Getting a taste for eSports with Liam Payne…

So, I took part in my first official eRaces yesterday and I have to say it was way, way more fun than I was expecting!

Online racing is something very, very new to me, but I watched Veloce eSports’ #NotTheAusGP last weekend and it looked like a pretty cool thing to do while we wait for the season to start.

I reached out to the guys there and they kindly invited me to take part in the #NotTheBahGP yesterday.

I was pretty keen not to look silly so I got a fair amount of practice in last week. Just because you’re an F1 race driver it doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be good at gaming. You could say I took it pretty seriously!

The fight during the qualifying and races felt like the real thing in terms of the mental side and the pressures you feel.

It was very useful to talk with the Williams gamers and get their strategy experience. Big thanks to them for that.

The first Veloce race was a cool experience and I was pleased to finish as the best of the ‘real’ drivers in P5.

The second race had a reversed grid start so there was always going to be a fair bit of carnage. Unfortunately, I picked up some front wing damage and was tagged and crashed into the wall. But it was still fun and I was P10 overall.

The official F1 race on Sunday night had a different mix of drivers, with no professional gamers taking part. There were some F1 guys and some celebs. I was team-mate to Liam Payne from One Direction.

Sadly, I was taken out early by Esteban Gutiérrez in what can only be described as a ‘questionable move’. Where was the black flag for him?

I lost the front wing and my race was compromised, but I did manage to fight back to claim P6.

Credit to the real gamers that do this kind of thing professionally because takes way more skill than I thought it would.

As I’m probably going to be in Canada until the end of April, I’m looking forward to taking part in some more online races. I’ve got a taste for it!

Share