Ferrari expands official Esports Series for 2021

As part of the Italian car manufacturer's sim-racing push, it attracted more than 20,000 competitors for the inaugural Ferrari Esports Series in 2020, with Italian Giovanni Da Salvo triumphing and earning a place on its official Academy Esports Team.

The competition, which is hosted on the Assetto Corsa platform, will begin again with qualification rounds starting from next month, and will feature two exclusive cars - the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo and the brand new Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.

The qualification rounds will run until July, with the 48 fastest drivers going forward to racing competitions that will run from August until November. The top 24 drivers will then take place in a Grand Final in mid-December for the chance to win a place on Ferrari's official Esports team for 2022.

Ferrari hopes the new format, which now features a single car category, will attract even more participants.

Jane Reeve, Ferrari's chief communications officer, said that the success of last year's tournament meant it was a no-brainer to increase its efforts for this season.

"Everything went really well last year but of course, now we've got the bug," she said. "We want to be more ambitious this year.

"So the offer to the virtual drivers has been expanded, and we'll be eliminating previous categories in favour of a single and more accessible championship. We've done this to make it more inclusive, offering more participation slots for those who want to try to fulfil their dream of being part of Ferrari. So more people we hope will participate."

As well as offering prize draw elements for all competitors this year, Ferrari is also including a car livery design contest for the first time.

Ferrari wants fans to submit liveries for cars used in the series, with the most popular ones being incorporated into the game and used in the official Series Races.

The Esports competition is open to all European residents aged over 18, and further details of the series can be found at www.ferrariesportsseries.gg.