Formula 1 has always been the pinnacle of motorsports, with it’s cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art race tracks, and now it is coming to its third season of the Formula 1 New Balance Esports series.

For the first time ever, 10 teams will be competing for a grand prize of USD 500,000 (RM2.09 million). The Prancing Horse makes its appearance this season.

The racing teams are:

• Ferrari
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsports
• Aston Martin Red Bull Racing
• Alfa Romeo Racing
• McLaren F1 Team
• Rich Energy Haas F1 Team
• Renault F1 Team
• Red Bull Torro Rosso Honda
• SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team
• ROKiT Williams Racing

The addition of Ferrari this season makes this the biggest and most ambitious season yet!

Format

All teams will take part in the Pro Draft which will happen in July for two days and is where the official F1 teams will select the drivers they want to add to their roster to represent them in the Pro Series. A number of high stakes race-offs on day one will identify the best of the best from the drivers that successfully navigated the online qualifying phase.

The slowest drivers will be sent home while the fastest makes the cut into the final pool from which the teams will make their picks on day two. Each team must select a driver from the Pro Draft.

After the Pro Draft, the teams will compete in the Pro Series, with a total of 12 races being contested over four live events between September and December 2019. In the Pro Series, the drivers will compete on F1 2019 by Codemasters, the official game of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The prize of USD 500,000 (RM2.09 million) is more than double of last year’s prize fund.

Vroom Vroom

This series seems to be a high-octane esports with neck-to-neck finishes across the line. Petrolheads like me will definitely be attracted to this form of esports as it fills the gap between regular Formula 1 and esports Formula 1. Not to mention, we might see a new Lewis Hamilton in the Formula 1 New Balance Esports series.

In fact, Malaysia has one similar esports spearheaded by former Formula 1 pilot, Alex Yoong, and his team, Axle Motorsports. Another interesting fact is that you can already sign up for this event if you’re interested.