After the farce at the DreamHack event for the season opener of what was formerly known as F1 Esports, the disputes behind the scenes have cast further doubt on if the season will continue.
Image credit: @F1Esports on Twitter
For upwards of eleven months, there was radio silence on the F1 Esports/F1 Sim Racing front. After Lucas Blakeley took home the championship in December 2022, the organisation of the championship changed hands from Gfinity to ESL.
But the eleventh hour call for drivers to travel to Sweden for the opening round was met with quite the organisational nightmare. Ongoing disputes between F1 and ESL had not been resolved and the entire event was nearly cancelled. One of the two scheduled races were run, but doubts still lingered.
The remainder of the season had not been officially confirmed, but the second event was set to be run this weekend. That however has seemingly come crashing before the first corner, and it is leaving many people whose livelihoods are reliant on the series being run wondering if the season will even take place.
OverTake reached out to many people who work behind the scenes for several teams, but none were willing to disclose the very little information they had been told. We also reached to the organisers for comment, but are yet to hear anything as of the publication of this article.
EDIT 15/12/2023: In a statement to RaceFans.net, a spokesperson for F1 said the following:
Do you believe F1 Sim Racing will see out the season? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
Image credit: @F1Esports on Twitter
For upwards of eleven months, there was radio silence on the F1 Esports/F1 Sim Racing front. After Lucas Blakeley took home the championship in December 2022, the organisation of the championship changed hands from Gfinity to ESL.
But the eleventh hour call for drivers to travel to Sweden for the opening round was met with quite the organisational nightmare. Ongoing disputes between F1 and ESL had not been resolved and the entire event was nearly cancelled. One of the two scheduled races were run, but doubts still lingered.
The remainder of the season had not been officially confirmed, but the second event was set to be run this weekend. That however has seemingly come crashing before the first corner, and it is leaving many people whose livelihoods are reliant on the series being run wondering if the season will even take place.
Drivers Not Happy
Many of the drivers have taken to Twitter to express their frustrations at the organisers. After most likely getting into bother for posting his unfiltered thoughts on Twitter during the uncertainty at DreamHack, Mercedes-contracted Williams driver Marcel Kiefer had the following to say:OverTake reached out to many people who work behind the scenes for several teams, but none were willing to disclose the very little information they had been told. We also reached to the organisers for comment, but are yet to hear anything as of the publication of this article.
EDIT 15/12/2023: In a statement to RaceFans.net, a spokesperson for F1 said the following:
Do you believe F1 Sim Racing will see out the season? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
![Luca [OT]](/data/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}
