Following the suspension of the first F1 competitions in 2020 due to the coronavirus, the FIA has opted for the video game simulator.
Formula 1 is totally paralyzed by the coronavirus. The severity of the COVID-19 has precipitated the suspension of the first races of the 2020 season, but the FIA has opted for the official and formalized broadcast of Grand Prix through F1 2019, the successful Codemasters simulator; and the result has been overwhelming as far as viewers are concerned.
F1 First Grand Prix on Twitch: More than 53,400 simultaneous viewers
This weekend, from March 20 to 22, the second Grand Prix of the 2020 Formula 1 season should have been held in Sakhir, Bahrain. This has not been the case, but the FIA has issued in those same hours —and as accurately as possible for drivers and teams – the Bahrain Grand Prix via the official F1 channel on Twitch with a 14-lap race (25% of the total) using the PC version of the video game.
The broadcast featured professional commentators and F1 drivers.
The standings featured real drivers and well-known F1 streamers in video games, plus McLaren driver Lando Norris as a commentator. It should be said that Norris, Carlos Sainz's partner in the British team, is a great video game player like PUBG and the iRacing simulator, the maximum reference in terms of computer driving simulators and with a community of tens of thousands of attached faithful.
Norris's verified comments, along with Paul Chaloner (also known as ReDeEye on the scene) have detonated a presentation capable of convincing more than 53,400 simultaneous people in the peak of spectators during those 40 minutes of celebration of the Grand Prize. On YouTube, where it can also be seen now on deferred, it already accumulates more than 1.17 million views.
The conclusions are positive at all levels: first, because the cancellation of this Grand Prize has been interpreted with philosophy, with all that this entails for the organization; second, because they have managed to attract the attention of tens of thousands of people during this weekend, even for an hour.
Guanyu Zhou, F2 driver, takes the victory
Finally, because the Codemasters video game, available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, has been promoted with influential voices, an iteration rated as close to excellence in FreeGameTips. Guanyu Zhou, real Formula 2 driver and winner of this race, believes that this initiative should continue to be carried out for the duration of the almost global confinement by the coronavirus because “it is a simulator that allows us to get as close as possible to the reality of the careers.
Judging by success, perhaps the Hanoi, Vietnam Grand Prix (April 3-5) also boasts an F1 race; Although, in that case, you would have to choose another circuit, since it is not in the video game last year.
