Comeback of F1 Esports 2024: Why did it….
On November 25, 2023, the F1 Esports season began. This came quite unexpectedly as there had been few announcements by the organization. After the first race, there was no continuation, but four months later, the season finally seems to be getting underway again.
On November 25, 2023, the F1 Esports season began. However, the start of this season came as a surprise because it was announced just a few days before the first round on November 25 of last year. The race was convincingly won by Thomas Ronhaar and streamed live on YouTube, where tens of thousands of viewers watched the livestream. The next rounds were expected to take place in mid-December, but they never happened. A few days after the first round in Bahrain, there was an uncomfortable silence, and no communication was made to the fans.
Conflict with Formula 1
Formula 1 closely collaborated with F1 Esports and covered the teams’ travel expenses. However, there were significant costs for the teams associated with traveling to the various rounds within the season. In exchange, all team drivers were required to use equipment from sponsor Fanatec in published videos. It didn’t matter if the content was F1-related or what it was about; the drivers had to always show the equipment on camera. The drivers did not agree with this, resulting in the teams’ travel expenses no longer being reimbursed. As a result, the season could not continue, and we heard nothing for four months. Of course, several factors were at play, but this was the main reason for the sudden halt to the season.
