In a dramatic climax to the F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series, Brendon Leigh has secured yesterday night at the Gfinity Arena in London his second Drivers’ Championship title in a row after the 2017 success in Abu Dhabi. His clear dominance of the Series, combined with teammate Daniel Bereznay’s second place, also propelled Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports to victory in the Teams’ Championship.

Having dominated Formula 1 in both the real and virtual worlds, Mercedes had yet few more trophies to take home this season. Emulating Lewis Hamilton’s recent victory, Brendon Leigh also demonstrated he is a force to be reckoned with in the virtual world, having controlled much of the racing across the Series to secure his second title with one race to go.

On the Hockenheim circuit Salih Saltunc gave Sauber F1 Esports Team their first success in the Pro Series, with Leigh and Joni Tormala (Red Bull Racing Esports Team) respectively on the 2^nd and 3^rd steps of the podium. Singapore’s Marina Bay track saw another success for Leigh, who dominated the race, finishing with a 3.8s margin over Williams Esports’ Alvaro Carreton. Marcel Kiefer (Hype Energy eForce India) completed the podium. By the end of rounds seven and eight, Leigh was leading the driver standings with 171 points, followed by teammate Bereznay and Toro Rosso’s Frederik Rasmussen in third.

The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, USA was the stage for a penalty filled penultimate race. However, Leigh remained dominant from pole to finish, crossing the line comfortably in the lead to secure his second title. He was followed by teammate Bereznay to seal a one two for Mercedes, inching the team closer to the Teams’ title. Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team’s Patrick Holzmann rounded out the podium in third.

The final, adrenaline fuelled race of the Series took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. With double points on offer and a cut of the $200,000 prize fund at stake, there was all to fight for in the Teams’ Championship. A dramatic penultimate lap saw a three-car battle between Leigh, Bereznay and Rasmussen emerge, which eventually resulted in Leigh being given a penalty for exceeding the track limits. McLaren Shadow’s Bono Huis used the battle to his advantage, catching up with the leading pack on the final lap. In a nail-biting finish to a hard-fought race Bereznay secured first place in the final race of the Series, followed by Huis and Rasmussen in third.

Asked about how he felt after securing the drivers’ title with a 50 point margin over the runner-up, Leigh said, “I can’t say where my head is at, I’m feeling very emotional. I just want to say thank you to Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports, we’ve put in hours of practice. I spent the last few laps enjoying it, you can never relax, but I was enjoying the moment.”

Christian Dixon of Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports added, “To win the first F1 Esports Teams’ Championship in our inaugural season is a great result for Mercedes – and it really shows how much work everyone put into this. Winning the team title by finishing one-two in the Drivers’ Championship is testimony to the outstanding skills of both Brendon, Dani and the whole team behind them. They’ve been super committed in the preparation, pushing each other to continuously raise the bar. It’s been really rewarding to watch the hard work from the entire team be converted into great results on track.”

The final Pro Series event was streamed live via Facebook and broadcast globally on selected TV networks. Viewing figures for the whole Series are expected to be strong, with the first live event accumulating 23m impressions and 3.2m views on social media, bringing the excitement and exhilaration of Formula 1 to a new generation of fans across the globe.

The F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series has brought together the most talented motorsport gamers in the world for the second year in a row. This year, the drivers had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with the backing of some of the most prestigious names in motor racing following an intensive selection process.

The Pro Series comprised of three live events held at London’s Gfinity Esports Arena, with drivers competing for the coveted prize fund of $200,000 – allocated to the teams based on their positions in the team standings.

The Pro Series is the exciting finale of the award-winning F1 New Balance Esports Series, which saw 66,000 players compete over four online qualifying rounds earlier in the year to secure a coveted place in the inaugural F1 Esports Pro Draft in July. At which they completed 1.1 million laps in F1 2017, the official game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and PC. The Pro Series is the first time that the competing drivers have raced on F1 2018, which was released on 24^th August 2018.

Julian Tan, Head of Growth & F1 Esports at Formula 1 said:

“Over 66,000 players competed in this year’s F1 New Balance Esports Series, and tonight’s final saw the best of the very best race as part of their real F1 teams. We’d like to congratulate Brendon Leigh and Mercedes on their championship titles, and all the teams and drivers for making this such an exciting Series. By its very nature esports delivers thrilling racing, thanks to the equalised cars and the willingness of drivers to take risks – but, the skill and talent demonstrated has also been incredible. Hours of dedicated practice by the drivers and the investment in training made by the Formula 1 teams has fuelled some extremely exciting on-track drama. Millions of fans around the world have watched the white-knuckle ride that was this year’s Series unfold, bringing the exhilaration of Formula 1 to a new generation of fans across the globe.”

Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters said:

“The F1 Esports Series 2018 has been a huge success. A breath-taking spectacle of racing and a fantastic showcase for our F1 2018 game. It was great to see several different winners over the course of the season, from several different teams – helped by the drivers racing with equal car performance.  Ultimately though, as in the real world of F1, it’s a huge congratulations to Mercedes for winning the first ever F1 Esports Teams Championship in comprehensive fashion, and to both of their drivers Brendon Leigh and Daniel Bereznay. Special congratulations go out to Brendon, who is now an F1 Esports Double Champion, with some fantastic drives and hugely consistent performances throughout. We cannot wait for the next Series to begin.”

Mark Brittain, Chief Commercial Officer at Gfinity said:

“The 2018 F1 New Balance Esports Series saved the best to last and delivered an adrenaline-fueled experience that had everyone at the Gfinity Arena and the millions watching around the world out of their seats. As the real and digital sporting landscapes continue to converge, the final weekend demonstrated perfectly the opportunities that exist to sports rights holders and brands wishing to enter the exciting esports sector. The younger generation has truly embraced the F1 Esports Series and the competition is creating the F1 fan of the future.”

The F1 New Balance Esports Series is operated in partnership with Codemasters, the developer and publisher of the official Formula 1 video game franchise and Gfinity, one of the world’s leading esports companies. New Balance was recently named the title sponsor of the competition, joining the established sponsors DHL and Fanatec.

For more information on the F1 New Balance Esports Series visit www.f1esports.com or follow all the action on F1’s official Facebook page.

Race results

RACE 7 – Germany

 

Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Fastest Lap	Points
1	SALIH SALTUNC	21:09.208		1:13.031	25
2	BRENDON LEIGH	21:10.673	+1.465	1:12.825	18
3	JONI TORMALA	21:11.126	+1.918	1:13.121	15
4	FABRIZIO DONOSO	21:14.020	+4.812	1:12.959	12
5	ALVARO CARRETON	21:14.920	+5.712	1:12.588	10
6	DANIEL BEREZNAY	21:15.365	+6.157	1:13.198	8
7	PATRIK HOLZMANN	21:16.175	+6.967	1:13.105	6
8	CEM BOLUKBASI	21:17.242	+8.034	1:12.083	4
9	MARCEL KIEFER	21:17.390	+8.182	1:12.520	2
10	TINO NAUKKARINEN	21:18.927	+9.719	1:13.349	1
11	OLLI PAHKALA	21:21.745	+12.537	1:13.362
12	ENZO BONITO	21:24.863	+15.655	1:12.964
13	MICHAL SMIDL	21:25.563	+16.355	1:13.569
14	KIMMY LARSSON	21:26.873	+17.665	1:13.405
15	MARTIN STEFANKO	21:30.984	+21.776	1:13.016
16	SVEN ZUERNER	21:45.333	+36.125	1:12.503
17	GRAHAM CARROLL	21:45.690	+36.482	1:12.553
18	SONUC SALTUNC	21:59.163	+49.955	1:11.684

Race 1

RACE 8 – Singapore

Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Fastest Lap	Points
1	BRENDON LEIGH	24:45.215		1:36.163	25
2	ALVARO CARRETON	24:49.047	+3.832	1:36.598	18
3	MARCEL KIEFER	24:50.151	+4.936	1:36.547	15
4	DANIEL BEREZNAY	24:51.562	+6.347	1:36.799	12
5	MARTIN STEFANKO	24:52.439	+7.224	1:36.786	10
6	CEM BOLUKBASI	25:03.241	+18.026	1:36.962	8
7	GRAHAM CARROLL	25:08.168	+22.953	1:36.725	6
8	MICHAL SMIDL	25:08.692	+23.477	1:36.732	4
9	OLLI PAHKALA	25:09.407	+24.192	1:37.004 2	2
10	KIMMY LARSSON	25:10.068	+24.853	1:36.934	1
11	SVEN ZUERNER	25:10.178	+24.963	1:36.523
12	PATRIK HOLZMANN	25:16.157	+30.942	1:36.806
13	SALIH SALTUNC	25:20.858	+35.643	1:38.374
14	JONI TORMALA	25:25.298	+40.083	1:37.388
15	TINO NAUKKARINEN	25:26.690	+41.475	1:38.575
16	MADS SOERENSEN	25:27.049	+41.834	1:38.326
17	SONUC SALTUNC	26:05.332	+1:20.117	1:35.498
18	ENZO BONITO		DNF	1:39.489

 

RACE 9 – USA

 

Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Fastest Lap	Points
1	BRENDON LEIGH	22:08.250		1:32.600	25
2	DANIEL BEREZNAY	22:11.380	+3.130	1:33.066	18
3	PATRIK HOLZMANN	22:14.763	+6.513	1:33.072	15
4	SALIH SALTUNC	22:18.492	+10.242	1:33.518	12
5	FREDERIK RASMUSSEN	22:21.004	+12.754	1:33.201	10
6	SVEN ZUERNER	22:22.007	+13.757	1:33.101	8
7	MARCEL KIEFER	22:22.284	+14.034	1:33.107	6
8	ENZO BONITO	22:22.669	+14.419	1:32.812	4
9	BONO HUIS	22:26.175	+17.925	1:32.919	2
10	JONI TORMALA	22:27.391	+19.141	1:33.388	1
11	TINO NAUKKARINEN	22:27.808	+19.558	1:33.172
12	KIMMY LARSSON	22:30.800	+22.550	1:32.950
13	GRAHAM CARROLL	22:33.009	+24.759	1:33.252
14	FABRIZIO DONOSO	22:33.075	+24.825	1:33.330
15	ALLERT VAN DER WAL	22:33.421	+25.171	1:34.054
16	MARTIN STEFANKO	22:38.607	+30.357	1:33.192
17	MICHAL SMIDL	22:40.827	+32.577	1:34.375
18	ALVARO CARRETON	22:54.492	+46.242	1:32.203

 

RACE 10 – Abu Dhabi

 

Pos.	Driver	Race Time	Gap	Fastest Lap	Points
1	DANIEL BEREZNAY	46:15.184		1:37.015	50
2	BONO HUIS	46:16.772	+1.588	1:37.330	36
3	FREDERIK RASMUSSEN	46:17.421	+2.237	1:36.916	30
4	ENZO BONITO	46:17.778	+2.594	1:36.653	24
5	BRENDON LEIGH	46:22.581	+7.397	1:36.841	20
6	ALLERT VAN DER WAL	46:38.227	+23.043	1:37.454	16
7	MARTIN STEFANKO	46:43.858	+28.674	1:36.732	12
8	SALIH SALTUNC	46:44.596	+29.412	1:36.415	8
9	FABRIZIO DONOSO	46:53.710	+38.526	1:36.895	4
10	MARCEL KIEFER	46:55.467	+40.283	1:35.869	2
11	GRAHAM CARROLL	46:59.678	+44.494	1:37.423
12	MICHAL SMIDL	46:59.736	+44.552	1:36.268
13	KIMMY LARSSON	47:00.910	+45.726	1:37.176
14	JONI TORMALA	47:02.134	+46.950	1:37.484
15	SVEN ZUERNER	47:02.973	+47.789	1:35.693
16	TINO NAUKKARINEN	47:18.579	+1:03.395	1:37.340
17	ALVARO CARRETON	47:28.383	+1:13.199	1:34.917
18	PATRIK HOLZMANN		DNF

 

Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships Standings

 

DRIVER STANDINGS
Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	BRENDON LEIGH	Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports	216
2	DANIEL BEREZNAY	Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports	166
3	FREDERIK RASMUSSEN	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	127
4	SALIH SALTUNC	Sauber F1 Esports Team	83
5	MARCEL KIEFER	Hype Energy eForce India	65
6	BONO HUIS	McLaren Shadow	62
7	JONI TORMALA	Red Bull Racing Esports Team	54
8	PATRIK HOLZMANN	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	51
9	ALVARO CARRETON	Williams Esports	40
10	ENZO BONITO	McLaren Shadow	37
11	FABRIZIO DONOSO	Hype Energy eForce India	34
12	CEM BOLUKBASI	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	32
13	TINO NAUKKARINEN	Williams Esports	29
14	GRAHAM CARROLL	Red Bull Racing Esports Team	27
15	MARTIN STEFANKO	Haas F1 Esports Team	23
16	ALLERT VAN DER WAL	Sauber F1 Esports Team	22
17	SONUC SALTUNC	Sauber F1 Esports Team	14
18	JAMES DOHERTY	Renault Sport Team Vitality	14
19	SVEN ZUERNER	Renault Sport Team Vitality	8
20	MICHAL SMIDL	Haas F1 Esports Team	4
21	OLLI PAHKALA	McLaren Shadow	2
22	KIMMY LARSSON	Renault Sport Team Vitality	1
23	MADS SOERENSEN	Hype Energy eForce India	0
24	TOM PARKER	Haas F1 Esports Team	0

 

 

TEAMS STANDINGS
Position	Team	Points
1	Mercedes AMG-Petronas Esports	382
2	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	210
3	Sauber F1 Esports Team	119
4	McLaren Shadow	101
5	Hype Energy eForce India	99
6	Red Bull Racing Esports Team	81
7	Williams Esports	69
8	Haas F1 Esports Team	27
9	Renault Sport Team Vitality	23

 

 

ENDS

 

Norman Howell, Director of Communications, Formula 1

E: [email protected]

M: +44 (0)7920 181 929

 

Formula 1 Press Office

E: [email protected]

T: @f1media

 

Edelman Press Office

E: [email protected]

 

About Formula 1®

Formula 1® racing began in 1950 and is the world’s most prestigious motor racing competition, as well as the world’s most popular annual sporting series. The 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship™ runs from March to November and spans 21 races in 21 countries across five continents. Formula One World Championship Limited is part of Formula 1 and holds the exclusive commercial rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship™.

Formula 1 is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK, BATRA, BATRK, FWONA, FWONK) attributed to the Formula One Group tracking stock.

The F1 FORMULA 1 logo, FORMULA 1, F1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trademarks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula 1 company. All rights reserved.

About Codemasters

Codemasters (AIM:CDM) is an award-winning British video game developer and publisher with over 30 years of heritage. The company specialises in high quality racing games including DiRT, GRID, ONRUSH and the BAFTA award-winning official F1® series of videogames.

For more information on Codemasters’ product portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com. Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/codemasters.

About Gfinity

Founded in 2012, Gfinity has established itself as one of the world’s leading esports companies.  The London-based business enjoys strong relationships with game publishers, players and the wider esports community and has built a solid reputation for delivering high quality competitions, both on-line at www.gfinityesports.com and off-line, in addition to producing industry leading esports broadcasts. The Gfinity Esports Arena at Fulham Broadway, London is the home of UK esports showcasing regular tournaments across the full range of competitive games. Beyond its own tournaments Gfinity provides a full turnkey solution for brands wanting to create their own esports tournaments and has staged premium esports events around the globe for leading publishers and brands including Formula 1, Microsoft, Activision, EA, Xbox, Gillette and HP.

About esports

Esports (electronic sports) is watching or playing competitive video gaming. Leading titles include League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2), Call of Duty and Rocket League. The industry is growing rapidly, with new communities developing around more and more titles. The global esports market generated US$493 million of revenue in 2016 and is expected to make $1.5 billion by 2020. The global esports audience in 2017 was 191 million people, 80% under the age of 35 and 70% male (source: Newzoo). Online streaming channels Twitch and YouTube command the biggest audiences, although esports events are also now being broadcast on conventional TV.  The 2015 League of Legends Championships finals in Berlin were watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers, while at DotA 2’s flagship annual championship ‘The International 2016’ competitors from around the world competed for a prize pot of over $20 million.