You’ve seen the top drivers from the F1 Esports scene compete in PSGL’s top PC tier, now it’s the turn of the teams. Ten of them will be fielding top F1 22 talent to win some prize money.
Image credit: PSGL / Veloce
We have become accustomed to the top level F1 game league racing communities with some of the best drivers that can be found in F1 Esports. Along with them are other tiers with players of varying abilities who can also compete with similarly skilled opponents. However, the F1 league racing scene has often lacked one element from F1 Esports.
In the Pro Championship, the drivers may be gunning for individual glory but the most importance is on the team’s championship as that is where the money is. The teams will usually place their drivers in leagues like PSGL and WOR to practice their racecraft, but F1 Esports takes priority as they’re racing for money.
PSGL took note of this and decided to start up a series for teams to compete in. After inviting some and having others qualify, the roster has been whittled down to ten teams that will compete for a prize pool of £1,000. That may be dwarfed by F1 Esports’ prize pool but it’s still enough to get some big name teams involved.
In the PSGL E-Series, the ten participating teams will nominate up to five drivers to compete for them, with two racing at a time. Since the teams can’t all race their own custom liveries on F1 22, they will be assigned in-game teams.
Who is Competing?
The F1 Esports teams of both Haas and Williams are involved, fielding their Pro Championship drivers in the series. Haas have 2022 top rookie Thomas Ronhaar who fought for the overall championship in F1 Esports, PC Challengers runner-up Piotr Stachulec and finally Matthijs van Erven.
Williams will be represented by Shanaka Clay and Álvaro Carretón. These are the only two teams not to field a squad of five drivers.
Veloce are a big name in the world of F1 Esports, having operated the virtual racing side for the likes of Alfa Romeo, McLaren and Mercedes. They have now set up an academy team dedicated to racing in F1 22 leagues called Veloce F1 Elites. Competing for them in PSGL E-Series include the likes of former Alfa Romeo driver Thijmen Schütte, PSGL PlayStation top tier champion Matthew Alder and Challengers competitors from PC and Xbox respectively, Can Akinci and Harvey Cowan.
But, perhaps the most prominent name on their roster is Otis Lawrence. He is the reigning champion in World Online Racing’s top Xbox tier, and is considered by many to be the next big thing in F1 Esports. The 14-year old recently got a PC and has already been running right up at the sharp end against Pro Championship drivers in PSGL and WOR’s top PC tiers.
Next is another team that are involved with running an F1 team’s esports division. Race Clutch are responsible for Alpine’s F1 Esports efforts and are taking full advantage of that by running with Pro Championship competitors Patrik Sipos and Luke Smith. There’s also Rubén Pedreño, who fought both Ronhaar and Jarno Opmeer for the WOR top PC tier championship, and Kristóf Szelle who finished 3rd in PC Challengers.
The last big name pro team is R8G Esports who, despite operating Haas’ esports team, are also fielding their own academy drivers. Included in their line-up are PlayStation Challengers champion Joost Noordijk, PC Challengers competitor Iker Baena and FaZe Clan ESL R1 racer Ulaş Özyıldırım.
To make up the remainder of the grid, PSGL held qualifiers and the remaining five spots on the grid went to community teams TF10, Visceral, Parnell Racing, FVR Campeonato and Streamline. All teams will nominate two of the drivers on their roster prior to each race across ten rounds held on Fridays. The schedule is as follows:
Rd 1: Imola – 10 February
Rd 2: Paul Ricard – 17 February
Rd 3: Zandvoort – 24 February
Rd 4: Shanghai – 3 March
Rd 5: Miami – 10 March
Rd 6: Montreal – 17 March
Rd 7: Yas Marina – 24 March
Rd 8: Marina Bay – 31 March
Rd 9: Sakhir – 7 April
Rd 10: Circuit of the Americas – 14 April
All the racing can be followed via PSGL’s YouTube channel.
Which team do you think will win the PSGL E-Series? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
