Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

'Perfection' needed to stop Leigh taking third F1 Esports crown

The Red Bull Esports team has admitted "perfection" will be needed for anybody to stop Mercedes' Brendon Leigh from winning his third successive title

Leigh won the inaugural F1 Esports title back in 2017 before dominating last year's series, 60 points ahead of his team-mate Daniel Bereznay.

Frederik Rasmussen was the top non-Mercedes driver in third place, but his final points tally was 105 points shy of Leigh's.

For 2019, Rasmussen shuffles from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, partnering the returning Joni Tormala having also added Frenchman Nicolas Longuet to its driver line-up during July's Pro Draft.

"Perfection," Red Bull Esports team manager Danny Engels told Autosport when asked what it will take to stop Leigh and Mercedes.

"Even though I have been a sim-racer myself in the past, I wouldn't want to be in the drivers' shoes anymore.

"The competition is getting tougher and you pay for every mistake you make. Almost everyone on the grid has the skill to win, but you have to find a way to nail it.

"Short 25% [distance] races do not give you room for errors and qualifying is super important."

Rasmussen echoed his boss's comments and was quick to point out that the teams' championship is the main aim.

With three drivers in the team and only two seats, Rasmussen stepped aside for a couple of races last year.

"It's important to remember that we don't focus on the individual wins," Rasmussen told Autosport.

"Our main focus was on the team championship and that was the reason why I stepped down to focus on my races and gave my team-mates the chance to shine as well.

"In the end, we wanted to get the most out of this as a team which means that Brendon also did more races than I did.

"But he is up there for a reason... his speed is amazing and he has years of experience in Codemasters' F1 games and he manages to avoid bad luck on track.

"Bearing in mind that 25% races are short, one mistake can cost you a good result."

The 'Pro Series' kicks off on September 11 in London, with the grand finale been held on December 4.

Qualifying for the 2020 series is already underway.

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Promoted: Experience life on the pitwall with iGP Manager game
Next article Ex-F1 drivers Barrichello, Montoya invest in WFG Esports founder

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe