eSports
Red Bull secure hat-trick of wins in F1 Esports Series Pro Championship Event 2, and go level with Mercedes in the title race
The 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship presented by Aramco continued with three more nail-biting races as drivers took on an iconic trio circuits, Silverstone, Monza and Spa, in Event 2, with Red Bull taking wins in the each of the three rounds. Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley continued their strong starts with more impressive displays, and lead the Drivers’ Championship with 101 and 87 points respectively. Meanwhile, in the Teams’ Championship, the picture reflects real life as Mercedes and Red Bull lead the way, both on 140 points, and are well placed to get the lion’s share of the $750,000 prize pot.
One of last year’s leading title contenders Frede Rasmussen, secured his first win of the season – a first for Red Bull this year – with a brilliant performance at Silverstone, where he also started on pole. Rasmussen had the lead for the majority of the race, but had to wrestle it back from Mercedes’ Dani Moreno, who took P1 with just a few laps remaining, before the Red Bull driver regained the position going into the final corners. Lucas Blakeley continued his brilliant start to the season for Aston Martin with another podium finish in P3, despite a timing error that suggested he had crossed the line in second place ahead of Moreno.
Wednesday’s action continued with another thrilling encounter at Monza, as Marcel Kiefer made it an even better day for Red Bull with his first win of the season, showing why he cannot be counted out of this year’s title race. Kiefer and Rasmussen looked set to deliver a valuable 1-2 finish, before Opmeer, who started on pole, jumped into P2 on the penultimate lap – and things got even worse for Rasmussen as he was spun by Ferrari’s David Tonizza going into the first corner of the final lap, and fell down the order. Blakeley secured another podium finish after benefitting from time penalties that were given to Moreno for leaving the track, who finished in P3, and Tonizza for his collision with Rasmussen.
Rasmussen made it three wins out of three for Red Bull in Event 2 with a dominant drive and a tyre strategy that worked to perfection for him as he was victorious in Spa. In very wet conditions, Rasmussen, Opmeer and Kiefer were among those that chose to start on intermediate tyres and hope that they would last to the end of the race, which they certainly did. It looked like a 1-2 was on the cards for Red Bull, with Kiefer sitting behind Rasmussen going into the final lap, before he was overtaken, first by Opmeer, who secured another big points haul in his title quest, and then Tonizza, with the two former world champions finishing P2 and P3 respectively.
Event 3 will see the drivers race for the first time ever on the Portimão circuit, before battling it out at Zandvoort and the Circuit of the Americas, in a trio of undoubtedly action-packed races on 24-25 November.
Following Event 2, the official standings are as follows:
Driver standings
Team standings
Drivers are continuing to race remotely from their homes or team facilities, as they did in the 2020 season, but the hugely popular competition continues to broadcast from the Gfinity Esports Arena in London. Following the same Event format as recent campaigns, teams battle it out on the official F1 2021 video game, developed by Codemasters, with the live shows are streamed online via official channels of Formula 1 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Huya, as well as broadcast on television via select international broadcast partners.
F1 Esports events have achieved over 40 million views across TV and digital, in the last 18 months, and this popularity led to a record number of people attempting to be a part of this year’s Pro Exhibition, with almost half a million taking part in qualification. Qualification for next year’s competition is now open through a challenge in the official F1 2021 video game, with the first event live until 31st October. If you would like to find out more information on how to take part in the F1 Esports Series and for more information on the Pro Championship presented by Aramco, visit www.f1esports.com.
Full race results:
Round 4 – Silverstone
Round 5 – Monza
Round 6 – Spa
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The Esports Awards and the Esports Foundation (EF) on June 18, 2026, announced a three-year extension of their partnership through 2028 and introduced a new player-voted honor, the EWC Players’ Choice Award. The announcement was made in London, with voting tied to Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 in Paris.
The EWC Players’ Choice Award will be decided exclusively by professional esports players. According to the announcement, competitors attending EWC 2026 will vote in person, while a secure digital voting platform hosted by the Esports Awards will allow participation from additional eligible players and clubs.
Eligibility requires players to have competed in at least one qualifying S, A or B-Tier tournament during the official competitive season. Players will not be able to vote for themselves or teammates, with the Esports Awards overseeing the process.
“The talent and innovation of our sector should be getting the exposure it deserves.,” said Michael Ashford, CEO of the Esports Awards. “The Esports Foundation has done an incredible job in generating mainstream attention, and industry exposure outside of the standard circuit. Our partnership has enabled us to expand our operations and footprint and it’s through our continued collaboration that I hope we can bring the Esports Awards to the global community, and provide the industry with better visibility all year round.”
The Esports Awards also confirmed its 2026 ceremony will take place in the United States, starting what it described as a rotating host city model featuring “previously unvisited destinations.” The event previously staged its 2024 awards ceremony and the 2025 Decade Awards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of the Esports World Cup program.
EWC 2026 is scheduled for Paris from July 06 through August 23, 2026, with more than 2,000 players and 200 Clubs from over 100 countries set to compete in 25 tournaments across 24 games. Voting for the EWC Players’ Choice Award will run from July 1 through August 18, 2026, with the winner to be revealed during the Esports Awards ceremony later this year. The Esports Awards said additional details about its 2026 event will be announced in the coming weeks.
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The Esports Foundation (EF) has completed the online regional qualifiers for the Chess tournament at the Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC), scheduled to debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2-29, 2026.
EF said the 128-player chess field is now largely set. 64 players from 64 countries and territories received direct invitations via official Champions Chess Tour (CCT) rankings at the end of May, while 61 players qualified through online regional events operated by Chess.com across North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East/India/Central Asia, and East Asia/Southeast Asia/Oceania.
A further slot was awarded to Amani Alazmi (Kuwait) via the Host Region Wildcard as the next highest-placing competitor from the host region. Two Wildcard Solidarity slots for underrepresented regions remain and will be announced at the end of August after all ENC qualifiers are completed. With qualifiers concluded, EF said at least 82 countries and territories will be represented in chess at ENC 2026.
EF highlighted that Jamaica, Paraguay, Singapore, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan each secured two qualifying slots despite not receiving a direct invitation. Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Jordan, Australia, and New Zealand secured one slot each.
The chess competition runs November 2-8. EF said the event will open with a round-robin group stage featuring 16 groups of eight players, before moving to a 64-player single-elimination playoff bracket. The full list of qualified players and nations is available on the ENC website’s chess page.
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HLTV will stage the HLTV Awards presented by 1xBet in Belgrade, Serbia on January 9, 2027, returning to the Sava Center. The company said more than 1,000 players, industry professionals, creators, and fans are expected to attend.
HLTV also confirmed Dust2 creator David Johnston will feature as an award announcer. HLTV linked the booking to the 25th anniversary of Dust2.
For 2026, HLTV is updating its Hall of Fame process and eligibility rules. Four players will be inducted again, with “at least two and up to three” slots reserved for players from the Counter-Strike 1.6 and early eras. HLTV also removed the former “neo rule,” allowing players to be inducted for their playing careers even if they remain active in other roles such as coaching.
HLTV is adding a Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be decided by the Hall of Fame Board. The ceremony will also move Community Awards onto the main stage show for the first time, rather than the pre-show segment.
Separately, HLTV will kick off the 2027 Awards season with an invite-only “HLTV Awards by 1xBet Launch Party x GRID” in Cologne during the Major. HLTV said industry members can apply for an invite to the ceremony via its awards page.
The post HLTV Awards returns to Belgrade on January 9, 2027, adding Lifetime Achievement honor appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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