Brendon Leigh departs Ferrari’s Esports team after tough season

One of Ferrari’s top drivers has departed the team, having failed to recreate his lofty heights of 2017 and 2018.

Two-time F1 Esports world champion Brendon Leigh has departed Ferrari for the upcoming 2023 season, having failed to create the heights he reached in the first two years of the competition with Mercedes.

The 23-year-old won the first two editions of the series, which were an attempt by Formula One’s new owners, Liberty Media, to capitalise on the growth of esports.

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In a tweet posted on Wednesday morning, Leigh said: “I’ve taken the decision to leave Ferrari.

“Personally I’m grateful for the time, experience and laps shared together in Maranello,” he said.

“Representing Ferrari has been an honour!”

Through the pandemic, esports became one of the only options available for racing fans starved of content, and the Virtual Grand Prix series was held in the first half of 2020, involving current and former Formula One drivers.

Each Formula One team has an esports affiliate, with the drivers training on full-time schedules.

Leigh holds the most championships in the history of the competition, equal with Dutchman Jarno Opmeer.

Charles Leclerc attempting to complete a blindfolded lap of Monza on a simulator in a promotional video, flanked by teammate Carlos Sainz and Ferrari Esports driver Brendon Leigh. Photo: Ferrari

Sim racing has occasionally been a pathway into real cars for the top drivers.

From 2008 to 2016, Nissan and Sony ran a television program called GT Academy, where the fastest virtual drivers were able to compete for actual race seats.

Spaniard Lucas Ordonez competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011, and finished third in 2013 alongside fellow GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough.

Virtual racers Wolfgang Reip and Katsumasa Chiyo even won the Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama in 2015, taking a Nissan GT-R to the overall race win with 269 completed laps of the most famous mountain in motorsport.

Sim racing is popular across the Formula One grid, with many of the drivers competing against each other in their spare time.

🚨ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

I’ve taken the decision to leave Ferrari

Personally I’m grateful for the time, experienced and laps shared together in Maranello. Representing Ferrari has been a honour! Grazie Tutti

My next chapter is starting imminently 🔜 pic.twitter.com/LJmaRIT4kL

— Brendon Leigh (@BrendonLeigh72) January 31, 2023

Two-time World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen is famously obsessed with sim racing, regularly competing for Esports team Redline and installing a rig in his private jet, said to be worth around $50,000.

He is known to spend hours on his simulator and streams his races online, where he is known to be as fiery as he is in a real car.

Earlier this year, the Dutchman slammed the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans, branding it a “clown show” after his team lost a likely victory 18 hours into the race when they disconnected from the server.

The 2023 Formula One World Championship gets underway on March 5 in Bahrain.