The Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team has taken the F1 Sim Racing Constructors’ Championship title for the very first time. An amazing result that comes at the end of a season that started back in November, ending with two events over six days with a total of 11 races. Continuity and teamwork through qualifying and the races in Event 3 were crucial from Bari Broumand and Nicolas Longuet, assisted by Tiziana Mecozzi, Istvan Puki, Jonah Martens and Szymon Kulik. The took two consecutive one-two finishes, a new record in the esports championship.
Day 1 (Mexico City and Sao Paulo). Event 3 got off to a positive start with Bari Broumand taking pole and Nicolas Longuet third fastest to lay their cards on the table right from the start. However, with five races over three days, there was no respite and all it took was a penalty in qualifying and bad weather to turn matters on their head for the team that had done so well in the previous race, so that Longuet and Brouman were only seventh and 17th on the grid for Brazil. They secured a healthy points haul in the Mexico City Grand Prix thanks to a second place for Bari and a fifth for Nico, but they were unable to add to their scores in Brazil where Longuet was 13th, having picked up a penalty and Bari was 20th.
Day 2 (Las Vegas and Lusail). As had been the case in Event 2, the fightback began on the second day. The Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team qualified with Longuet on pole and Broumand third, the latter going on to secure the number one slot in Qatar with his team-mate fifth fastest.
Both races proved to be very unpredictable. On the streets of Las Vegas, Nico and Bari started on Soft tyres, kept out of trouble in the first few corners and then pulled away along with Kick F1’s Thomas Ronhaar, who had started from second, to fight for the win. After several changes of the order at the front, it looked like the Dutchman had the upper hand, but Bari and Nicolas both managed to get past towards the end of the final lap to give Ferrari its first one-two finish in the world of esports.
A few hours later in Stockholm’s LAN arena, it was time to fire up the engines once again, this time at the Lusail circuit. The battle for the drivers’ title resumed in Qatar between Broumand and Ronhaar, also involving Frederik Rasmussen (Red Bull Sim Racing). The first two set the pace in the early stages of the race, trading places for the lead on the Medium compound.
Having started on Softs, Longuet kept fifth place and pitted on lap 9 for the hardest compound tyre, followed next time round by his team-mate. It proved to be a winning strategy, putting Bari and Nico in first and second places respectively. In the second part of the race, teamwork ensured that they fended off attacks from the consistently quick Ronhaar, with Nicolas in particular playing the team game to secure the Scuderia’s second consecutive one-two finish.
In the fight for the constructors’ title, the team had, in the space of a day, gone from fourth to first, scoring 88 points to pull out a lead of 40 over Red Bull Sim Racing.
Day 3 (Yas Marina). In Abu Dhabi, Ferrari was still in with a chance of the Drivers’ title with Broumand, as he was 16 points off the leader, but the team was taking nothing for granted off the back of the strong showing in Las Vegas and Qatar. Bari and Nico were second and third in the final qualifying of the season.
The strategy of running Soft and Medium in the race seemed to be paying off, with the Ferrari duo in the top three with four laps to go. But in the chaotic closing stages, some of their competitors on fresher rubber were able to get ahead of them so that Longuet finished fifth with Broumand seventh, which meant that Rasmussen took the Drivers’ crown while the Constructors’ title went to the Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team for the very first time.
“I am very proud of everyone in the team and extremely happy with this achievement. After winning the drivers’ title in 2019, this is the first time we have won the constructors.’ It’s been a long season with plenty of twists and turns for all the teams, but we proved our worth and demonstrated great consistency, especially in Event 3 and the final victory was well deserved. I want to thank Bari, Nico and all team members for their unwavering support.”
Tiziana Mecozzi, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team Manager
“We proved to be very strong all season, even if there were some difficult moments. But we never gave up, we worked to give it our best shot and this title is the reward for all our efforts.”
Nicolas Longuet, Scuderia HP Ferrari Esports Team driver
“I am very happy that we won the constructors’ title. Doing so with the Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team, along with Nico, my best friend, is fantastic for me. I’m really proud of what we have managed to do, giving it our all day after day.”
Bari Broumand, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team driver