Esports-Mercedes take the F1 title double in virtual world

[December 17, 2021] LONDON (Reuters) - Mercedes pulled off a Formula One title sweep in the Esports Series Pro Championship on Thursday, with Dutch double champion Jarno Opmeer celebrating driver and team success.

Opmeer fought Red Bull's Frede Rasmussen all the way, the virtual world reflecting Formula One's real championship battle between Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Briton Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes also won the real Formula One constructors' championship but that double escaped them, after a record seven in a row, with Verstappen triumphant.

Thursday's virtual double was the team's second since 2018 and a second title in a row for Opmeer, who won last year's drivers' crown with the Alfa Romeo team.

The gamers have been racing remotely from home or team factories due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they did last year, using the official F1 2021 video game developed by Codemasters.

Almost half a million people took part in qualifying for the series with Formula One saying its esports events had registered more than 40 million views across television and digital platforms in the last 18 months.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)

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