esports
While real-world racing may be on hold, competition is still fierce with the virtual Formula One Grand Prix series. But how do teams prepare for the challenges these races pose?
The F1 Virtual Grand Prix races are now very much underway, with the second race recently staged on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, and seeing a mix of F1 stars, celebrities and gamers once again coming together to test their skills on Codemasters’ superb sim F1 2019.
The first race in Bahrain saw Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's Philipp Eng clinch third place with an impressive performance, while the second saw Alex Albon make his debut, along with England's Cricket World Cup winner, Ben Stokes.
And while these races may not take place on a real track, this clash of esports and F1 ensures competition is still incredibly fierce with teams still eager to put a marker down at each event. But how do F1 teams prepare for such a unique competition? We spoke with Diego Mandolfo, Head of Digital at AlphaTauri, who told us more about life inside the digital paddock.
How did it all come together?
Mandolfo explains: “The gaming community never sleeps and the same goes for sim racing. So, a few days after the cancellation of the real Australian F1 grand prix, F1 reached out to all the teams and we joined the project straight away. The whole process was quite smooth and swift as we all have our own esports programmes in place, so it was just a matter of putting everything together as quickly as possible in order to put on a show in time for the first Virtual GP, in Bahrain on the 22nd of March.”
While the transition from on-track to on-screen sounds seamless, there were surely logistical issues for racers making this leap. Thankfully, Mandolfo explains, all the drivers already had the right sim equipment in place (a perk of the job, surely) at home, where they take on the competition remotely. The host, he adds, along with a couple of guests as commentators, are live from the Gfinity Arena in London, with no public on site.
The role of the team
Such a unique scenario begs the question as to who else from the team gets involved with the virtual grand prix? After all, if it’s a case of a driver racing from the comfort of their own home, you may expect the level of support to be minimal. This, however, is absolutely not the case – with a great deal of team involvement required to pull these events off. Mandolfo tells us more:
“As for the other F1 esports events, the team is always there to support the sim racers. The esports programme managers follow the events both from a strategic/gaming perspective and from a social and digital media coverage points of view. The esports race events involve different entities, just like the real races: Formula 1 (the events rights holder and organiser); Gfinity (which organises the events themselves from a logistic and sporting point of view: a sort of federation and promoter at the same time); Codemasters (software supplier) and the F1 esports teams.
“So, our esport managers have to liaise with all these people and with the drivers in order to keep the whole process, before, during and after the race event, as smooth as possible and compliant with the whole series project’s rules and aims.”
AlphaTauri’s own esports team has been officially competing in the last two F1 Esports Pro Series in 2018 and 2019. With the 2020 Season aiming to start in September, the best F1 esports sim racers in the world will once again face off against each other. Yet, while AlphaTauri certainly have esports creds, these virtual races are slightly different from the norm.
“These virtual races are meant to replace, in these unprecedented circumstances, the real Grands Prix currently cancelled or postponed,” Mandolfo says. “This means these events should entertain a public used to watching real grands prix: that’s why the idea is to involve real past and present F1 drivers, sportsmen from other disciplines and influencers. The grid is quite eclectic in order to provide a good show for the fans. The esports pro drivers would be too fast to join these grids, that’s why they'll be involved in some Pros races which will be held right after the virtual GPs.”
Fierce competition
While competition is always fierce during esports tournaments, it’s fair to suggest there may be a slight difference for the drivers and teams more used to IRL racing. Mandolfo, however, assures us that the battle on the track is just as fierce as the real thing, adding, “It’s a light-hearted and fun event, but the good thing about virtual sports is that it’s real competition and that’s what people love to see.”
And there are benefits, too, according to Mandolfo, in helping racers and teams to stay sharp in the absence of on-track action. He offers the example from last year, in which the team put together its esports drivers and engineers and found out that there were a number of similarities between the real and virtual F1 worlds when it comes to setting up the car.
“We are racers, we always strive to do our best when it comes to competing. So, yes: that’s a great way to keep ourselves ‘on track’. Furthermore, while people all around the world are stuck at home, it’s good to give them some entertainment. Currently all major and minor sports events are either cancelled or postponed: this means there is a hole in people’s routine and media content.” He adds, “Esports is an opportunity and a good asset to fill both.”
[It’s] a great way to keep ourselves ‘on track’
As for the challenges this approach poses for the team, Mandolfo is adamant that the size and sophistication of F1 esports has helped the event, though there’s still a degree of adjustment required.
“F1 esports is an emerging part of a huge iceberg,” Mandolfo says. “The whole sim-racing scenario is massive and is growing fast. But it’s still a niche out of the whole esports world, if we take into consideration all the other major competitions on strategy, sports, war or fantasy video games. Virtual and real F1 followers are not necessarily the same: audiences are different and we are all aware of that. But the more we approach it in a ‘real’ way, the better quality we achieve with the events and the better feedback we get from fans.”
Finally, Mandolfo is keen to stress that the dedication and professionalism of the team carries over, regardless of the race format. He concludes, “In this world everything has to be done properly. That’s what we do: we transfer to the esports and Virtual Grands Prix events the same professional approach we have for the real ones.”
