After starting the season in January, the last four rounds of the F1 Sim Racing World Championship will take place from March 25th to 27th with many possible champions.
The real life F1 season has begun with the opening two races, but the virtual Grand Prix action is on the home stretch of its eighth season: F1 Sim Racing (formerly F1 Esports) will have its final four races to decide the champion from March 25th to 27th. It has been one of the most competitive seasons yet, with seven winners out of eight races and mathematically, anyone can still win the title.
Realistically speaking, it is a lot less open than that. There are 108 points maximum on offer, and whilst anyone who has not scored yet could take home all of those points, they would need those at the top to uncharacteristically flounder - so it may be down to the top four at best.
Who could crown themselves 2025 F1 Sim Racing Champion? Here is our rundown of the contenders and their chances heading into the final event of the season.
After being met with a lot of criticism, the Sauber driver seemed to take it onboard and applied it thoroughly. He unassumingly racked up big points with two consecutive third place finishes and then a win in the last race of the event, propelling Ronhaar from sixth to the lead of the standings.
If Ronhaar does win the title this season, it would have consistently followed his record since joining the series. He was third in his rookie campaign and runner-up last season, and with his approach in the second event proving to work, he may well be on track to follow through on that.
The Dutch driver's lead comes courtesy of scoring in every race, with every other championship protagonist failing to score at least once. But the next driver to consider - despite two no-scores - may still have momentum on their side.
For this year, Fahssi took the win in the opening race of the season and a further podium in the first event, resulting in a healthy points haul. For the next event, he did endure two non-scores but even then, he is only trailing Ronhaar by six points, just going to show how strong his form and consistency has been this season.
Whilst Ronhaar has had the consistency to go to the top of the standings, he is not the benchmark driver. Fahssi has been absolutely outstanding this season when nobody expected this unassuming Spaniard to have leapt up to the level he is operating at. Providing he continues to score points, I would say that the Williams racer is the favourite to win the championship.
But it is not just one Dutch driver that stands in Fahssi's way, as another is looking to add yet another championship in order to become the undisputed outright record holder.
He then moved to Alfa Romeo where he won the title, and backed that up with another after jumping ship to Mercedes. After three seasons with Merc, he lined up alongside reigning champion and former title rival Frederik Rasmussen to form a superteam at Red Bull. Despite failing to score just once, Opmeer sits on 88 points so he has every chance to eclipse the record he holds with Brendon Leigh.
Having two championships apiece, Opmeer winning this season would see him becoming the first ever 3-time title holder. With Leigh retiring after the conclusion of this season, it will be a while before anyone could potentially eclipse him. But of course, there are no guarantees in this series and whilst in past seasons, Opmeer has successfully attempted extreme strategies, they have not always worked out this time round.
To win, Opmeer may not be able to afford to be audacious. Unlike our final protagonist, who it seemed after the first event was all but out of contention and has muscled their way back in by the skin of their teeth.
Fast forward to the end of the first event and even though he won one of the races, Broumand failed to score in the remaining three. It seemed like his title hopes were over before it had even began, but the Iranian - despite yet another no-score - now sits on 75 points. The Ferrari ace may be the only double winner this season so far, but he needs to be faultless in the last four races to even stand a chance.
If Broumand can somehow overcome this deficit and win the championship, it will be one of the greatest turnarounds in any racing competition let alone just sim racing. But his chances are very slim, and with a 23 point deficit to the leader, he cannot afford one mistake. If the Ferrari driver does make an error, that bridesmaid label will have to fall on his shoulders.
Whilst Broumand may seem like he is the only outsider, there are also the likes of Aston Martin's Otis Lawrence and McLaren's Alfie Butcher who are on 64 and 63 points respectively, and have also both won a race. They are the only other full-time drivers with a really long shot chance, whilst reigning champion Frederik Rasmussen - the only other race winner this season - is probably way too far back on 49.
Another driver sits on 64 points but is most likely not in conversation for the driver's championship. Their priorities probably lie in the team's title where the $750,000 prize pool is being shared.
Fast forward to now and Mercedes have made me eat my words, as they sit at the top of the team's championship standings 28 points clear of second place Red Bull. Their driver line-up consists of the seasoned Dani Bereznay, the prospective Jake Benham and the revelation that has been rookie István Puki, all of whom have finished in the top three at least twice this season and are all in the top ten in the standings.
This approach adopted by Mercedes had historically never worked, as in all seasons prior but one, the team's championship was won by a team who only ever fielded two drivers across the season. The only exception being in 2019, when now-Ferrari driver Nicolas Longuet drove a single outing for eventual champions Red Bull.
But with how competitive this season has been, it has clearly proven beneficial by Mercedes to split their driver's preparation time across all circuits. They may be sacrificing the driver's title and instead focusing on the team's where the prize money is won but if Bereznay on 64 points is doing all four races and has something special up his sleeve, maybe Merc can sneakily snag the double.
Everything will be sealed up by the end of this week, with both the 2025 F1 Sim Racing driver's and team's champions decided. The final four rounds will be on the Mexico City, São Paulo, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuits.
Who do you believe will win the championships in the final event of F1 Sim Racing in 2025? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our F1 game series forum!
The real life F1 season has begun with the opening two races, but the virtual Grand Prix action is on the home stretch of its eighth season: F1 Sim Racing (formerly F1 Esports) will have its final four races to decide the champion from March 25th to 27th. It has been one of the most competitive seasons yet, with seven winners out of eight races and mathematically, anyone can still win the title.
Realistically speaking, it is a lot less open than that. There are 108 points maximum on offer, and whilst anyone who has not scored yet could take home all of those points, they would need those at the top to uncharacteristically flounder - so it may be down to the top four at best.
Who could crown themselves 2025 F1 Sim Racing Champion? Here is our rundown of the contenders and their chances heading into the final event of the season.
Thomas Ronhaar: Turning Fortunes
The name Thomas Ronhaar is known to plenty of people in the F1 community for not so great reasons, but he has seemed to overcome all of that and heads into the last round in the lead on 98 points. Ronhaar's performance in the second event was in stark contrast to the first, where he went for overly unfeasible attempts to pass and even instigated a multi-car pile-up in the fourth race.After being met with a lot of criticism, the Sauber driver seemed to take it onboard and applied it thoroughly. He unassumingly racked up big points with two consecutive third place finishes and then a win in the last race of the event, propelling Ronhaar from sixth to the lead of the standings.
If Ronhaar does win the title this season, it would have consistently followed his record since joining the series. He was third in his rookie campaign and runner-up last season, and with his approach in the second event proving to work, he may well be on track to follow through on that.
The Dutch driver's lead comes courtesy of scoring in every race, with every other championship protagonist failing to score at least once. But the next driver to consider - despite two no-scores - may still have momentum on their side.
Ismael Fahssi: Surprise Revelation
Even after an impressive maiden campaign in the previous season, little did anyone expect this driver to score three poles in four races and be in contention for the championship. Williams' Ismael Fahssi raised eyebrows in the first half of the 2023-24 season scoring two third place finishes, but in the other half he failed to score any points.For this year, Fahssi took the win in the opening race of the season and a further podium in the first event, resulting in a healthy points haul. For the next event, he did endure two non-scores but even then, he is only trailing Ronhaar by six points, just going to show how strong his form and consistency has been this season.
Whilst Ronhaar has had the consistency to go to the top of the standings, he is not the benchmark driver. Fahssi has been absolutely outstanding this season when nobody expected this unassuming Spaniard to have leapt up to the level he is operating at. Providing he continues to score points, I would say that the Williams racer is the favourite to win the championship.
But it is not just one Dutch driver that stands in Fahssi's way, as another is looking to add yet another championship in order to become the undisputed outright record holder.
Jarno Opmeer: Seeking The Triple
After failing to make it very far on the road to real life F1, Jarno Opmeer turned to racing on the F1 games and is now a multiple-time champion in the series. He made his F1 Esports debut with Renault - who previously had him in their junior academy program - back in 2019, finishing fourth in his first season.He then moved to Alfa Romeo where he won the title, and backed that up with another after jumping ship to Mercedes. After three seasons with Merc, he lined up alongside reigning champion and former title rival Frederik Rasmussen to form a superteam at Red Bull. Despite failing to score just once, Opmeer sits on 88 points so he has every chance to eclipse the record he holds with Brendon Leigh.
Having two championships apiece, Opmeer winning this season would see him becoming the first ever 3-time title holder. With Leigh retiring after the conclusion of this season, it will be a while before anyone could potentially eclipse him. But of course, there are no guarantees in this series and whilst in past seasons, Opmeer has successfully attempted extreme strategies, they have not always worked out this time round.
To win, Opmeer may not be able to afford to be audacious. Unlike our final protagonist, who it seemed after the first event was all but out of contention and has muscled their way back in by the skin of their teeth.
Bari Broumand: Ultimate Outsider
Up until last season, the title of "always the bridesmaid never the bride" belonged to perennial runner-up Frederik Rasmussen, then he won the championship at long last. I had backed Ferrari's Bari Broumand to win the title last season, but him failing to score three times hampered his chances so I hoped and believed it would happen this year.Fast forward to the end of the first event and even though he won one of the races, Broumand failed to score in the remaining three. It seemed like his title hopes were over before it had even began, but the Iranian - despite yet another no-score - now sits on 75 points. The Ferrari ace may be the only double winner this season so far, but he needs to be faultless in the last four races to even stand a chance.
If Broumand can somehow overcome this deficit and win the championship, it will be one of the greatest turnarounds in any racing competition let alone just sim racing. But his chances are very slim, and with a 23 point deficit to the leader, he cannot afford one mistake. If the Ferrari driver does make an error, that bridesmaid label will have to fall on his shoulders.
Whilst Broumand may seem like he is the only outsider, there are also the likes of Aston Martin's Otis Lawrence and McLaren's Alfie Butcher who are on 64 and 63 points respectively, and have also both won a race. They are the only other full-time drivers with a really long shot chance, whilst reigning champion Frederik Rasmussen - the only other race winner this season - is probably way too far back on 49.
Another driver sits on 64 points but is most likely not in conversation for the driver's championship. Their priorities probably lie in the team's title where the $750,000 prize pool is being shared.
Mercedes: Proving Me Wrong
Looking back on my preview to the 2025 season, I made the claim "Mercedes may be hard pressed to fight the mightily strong line-ups at Ferrari, KICK Sauber and Red Bull". This was in reference to the fact that unlike those three aforementioned teams, they would be splitting their three drivers relatively evenly across the season.Fast forward to now and Mercedes have made me eat my words, as they sit at the top of the team's championship standings 28 points clear of second place Red Bull. Their driver line-up consists of the seasoned Dani Bereznay, the prospective Jake Benham and the revelation that has been rookie István Puki, all of whom have finished in the top three at least twice this season and are all in the top ten in the standings.
This approach adopted by Mercedes had historically never worked, as in all seasons prior but one, the team's championship was won by a team who only ever fielded two drivers across the season. The only exception being in 2019, when now-Ferrari driver Nicolas Longuet drove a single outing for eventual champions Red Bull.
But with how competitive this season has been, it has clearly proven beneficial by Mercedes to split their driver's preparation time across all circuits. They may be sacrificing the driver's title and instead focusing on the team's where the prize money is won but if Bereznay on 64 points is doing all four races and has something special up his sleeve, maybe Merc can sneakily snag the double.
Everything will be sealed up by the end of this week, with both the 2025 F1 Sim Racing driver's and team's champions decided. The final four rounds will be on the Mexico City, São Paulo, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuits.
Who do you believe will win the championships in the final event of F1 Sim Racing in 2025? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our F1 game series forum!
