These 6 F1 Esports Prospects Will Be Signed in 2022

6 F1 Esports Prospects To Breakout in 2022

Apr 5, 2022 9 Min Read Posted by Luca

With the F1 Esports Pro Exhibition coming up, here are the six F1 Esports prospects we reckon people should keep their eye on for a seat in this season’s Pro Championship.

Image credit: Codemasters / EA

The F1 Esports Challengers season is over and now we prepare for the Pro Exhibition, the top six from all three platforms are eligible for direct consideration. Whether it be PC, PlayStation or even Xbox, there are always drivers across all platforms that are capable of making it into the F1 Esports Pro Championship.

So who are the ones we would pick out as being ones to watch? Here are six drivers that we reckon will end up getting selected.

Tomek Poradzisz

Platform: PC
Challengers position: 1st

Perhaps the driver with highest level of expectations, has been performing at a level alongside the best in F1 Esports years before he was ever eligible. He was easily the favourite to win the title on PC, and he did so in dominant fashion, winning six out of 12 races and in the end having a 57 point margin to his nearest competitor. It’s truly a foregone conclusion that Poradzisz will be selected.

We believe it’s a safe bet that Poradzisz will follow in the footsteps of last year’s PC Challengers runner-up and academy graduate . Joining both Idowu and in the McLaren Shadow team to make an incredibly competitive trio.

Piotr Stachulec

Platform: PC
Challengers position: 2nd

It was the other Pole in the PC field who held his own against his compatriot the entire way; who won three races during the season. When we spoke to Poradzisz before the season, he described Stachulec as his biggest competition, and that certainly proved to be the case.

Being a member of who operate the Haas team’s F1 esports efforts, it’s likely that we can expect Stachulec in a Haas this season, alongside the likes of and maybe someone from outside the Haas circle at the moment.

Joost Noordijk

Platform: PlayStation
Challengers position: 1st

Out of the three platforms, PlayStation was the one with the least dominance on display but it was still a very convincing win from a driver who competes on both PlayStation and PC. Joost Noordijk is a formidable driver, having contended with some of the best on PC in Premier Sim Gaming Leagues top PC tier and won their top PlayStation championship as well.

The season started out relatively equal but soon Noordijk asserted his dominance. After five wins, he finished a mighty 76 points ahead of his closest challenger. Noordijk is signed with Visceral Racing who aren’t partnered with any of the F1 teams. However, it would be unlikely that none of the teams snap up the Dutchman.

Duncan Hofland

Platform: PlayStation
Challengers position: 2nd

From one Visceral-affiliated Dutch PlayStation racer to another, Noordijk’s teammate Duncan Hofland has also been moonlighting on the PC side alongside his PlayStation escapades. He was in the Pro Exhibition in 2021, but whilst fellow PlayStation qualifiers like , Matthijs van Erven, and got selected, Hofland remained on the sidelines.

Just like Noordijk, it’s anyone’s guess where Hofland may end up going if he is selected. But finishing runner-up in the PS field after finishing fifth in 2021 won’t hurt his chances.

Tom Manley

Platform: Xbox
Challengers position: 1st

Typically, candidates from the Xbox side often have to move over to PC even if they’re successful. 2021 Xbox Challengers champion Kedon Lutt competed in PC Challengers this year, and 2020 PC runner-up Josh Idowu had previously raced on the Xbox side. However, with Manley, proving himself on PC may not be necessary considering his utter dominance this year.

Tom Manley has had a dominant season, winning nine out of the 12 races and finishing a scarcely believable 145 points ahead of his closest rival and only 38 points short of a faultless season. If Pro Championship teams aren’t impressed by that, what more do Xbox drivers have to do?

Whilst he is not affiliated with any F1 Esports team, Manley is part of Red Bull driver ‘s team so at a stretch, maybe Manley could enter the Red Bull or AlphaTauri fold? With his dominance we find it hard to believe Manley won’t be on the grid this season.

Jake Benham

Platform: PC
Challengers position: N/A

Now we’ve made it to our last candidate, and notice that there’s no corresponding finishing position from Challengers. This is because Benham wasn’t old enough to compete from the start. However it’s a foregone conclusion that he will be in the Pro Exhibition, and that’s due to the DHL Time Trial competition in which the three best placed drivers from each platform qualify.

Benham has already won a few of these and has had the endorsement of two-time F1 Esports champion , who claimed that Benham is a future champion. A big statement, but he has the results to back it up.

Having two top PC tier titles in World Online Racing and being a part of Veloce’s development team means Benham has direct connections to Mercedes-AMG Esports, McLaren Shadow and Alfa Romeo Esports. At the moment, Alfa Romeo seem like a safe bet as they’ll be fielding an entirely new lineup and it’s all but certain that former Alpine driver will be one of them.

Benham could find himself there or alternatively at Mercedes should they want an F1 game specialist alongside Opmeer and . Either way, we’re certain that Benham can skip straight past Challengers and go straight to the F1 Esports big time this year.

Which of these drivers do you believe will get selected by F1 Esports teams? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!

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