The 2026 F1 Sim Racing World Championship is an esports competition for Formula One which is the ninth season of the Formula One Esports Series and the third to be named as the "Formula One Sim Racing World Championship." It is being held on Formula One's official 2025 game, featuring nine of the eleven teams from the real-life sport, with Audi and Cadillac opting not to participate. The championship started on 27 March 2026 and ends on 28 May 2026.
Jarno Opmeer and Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing enter the season as the defending champions, having both won their third titles in the 2025 campaign.
Format The drivers race in a series of four LAN events that are broadcast live. They earn points for themselves and their teams, following the official F1 points system, plus a bonus point being given for pole position and another for the driver who set the fastest lap in the top 10. These points determine the F1 Sim Racing World Championship Teams’ and Drivers’ World Champions, with a total $750,000 prize fund.
Prize pool A prize fund of $750,000 is awarded to the teams at the end of the season. This differs from previous seasons in which a portion of the prize fund was awarded to the drivers ($100,000 in 2025), this year the entire fund is awarded to the teams.
Teams' Championship Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th Winnings$127,777$107,777$92,777$82,777$77,777$72,777$67,777$62,777$57,777
Coverage The series is broadcast live on Formula One's official YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook channels, as well as Event 1 being open to the public to watch at DreamHack Birmingham.
Entries TeamRace driversNo.Driver nameRounds Alpine Sim Racing15 Dani Bereznay1-4, 6-7, 9-1245 Otis LawrenceAll51 Josh Idowu 5, 8 Aston Martin Aramco Esports26 Duncan Hofland1, 3-4, 6, 8-10, 1288 Jan Haladej 2, 5, 7, 1193 Rubén PedreñoAll McLaren F1 Sim Racing25 Jake BenhamAll41 Alfie ButcherAll42 Wilson Hughes - Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports11 Julian Klaffenböck1-4, 6-7, 9-1039 Thomas RonhaarAll74 Tycho Hardy 5, 8, 11-12 TGR Haas F1 Sim Racing34 Tamás Gál1-8, 10-1236 Joris CroezenAll71 Gábor Csontos 9 Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing13 Sebastian Job -67 Frederik RasmussenAll89 Jarno OpmeerAll Racing Bulls F1 Sim Racing2 Tom Manley1-8, 10-1151 Joni Törmälä 2, 5, 8-9, 11-1295 Ulaş Özyıldırım1, 3-4, 6-7, 9-10, 12 Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports32 John Evans1-654 Ismael FahssiAll77 Bari Broumand 7-12 Atlassian Williams F1 Team Gaming21 Álvaro Carretón 2, 6, 8-9, 1140 Nicolas LonguetAll62 István Puki1, 3-5, 7, 10, 12Source:
Calendar The full schedule was announced on 19 March, consisting of twelve races across four separate events. RoundCircuitDistanceDateEvent1 Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai28 laps27 March 2026 Event One2 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka27 laps28 March 20263 Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir29 laps 29 March 20264 Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah25 laps 22 April 2026 Event Two5 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló33 laps23 April 20266 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone26 laps7 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot22 laps 13 May 2026 Event Three8 Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort36 laps14 May 20269 Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas28 laps10 Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City36 laps 27 May 2026 Event Four11 Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo36 laps28 May 202612 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi29 lapsSource:
Calendar changes Suzuka Circuit and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya replaced the Albert Park Street Circuit and Lusail International Circuit from the 2025 calendar, with Suzuka returning after two seasons away from the calendar, while Barcelona made its first appearance in F1 Sim Racing.
Results
Season summary RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning team1 Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai Frederik Rasmussen Dani Bereznay Frederik Rasmussen Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing2 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka Frederik Rasmussen Jarno Opmeer Otis Lawrence Alpine Sim Racing3 Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir Ismael Fahssi Jarno Opmeer Jarno Opmeer Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing4 Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah Otis Lawrence Alfie Butcher Jarno Opmeer Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing5 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló Otis Lawrence Otis Lawrence Ismael Fahssi Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports 6 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone Otis Lawrence Dani Bereznay Otis Lawrence Alpine Sim Racing7 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot Ulaş Özyıldırım Bari Broumand Ulaş Özyıldırım Racing Bulls F1 Sim Racing 8 Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort Frederik Rasmussen Jake Benham Bari Broumand Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports9 Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas Nicolas Longuet Frederik Rasmussen Otis Lawrence Alpine Sim Racing10 Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City Ulaş Özyıldırım Jarno Opmeer Ismael Fahssi Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports11 Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo Otis Lawrence Nicolas Longuet Ismael Fahssi Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports12 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi Frederik Rasmussen Thomas Ronhaar Ismael Fahssi Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports
Season report
Event One (March 27-29)
Event One of the 2026 F1 Sim Racing World Championship went underway in Shanghai, with Fredrick Rasmussen taking the first pole position of this season. The latter then converted pole position for a race win. Soon enough, the digital race in Japan had Rasmussen in pole for two consecutive times, but Alpine's Otis Lawrence took the win.
Championship standings
Scoring system 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. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Position Fastest Lap Points25181512108642111 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.
Drivers' Championship standings DriverCHNJPNBHRSAUESPGBRBELNEDUSAMXCSAPABUPoints1 Otis Lawrence718451951562 Ismael Fahssi62Ret177851111543 Jarno Opmeer41699101653 1144 Frederik Rasmussen714331061135 Nicolas Longuet84244181641541006 Alfie Butcher37Ret51069279797 Ulaş Özyıldırım213341015738 Bari Broumand17826669 Rubén Pedreño1663121317133113135510 Thomas Ronhaar1113411721718669135411 Dani Bereznay512512521412185012 Jake Benham1239168161515131824613 Joris Croezen585915814121211874014 Duncan Hofland915131194483215 Tom Manley1317Ret6101321617172716 Álvaro CarretónRet5111442217 István PukiRet6151767162218 Josh Idowu2171819 Julian Klaffenböck141611710181812720 Tamás Gál171414812151115161511421 Joni Törmälä11913131112222 Jan Haladej9181214223 John Evans1512RetRet1114024 Tycho Hardy 14 141614025 Gábor Csontos170DriverCHNJPNBHRSAUESPGBRBELNEDUSAMXCSAPABUPointsSources:
Teams' Championship standings TeamCHNJPNBHRSAUESPGBRBELNEDUSAMXCSAPABUPoints1 Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing13353 227471469910161062 Alpine Sim Racing718245195 22451251251721412183 Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports 62Ret17715111 2201512RetRet1114878264 Atlassian Williams F1 Team Gaming84244564744 144RetRet615171816111415165 McLaren F1 Sim Racing33951069272 125127Ret168161515131896 Racing Bulls F1 Sim Racing21113394131017 11 12 10213RetRet610132161317157 Aston Martin Aramco Esports96312131112343138 8916915131817139114148 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports11134772171466913 6115Ret111114101818181216149 TGR Haas F1 Sim Racing585812811121211874417141491515141517161511TeamCHNJPNBHRSAUESPGBRBELNEDUSAMXCSAPABUPointsSources:
Notes
References