The move comes off the back of an unprecedented amount of activity in sim racing as teams and drivers took to the virtual world during the extended off-season, with Ferrari’s own F1 superstar Charles Leclerc emerging as one of the stars of the action.
Charles Leclerc will be keeping a watching brief on the series, offering his own advice and guidance in what’s set to be a three-stage tournament.
An open AM series will see qualifiers begin this September – with registration open to all European residents over the age of 18 from August 7 – with 24 successful drivers going on to the PRO-rounds in October. The finals will have 12 drivers competing over three races for the ultimate prize in November.
The announcement of Ferrari’s own series is a serious step up for the Scuderia having only joined the Formula 1 Esport Pro-series in 2019.
“Last year we started our experience in the F1 Esport championship, actually winning it, and I think it was just a natural step now to enter into our own sports championship,” Ferrari’s brand diversification officer, Nicola Boari, said upon announcement.
“It’s very similar to what we have in reality [with Ferrari’s own academy series]. So, it’s a natural step, and hopefully is going to be just the first one of a longer series. I believe that there is an enormous space for Ferrari to grow its own championship,” Boari added.
“I already said that we’re starting with Europe, only this year, but we definitely plan to enlarge the scope in the future. And I think another very important part that hopefully we’ll be able to implement when COVID is gone, is to have our own tournaments with live performances. That’s going to be something that for our championship could be unique,” Boari concluded.
The Ferrari Hublot Esports Series will take place in Assetto Corsa, with a Ferrari 488 Evo being made exclusively available to competitors.
Source: GMB
