Formula E’s Esports competition includes Gen3 cars and €40,000 prize pool

Won by Red Bull Esports driver Frede Rasmussen back-to-back in 2021 and 2022, netting a test in a Gen2 Formula E car, the competition will offer a €40,000 prize pool this time around.

The participation process will be broken down into two rounds: Berlin and Rome.

From open qualifying, which begins on 14 April, the top 88 drivers will be placed within qualifying races, before the top 22 from those enter the two rounds.

At each of the Berlin and Rome rounds, there will be hot lap qualifying, qualifying duels and a race.

The top 11 from across the two events make it to the in-person final, which is once again held at the ExCel London centre during the weekend of the London E-Prix. Here, there will be a Main Race and a top-six reverse grid Charge Race.

The prize pool will be divided into €10,000 for each of the two rounds and the London final, plus an additional €10,000 split up based upon the overall standings.

Reigning champion, Frede Rasmussen, 2022

Photo by: Formula E

Grid Finder will be handling the registration process, which is open now, following its recent work with the F1 Creator Series. From the second round, the online management of the races will be handled using its soon-to-be-launched suite of league management tools.

“Working with Formula E is a huge step forward for the platform,” said Grid Finder founder, Thomas Stapley-Bunten.

“It’s great news for the team that has been working flat out for months to build our league management tool.

“This is a strong signal to other tournament organisers. What Formula E has seen is good enough for it to get on board with us early.”

Rene Rast, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, leads Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Sao Paulo ePrix

Photo by: Simon Galloway, Motorsport Images

The announcement of the Formula E: Accelerate competition also confirms the latest Gen3 specification electric race cars for the rFactor 2 simulation, which has been the official platform of the series since March 2022.

These latest vehicles are the quickest in Formula E yet, with power of up to 350kW, compared to 250kW previously. Thanks to a twin-motor set-up, they can regenerate up to 600kW of energy. They are also 60kgs lighter and do not feature any rear brakes.

The first of the Berlin qualifying races is set for 18 April, running through to the LAN-based final on Saturday 29 July.