2025 F1 Sim Racing World Championship

The 2025 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship was an esports competition for Formula One which was the eighth season of the Formula One Esports Series and the second in the series to be named as the "Formula One Sim Racing World Championship." It was held on Formula One's official 2024 game, featuring all ten teams from the real-life sport. The championship started on 14 January 2025 and ended on 27 March 2025.

Frederik Rasmussen of Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing entered the year as the defending World Driver's Champion, while Scuderia Ferrari Esports were the defending World Constructors' Champions. Red Bull would take back the Constructors' Champions crown for this season, with their newly recruited Jarno Opmeer winning his record third championship in F1 Esports history. Ismael Fahssi would come up second to Opmeer, while Bari Broumand finished third. This was also the last season for inaugural champion Brendon Leigh, who announced his retirement from sim racing prior to the beginning of the season.

The drivers raced in a series of 3 LAN events that were broadcast live. Like the actual Formula One regulations, drivers must make one pit stop if the weather is dry, and are not obligated to do so if it is wet. They earn points for themselves and their teams. These points determined the F1 Sim Racing World Championship Teams’ and Drivers’ World Champions, with a total $750,000 prize fund.

A prize fund of $750,000 was awarded to the teams and drivers at the end of the season.

$650,000 of the total $750,000 is awarded to the teams.

$100,000 of the total $750,000 is awarded to the drivers. Drivers who finish the championship below 5th place do not take home any proportion of the fund.

The series was broadcast on Formula One's YouTube channel with commentary from lead commentator Alex Jacques and former Formula One driver Jolyon Palmer, with Ariana Bravo as presenter and pit lane reporter, with analysis from Tom Deacon and Matt Gallagher.^[1]

Notes:

• Rows are related to the position of the sim racing cockpit the drivers play on. Each team has two setups side by side, R means the Right side, the L the Left side simulator setup.

The full schedule was announced on 19 December, consisting of twelve races across three separate events.

The Albert Park Street Circuit returned as the season opener for the first time since the 2018 season, and the Shanghai International Circuit will host a round for the first time since the 2021 season as the second round. The Red Bull Ring and the Las Vegas Strip Circuit dropped off the calendar in return.

The championship started at the Australian Grand Prix, where Ismael Fahssi of Williams took his first career pole position. At the start, he held onto the lead until defending champion Frederik Rasmussen snatched it from him on lap 7, leaving Fahssi pressured by runner-up Thomas Ronhaar and rookie Otis Lawrence, both driving for Kick F1 and Aston Martin respectively. When the round of pit stops came, the top four were all surmounted by Daniel Bereznay, who went on an alternative strategy. Towards the latter stages, Lawrence pushed Rasmussen wide at turn 5, who was then pushed by Lucas Blakeley at turn 8, shoving him down to only tenth at the race end. On the final lap, Fahssi overtook Bereznay, and Ronhaar attempted a divebomb on him, which resulted in both of them dropping down the order. Fahssi took his first victory in the series from István Puki and Bereznay. Jarno Opmeer finished fourth in his first outing for Red Bull Racing, followed by Lawrence and Ronhaar.

Ulaş Özyıldırım was the next pole sitter at the Chinese Grand Prix, making his debut for Racing Bulls. During the first half, he became involved in a battle with Ronhaar, Lawrence, and Brendon Leigh, in which he eventually lost out and dropped to thirteenth. His teammate, Tom Manley, collided with Leigh after the round of pit stops, also removing Leigh from contention and instead making room for Jarno Opmeer to chase after Ronhaar. Opmeer came out on top for his first win of the season, followed by Ronhaar, Bereznay, and Fahssi in fourth.

Points will be awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the race and one point will be given to the driver who sets the fastest lap inside the top ten. One extra point will be awarded to the pole-sitter.

In the event of a tie at the conclusion of the championship, a count-back system is used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's/team's best result used to decide the standings.