Formula One eSports world championship launches

The top racing series in the world Formula One with the fastest cars and some of the best drivers to be seen anywhere. F1 racing has announced that it will be crowning its first virtual racing champion with the announcement of the Formula 1 Esports Series. The series is being cast as the fastest and most prestigious virtual racing competition.

The Esports F1 racing season will kick off in September 2017 and competitors will race their virtual F1 cars using the Formula 1 videogame from Codemasters. The Esports event will be in partnership with Gfinity.

The press release about the new virtual racing series states, "The 2017 series marks the first year of the annual competition highlighting the sport's long-term investment in esports and gaming as well as its continued ambition to build a greater connect with wider audiences, especially younger fans."

The launch of the F1 Esports competition coincides with the launch of the official F1 2017 racing game from Codemasters. The game launches globally on PS4 consoles, Xbox One, and PCs on August 25. It's unclear exactly what platform the virtual racers will compete using. We do know that the competition will include three stages with qualification events happening in September.

The quickest 40 drivers in those events will move on to the semi final events held at the Gfinity Arena in London on October 10 and 11. That group will be whittled down to 20 who will compete in the finale of the event at Yas Marina as part of the 2017 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX on November 24 and 25. The winner of that event will be the formula 1 Esports Champion Expert for 2018 and automatically be qualified for the 2018 Esports series. The winner also gets to be a character in the F1 2018 racing game.

Frank Sagnier, CEO at Codemasters said, "Esports is one of the fastest growing sectors of gaming already attracting audiences in the tens of millions. We are delighted to be announcing this incredible racing series with Formula 1 for our upcoming F1 2017 game. The highly competitive nature and high-speed spectacle of the sport combined with the authenticity of our game will provide a thrilling experience for players and viewers across the world. We look forward to engaging more deeply with our loyal and passionate community, and to bring new fans to both our game and the sport itself."