Why F1 is embracing virtual racing
F1-endorsed gaming is feeding back into the real world
Lamborghini’s latest concept is among the most extreme things we’ve seen from Sant’Agata in recent times – and that’s saying something. The V12 Vision Gran Turismo (below) is all angles, fighter-jet aero and drama. But it exists only inside the PlayStation 4.
This V12-powered Lambo is on Gran Turismo Sport, where you will be able to drive it – if you’ve got enough in your virtual bank balance – or watch other highly skilled competitors racing it. It’s not the first bespoke in-game car: almost every major brand now has one. eSports is massive in the gaming world, but is starting to have an effect on the real world too, thanks in part to two key facts: 78 per cent of eSports viewers are under 35, while 50 per cent are from Asia.
To car manufacturers, that’s two routes to new sales.
Even Formula 1 – a sport renowned for its conservative approach to digital media – is in on the act. F1 recently finished its third eSports season, with every team from the real-world grid participating. Ferrari won the drivers’ championship, while Red Bull took the constructors’ contest.
‘We have to find new ways in which we can actually speak to a new generation of global fans that are digitally active,’ Julian Tan, head of digital business andeSports at F1, explains. ‘We needed to create a product that spoke to this new generation in a way that they understand so that we can build that pipeline of the fanbase for the real-world Formula 1.’