

As stated in the rules, all Pro Draft qualifying drivers will be eligible for selection. There will be no knockout racing qualifications, and the draft will take place exclusively online so as to shorten the process and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organisers revealed that more than 237,000 individuals signed up this year’s qualifiers, highlighting the rapid the growth of F1 Esports since the inaugural season in 2017. Out of those 237,000 candidates, only 0.019% – the cream of the crop – have been selected to participate in the All Pro Draft.

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As was the case with previous editions of the Formula One Esports Series, the 2020 season will begin in autumn. Due to the COVID-19 countermeasures in place, all racing will take place remotely.

Because online competitions are often criticised for putting competitive integrity at risk – since it makes much easier for participants to cheat or otherwise gain an unfair advantage over their opponents – Formula One Esports organisers have implemented a rule stating each driver needs to use the equipment provided by organisers and install anti-cheating software on their devices.

The 2020 F1 Esports Series will run from October through December using the same format as in 2019, meaning we will see a 12-round championship made up of four events with three races each. The only major change from 2019 is that racers will now run to 35% of a real-life race distance instead of the previous 25%.

In 2019, Italian driver David Tonizza was crowned as the F1 Esports Series champion and helped Red Bull Racing Esports win their first constructor’s championship. That result ended the reign of Brendon Leigh, who won back-to-back drivers’ titles in 2017 and 2018.

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The series is to be played on the official F1 2019 video game and will feature substitute events for every postponed race of the Formula One season, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 22.

The initiative is scheduled to run until May, meaning Vietnam, China and Netherlands Virtual Grand Prix races are on the cards. The organisers noted that the competition could be extended beyond the set dates, depending on the coronavirus situation.

This unusual approach will give F1 racing fans to chance to see whether the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel can translate their dominance on the track into the virtual world.

The broadcast of the Bahrain Grand Prix will start on Sunday at 20:00 GMT on F1’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels. The first virtual F1 Grand Prix on the Sakhir track will be 28 laps long instead of the regular 56, with the event expected to run for about 1.5 hours. In a bid to provide a level playing field, the drivers will all use cars with the exact same setup, reduced vehicle damage and other optional controls to help those unfamiliar with the game.

“With every major sports league in the world unable to compete, it is a great time to highlight the benefits of esports,” said Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports at F1.

While the revolutionary event is sure to draw a significant level of interest worldwide, the Virtual Grand Prix Series is strictly for entertainment purposes and the drivers’ placements in these races will in no way affect the official standings for the F1 Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship.

“The series is strictly for entertainment purposes, to bring racing action to fans in this unprecedented scenario the world has been affected by, with no official World Championship points up for grabs for the drivers,” F1 clarified.

F1 will also host online exhibition races during non-race weekends, giving the fans a chance to go head-to-head with F1 drivers.

This is not the first time the virtual and real F1 worlds have crossed paths. Earlier this year, F1 esports driver Igor Fraga was given the chance to prove himself as a Formula Three driver with Charouz Racing System. The Brazilian star went on to win the 2020 Toyota Racing Series title with four race victories, including a double at the series-ending New Zealand Grand Prix.

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Fraga’s involvement with the F1 Esports Series started with the inaugural 2017 season, where he proved to be a solid performer. The Japanese-born gamer has since become one of the most successful F1 esports talents, taking top honours in high-profile events such as the 2019 McLaren Shadow Project and most recently the Manufacturers Series title in Grand Turismo.

Besides his success in the virtual world, Fraga has also achieved some seriously impressive results on the track. He made his first major appearance in the 2017/18 NACAM Formula 4 Series, where he finished fourth, to which he added a third-place finish in last year’s Formula Regional European Championship.

Furthermore, Fraga is the current leader of the Toyota Racing Series with two wins and seven podiums in his pocket. What is most impressive is that if Fraga wins the title, he would be sitting at 35 FIA superlicence points, meaning he would be only five short of the threshold needed to be eligible for F1.

“I’m really looking forward to joining the Formula 3 field with Charouz,” said Fraga.

“It is a competitive series and a very professional environment.

“Running at the same events as F1 is kind a crazy to think about. I just can’t wait to start my season.”

Fraga is now set to compete against some of the best young racing talents in F3, where he will go toe-to-toe with proven championship-winners, descendants of F1 legends and veterans of the scene. Luckily, he won’t be alone in this major step in his racing career, as will be joined by two great teammates in Kari and Schumacher.

Kari is the most experienced driver of the three, having won the SMP F4 Championship in 2015 and finished as vice-champion in the Masters of Formula 3 in 2016. Kari has also won in GP3 and European F3 and pocketed two podiums in F3 last season.

Fraga’s first appearance behind the wheel of the Dallara F3 chassis will take place at pre-season testing in Bahrain from March 1-3. The new F3 season will start at the same venue on March 22.

While still in the early stages of its development, the Formula 1 esports scene has enjoyed immense growth in recent years. The flagship F1 Esports Series recorded a 76% increase in online viewership in 2019, reaching a total of 5.8 million viewers and 169 million social media impressions as reported by the official F1 Esports website.

The 2019 F1 Esports Series saw a record-breaking 109,000 players, which is a 65% increase from 2018. The total prize pool for the season reached US $500,000 – more than double the previous year.

Fraga is not the first F1 esports star to try his luck on the track. Cem Bolukbasi turned heads last year when he made his Formula Renault debut at Hockenheim.

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