F1 Sim Racing | Road to Event 1

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:11]Oh my god.

[00:00:13]We are currently at boot camp here in Maranello. Preparations are [music] quite similar when you're at home when you're at boot camp.

[00:00:24]When we come at boot camp, we just, you know, check some data with the full team here.

[00:00:28]>> [music] >> And we just prepare for the start of the season.

[00:00:33]My name is Tiziana and I'm with the Scuderia Ferrari HP eSports team manager. I think the boot camp are very important, especially for our guys because they don't live in the same countries. [music] They live far away. It's an opportunity to bond together, to live together just for 1 week before the start of the championship. They can practice together.

[00:00:51]They are also together, not only the drivers with the race strategies that they can monitor, they can follow all the practice.

[00:00:57]>> [music] >> They can be mentally focused on the preparation of the event.

[00:01:03]My role is to [music] support the drivers in any way they need when it comes to their on-track performance. So, this involves data analysis or advice when it comes to their driving [music] technique and developing setup.

[00:01:18]I see the preparation for the drivers in two components, [music] which is their technique and their ability to deliver the performance on track and also their mental preparation.

[00:01:28]So, balancing each factor is really important [music] to ensure that they can deliver their best performance and in a mental state to do so when it comes to race day.

[00:01:37]I'm John Evans, an F1 eSports driver for Scuderia Ferrari HP eSports team. It's quite an honor to be making [music] my debut for such a prestigious team. It is the biggest brand in the sport. It's an honor to race alongside Ismael and I think now I go out there to try and almost prove a point and prove to myself that I can do it and I can compete with the very best with the best [music] team.

[00:01:57]>> The relationship between eSports drivers and race strategies is fundamental. It's very important. They need to have their good [music] connection. They need to be also friends because they work very, very closely together. They need to trust uh 100%. It's really important to be consistent in [music] order just to fight for for the championship, fight fight for points, for podiums, for races so you can score as many points as you can.

[00:02:22]Here we are then, back for [music] F1 Sim Racing 2026.

[00:02:27]And our drivers are getting geared up.

[00:02:30]Thousands of spectators will be here at DreamHack over the next 3 days. So, my priorities when we get to LAN will be ensuring that the drivers are in a happy mental [music] state, they're calm. They undergo physiological changes when they complete laps, especially qualifying laps where their heart rate [music] can get to 180 beats per minute plus.

[00:02:49]Keeping them as calm as possible and trusting that we've done the preparation and we'll be able to deliver the best result come race day. Ismael Fassi, BACK WITH A BANG. HE GOES FIRST FASTEST FOR FERRARI. HIS FOURTH POLE POSITION IN HIS F1 Sim Racing career and his first for Ferrari. During the race, I'm responsible for ensuring [music] that the drivers are up-to-date with all the information they will require to make the best decisions possible. This includes where other drivers [music] are on track and their relative position to other cars both on their strategy and not on their strategy so they can make the best decisions when it comes to real world racing. Well, we're here at the Mie Prefecture in Japan, Suzuka, of course, that has harnessed Japanese racing for such a long time.

[00:03:30]Suzuka is not an easy circuit to win at at all. At Suzuka, you don't control the race, you respond to it.

[00:03:39]We're going to put pedal to the metal and it is go, go, go, go, go, BUT WE'VE HAD SOME JUMP STARTS. ALVARO CARRAZON AND FREDDY RASMUSSEN, MASSIVE DRAMA HERE IN JAPAN ALREADY. ISMAEL Fassi in fourth, Jake Benham fifth, Ronhaar down in sixth guy. Heading to my first full season with Ferrari with some nerves, obviously.

[00:03:56]There's pressure in it. I want to show the team why they signed me. With that jump start, it means 10 second time penalties. Should those penalties currently stand then, as we're seeing it on track, Ismael Fassi would inherit the race win. It's so competitive [music] as well because of how close the grid is between the drivers. The [music] the gap is pretty much 1 and 1/2 tenths, I would say, from the quickest to maybe the last on the grid. Still under pressure from Ismael Fassi, not what he would have been wanting down into turn one. The Ferrari man gets himself into the net lead of the race. Track position is the most important thing here. Ismael Fassi getting himself in front of Otis Lawrence. A track notoriously difficult to overtake on. The opportunities are going to be few. You need to take advantage of it. Of course, this year the goal is to be in the top three at least. We finished [music] P1 in 2023, 2024, P2 last year. I trust the guys 100%. I can see they're fully committed, very focused. They practice, they work very well. Ismael Fassi at the moment looking on such strong suit as he's just perfected the adaptability, awareness, and execution under pressure that is needed to be a victor around this Suzuka circuit. Lawrence though, just not seemingly able to get any closer to that rear diffuser of Ismael Fassi. The gap seemingly staying the same lengths around the circuit lap after lap. It's really important we utilize [music] everything that we have available because it's hundreds of a second. You just have to learn everything you can in practice so then when you get the max out of the car, you know, you got a good chance for pole.

[00:05:29]Ismael Fassi looming in 7/10 apart from Otis Lawrence. In the end, it's not about one race. You have to think on the present in order to achieve great things for the future. Rasmussen just tumbling down the order. What is happening here to Rasmus? Is there a puncture? Is there a problem? As Ismael Fassi makes his way past. Managing results is an important part of the season. It's a long season with four events. It's a win for Otis Lawrence. Ismael Fassi, a podium for Ferrari. They take away some big points here in this extravaganza. There'll be times when we could have done better and there'll be times where we've met our expectations and done quite well. It's about after a result, good or bad, we move on from it and look to get [music] the best from the next race.

[00:06:10]I think it's important to have a really good team around you. People that can effectively lift you up because it is such a mental game. You know what you're fighting for. It's such a big prize and a good team [music] is is the most important thing.