Jarno Opmeer (; born 11 April 2000) is a Dutch esports driver and former racing driver who competes in the Formula One Esports Series for Red Bull Racing. Opmeer has won a record three Formula One Sim Racing World Championship titles, which he won in 2020, 2021, and 2025, and has won 15 races across six seasons.
Born in Dordrecht, Opmeer began competitive kart racing at an early age, winning several national titles before graduating to junior formulae in 2016. He finished runner-up to Richard Verschoor in the SMP F4 Championship that year with MP Motorsport, also achieving several podiums in F4 Spanish. He then progressed to the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2017 with MP as part of the Renault Sport Academy, achieving a podium in the Northern European Cup, but was dropped by the team four rounds into the following season.
Opmeer moved into sim racing for the 2019 Formula One Esports Series with Renault, finishing fourth in his rookie season. He then moved to Alfa Romeo for 2020, winning his maiden championship. He defended his title with Mercedes in 2021. After three seasons with Mercedes, he moved to Red Bull for the 2025 season onwards, winning the title that year. Outside of Formula One Esports, he also competed in Formula E: Accelerate for Mercedes-EQ from 2021 to 2022. Opmeer also likes to play other racing games, or competes in league racing on F1, which he frequently streams on Twitch and posts videos on YouTube. He is the most popular F1 sim racer, having the most followers and subscribers on Social Media, and is seen by most as the best F1 sim racer ever, having won the most Esports and league racing titles.
Career
Formula 4 Opmeer graduated to single-seaters in 2016, participating in the SMP F4 Championship. He took seven victories and thirteen podiums in his debut year of F4, finishing second place in the championship to fellow countryman Richard Verschoor.
Opmeer also participated in two race meetings of the Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport, taking five podiums out of six races.
Formula Renault
In 2017, Opmeer continued his collaboration with MP and joined the Eurocup championship. He had seven-point-scoring finishes including the fifth place in the penultimate race of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. While in the standings he ended fifteenth, behind his teammates Richard Verschoor and Neil Verhagen.
Formula One In February 2017, Opmeer was inducted into the Renault Sport Academy.
Formula One Esports In April 2019, Opmeer was signed to Renault–Vitality Esports Team as a driver for the third season of the F1 Esports Series. He finished his first season in the competition in fourth place and helped secure his team fourth place in the teams' championship.
For the 2020 Formula One Esports Series, Opmeer moved to the Alfa Romeo Orlen Esports Team. He achieved four wins and eight podiums and won the drivers championship by 22 points ahead of rival Frederik Rasmussen.
On 26 January 2021, Opmeer announced that he has signed with the Mercedes Formula One Esports team. On 16 December 2021, Opmeer won the 2021 Formula One Esports Series. He achieved four wins and seven podiums, edging out Frederik Rasmussen by eight points, with Mercedes also winning the teams' championship. At the race of China, Opmeer went from last place to first, calling it his best race ever.
The 2022 season proved to be much more difficult for Opmeer, as his struggles in qualifying heavily affected his race results. However, he won two races back-to-back and finished fifth overall in the championship.
Opmeer began the 2023–24 season by finishing second in Bahrain from P9 on the grid. With continued struggles in qualifying pace, he would only achieve a single win this season, at Silverstone, achieving fourth overall in the drivers championship. After the season, Opmeer left Mercedes.https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/news/mercedes-esports-team-and-jarno-opmeer-to-part-ways
As a free agent driver, Opmeer signed a multi-year deal with Red Bull Sim Racing on 21 August 2024, joining the 2023–24 drivers' champion Frederik Rasmussen at the team. He won his record-breaking third drivers' title in the 2025 season, winning three races, outscoring Ismael Fahssi by 19 points, with Red Bull also winning the teams' championship.
Formula One League Racing
Besides competing in the Esports championships, Opmeer also plays the F1 games by doing league races, career modes and open lobbies, which he posts on his YouTube and Twitch channels. The most predominant league is PSGL and Opmeer has also competed in WOR, ORL and Ironman League. He won more than half of the seasons he entered, among them: eight PSGL titles, three WOR titles, two ORL titles and one Ironman League title.
Opmeer went viral at the F1 25 PSGL S40 race at Silverstone when he won by driving through the pit lane. Even though there was no rule against this, Opmeer was still penalised.
Formula E: Accelerate
In 2021, Opmeer was signed to the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team to compete in the esport series Formula E: Accelerate. In his first year, he finished fifth overall in the standings, scoring his debut podium for double points in the final round set in Rome.
In the double-header London Open in 2022, Opmeer finished second overall.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2009Dutch Championship — Mini Juniors1st2010Dutch Championship — Mini Juniors1st2011Belgian Championship — KF515thDutch Championship — KF31st2012Dutch Championship — KF34th2013German Karting Championship — Junior12thCIK-FIA European Championship — KFJ41st2014IAME International Final — X30 Junior17thGerman Karting Championship — JuniorMaddox Racing Team7thRotax Max Wintercup — Rotax Max Junior31st2015German Karting Championship — SeniorMaddox Racing Team11thSKUSA SuperNationals — KZ239th
Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2016 SMP F4 Championship MP Motorsport 21 7 4 5 13 264 2nd F4 Spanish Championship 6 0 1 0 5 80 NC† 2017 Formula Renault Eurocup MP Motorsport 23 0 0 0 0 27 15th Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 5 0 0 0 1 68 10th2018 Formula Renault EurocupMP Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 0 25thFormula Renault NEC 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† † – As Opmeer had not competed in the required number of rounds, he was ineligible for a championship position.
Complete SMP F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2016 MP Motorsport SOC1 SOC2 ZAN11 ZAN12 ZAN13 ZAN21 ZAN22 ZAN23 MSC11 MSC12 MSC13 MSC21 MSC22 MSC23 AND1 AND2 AND3 AHV1 AHV2 AHV3 2nd 270
Complete F4 Spanish Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2016 MP Motorsport NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 ALC1 ALC2 ALC3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 VAL1 VAL2 VAL3 CAT1 CAT2 JAR1 JAR2 JAR3 JER1 JER2 JER3 NC† 0 † – As Opmeer had not competed in the required number of rounds, he was ineligible for a championship position.
Complete Formula Renault NEC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2017 MP Motorsport MNZ1 MNZ2 ASS1 ASS2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 HOC1 HOC2 10th 68 2018 MP Motorsport PAU1 PAU2 MNZ1 MNZ2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 NC† 0
† As Opmeer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points
Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pos Points 2017 MP Motorsport MNZ1 MNZ2 SIL1 SIL2 PAU1 PAU2 MON1 MON2 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 NÜR1 NÜR2 RBR1 RBR2 LEC1 LEC2 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 15th 27 2018 MP Motorsport LEC1 LEC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 SIL1 SIL2 MON1 MON2 RBR1 RBR2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 CAT1 CAT2 25th 0
Sim racing record Esports career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2019 Formula One Esports Series Renault–Vitality 12 1 1 0 5 123 4th2020 Formula One Esports Series Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports Team 12 4 2 0 8 196 1st2021 Formula One Esports Series Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team 12 4 2 1 7 1951st Formula E: Accelerate Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team 6 0 0 0 1 49 5th2022 Formula One Esports Series Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team 12 2 0 0 3 122 5th Formula E: Accelerate Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team 2 0 0 0 2 332nd2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team 12 1 0 3 4 122 4th2025 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing 12 3 0 2 3 1541st2026 F1 Sim Racing World Championship Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing 12 2 0 3 3 1143rd
Complete Formula One Esports Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2019 Renault–Vitality BHR CHN AZE CAN AUT GBR GER BEL ITA JPN USA BRA 4th 123 2020 Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports Team BHR VIE CHN NED CAN AUT GBR BEL ITA JPN MEX BRA 1st 196 2021 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team BHR4 CHN1 AUT1 GBR9 ITA2 BEL2 POR7 NED6 USA1 EMI2 MEX1 BRA4 1st 195 2022 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team BHR2 EMI11 GBR5 AUT4 BEL6 NED4 ITA18 MEX1 USA1 JPNRet BRA8 UAE65th122 2023–24 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team BHR2SAUAUT GBR 1 BEL NED USA MXC SAP 3 LVG 3 QAT ABU 4th122 2025 Oracle Red Bull Sim RacingAUSCHNBHRSAU GBR BEL NLD USA MEX BRA QAT ABU 1st 154 2026 Oracle Red Bull Sim RacingCHNJPNBHRSAUESP GBR BEL NLD USA MEX BRA ABU 3rd 114
Complete Formula E: Accelerate results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos Points 2021 Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team NYC HKG BER DIR LES RME‡5th49 2022 Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team LDN LDN2nd33
Complete F1 PC PSGL Tier 1 league racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Points system: 16-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, FL:+1) Season Game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Points 27/28 F1 2020 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team AUT HUN SPA BEL NED GBR ITA JPN FRA USA MEX BHR ABU AUS BRA 1st 137 29 F1 2021 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team BHR FRA BEL NED ITA GBR AUT CHN POR 1st 83 30 F1 2021 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team POR GBR MON FRA HUN AUT SAU BEL NED SIN USA BRA EMI BHR 1st 125 31 F1 2022 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team BHR USA AUT MIA BEL MEX JPN ITA 3rd 55 32/33 F1 2022 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team AUS SAU USA ABU BRA SPA BEL FRA MEX AUT BHR 5th 46 34 F1 23 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team BHR USA NED BRA HUN GBR QAT AUT JPN EMI BEL SAU MEX ABU 1st 90 35/36 F1 23 Mercedes-AMGPetronas Esports Team POR ITA GBR CAN SPA SAU MEX BRA AUT BEL USA LVG 1st 121 37 F1 24 Oracle Red BullSim Racing BHR GBR JPN SAU BEL MEX AUT QAT LVG USA BRA ABU 1st 109 40 F1 25 Oracle Red BullSim Racing BRA USA GBR NED JPN CHN BEL SAU QAT BRA AUS MEX LVG ABU 1st 118 Notes: S27/28 was the first season PSGL raced on PC. S38, S39 and S41 were held on PlayStation, where Opmeer did not compete in. Opmeer also won S25, which was held on PlayStation. In total he won 27 races, 54 podiums and 7 titles in PSGL on PC, by far most of everyone.
References
External links
Official website Youtube Channel