Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, has revealed the names of the online racers who have secured places to race professionally in the next stage of the F1 Esports Series 2018, the Pro Series Championship. In what is a unique opportunity for F1 and gaming fans, the drivers were selected by representatives from the nine F1 teams participating on Monday July 9th in London at the inaugural Pro Draft at the Gfinity Arena. Amongst them Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, as well as F1 Chairman and CEO, Chase Carey and Managing Director of Commercial Operations, Sean Bratches were also in attendance to watch the drama unfold.
With a seriously talented roster of drivers to choose from, two teams, Renault Sport Team Vitality and Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team, selected all their drivers from the draft. Representatives from Haas F1 Esports Team, Red Bull Racing esports Team, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Hype Energy eForce India F1 Esports Team, Williams Esports, McLaren Shadow and Toro Rosso Esports Team were also impressed by the ability of the qualifiers, selecting at least one of the top-performing drivers to join their teams following a series of rigorous assessments and interviews at the Pro Draft.
Pending confirmation of final contracts, the drivers selected for each team are:
Name | Country | Team |
|---|---|---|
Tino Naukkarinen | Finland | Williams Esports |
Fabrizio Donoso Delgado | Chile | Hype Energy eForce India F1 Esports Team |
Martin Stefanko | Czech Republic | Haas F1 Esports Team |
Daniel Bereznay | Hungary | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport |
Sven Zurner | Germany | Renault Sport Team Vitality |
Salih Saltunc | United Kingdom | Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team |
Cem Bolukbasi | Turkey | Toro Rosso Esports Team |
Olli Pahkala | Finland | McLaren Shadow |
Joni Tormala | Finland | Red Bull Racing esports Team |
Graham Carroll | United Kingdom | Red Bull Racing esports Team |
Patrick Holzmann | Germany | Toro Rosso Esports Team |
Allert van der Wal | Netherlands | Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team |
Kimmy Larsson | Sweden | Renault Sport Team Vitality |
Michal Smidl | Czech Republic | Haas F1 Esports Team |
James Doherty | United Kingdom | Renault Sport Team Vitality |
Sonuc Saltunc | United Kingdom | Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team |
Ahead of Monday’s live event, the initial 40 Pro Draft Qualifiers were put through their paces during a three-day assessment at Silverstone, with a series of challenges and interviews testing everything from fitness and stamina to reaction times and real-world driving. With impressive scores across the board, the F1 teams then selected a total of 16 drivers from nine countries to move forward with them to the Pro Series Championship. The two-hour event reached over 850,000 people around the world via live streaming.
We are looking forward to seeing them back in action in the Pro Series!