Fernando Alonso is taking his love for Motorsports to another level by becoming the first driver to get into eSports and launching his team ahead of the final race of the season.
The Spaniard is teaming up with McLaren’s sponsor Logitech to join the gaming world and hopes to be the best team in the world.
The two-time world champion’s team is called FA Racing G2 Logitech G. The team will compete in many top-line series like F1 sim racing and others.
On Thursday, the team was launched at the Yas Marina paddock where he quipped “I am a team principal finally,”
“There will be no meetings very early. We will change completely the way we work!!” He added.
Logitech and G2 approached Alonso a couple of months ago with the idea and said it is the right time to start as eSports racing is taking off in a big way around the world.
“It is very exciting, and it is a completely new thing to discover,” he explained. “I think eSports in other formats has been very successful, but in racing, it is at the very beginning, and I think huge potential will come.
“I am happy to be one of the first investing in this direction and I think good and fun times are coming – not only for us, but for gamers at home and for fans.”
FA Racing will primarily take part in professional championships like the official F1 game, rFactor and in other categories. The team is also looking for ways to involve fans in the races to make the team and eSports more popular.
Has Alonso signed himself into the team, Alonso said: “Not yet. But we have some ideas for our fans to have online competitions, monthly, that they can not only participate with our pro drivers but also with myself.
“I will definitely be slower – more the amateur level. We will have fun, that is the first thing, and we will develop a platform that is available for everyone in the world.”
Welcome to the future.
Welcome to FA RACING-G2 esports team. #LogitechG #esports #team pic.twitter.com/Gg7dPZ5XSK— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2017
Advantage F1
Alonso’s idea of jumping into the eSports arena will be a shot in the arm for the sport and will become popular with the younger audience, says F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches.
“Fernando’s brand has been a pillar of the success of F1 in the linear world, and just like other brands going into other areas, he gives a credibility,” he said.
“A lot of drivers and athletes, in their second career, go into business and I think while this is a fun participatory game, it is competition. It is a big business, and it is just getting bigger.
“F1 and Fernando are getting in at the early stages, notwithstanding that it has been around a couple of years.”
