WATCH - F1 Esports Series Round 1 presented by Aramco

The F1 Esports Pro Series presented by Aramco is back for its fourth season with a prize fund of $750,000 on offer, and you can watch the action kick off here, live, from 1830 UTC.

With more F1 fans than ever having been exposed to Esports during the coronavirus lockdown – which witnessed Williams racer George Russell winning the Virtual Grand Prix series – this season’s F1 Esports Pro Series is set to be the biggest yet, with over 237,000 racers having attempted to qualify for the 2020 championship.

August’s Pro Draft Reveal show saw those whittled down to 45, before the 10 F1 Esports Pro Series teams – including reigning constructors’ champions Red Bull and Ferrari, who fielded 2019 drivers’ champion David Tonizza – picked one of those qualifiers each to include in their three-driver line-up.

And tonight the competition begins in earnest, with Event 1 under the floodlights of the Bahrain International Circuit. Racers will compete on a bespoke version of Codemasters’ F1 2020 game – although one change for the 2020 Pro Series is that it will be run remotely, with drivers racing either in their own homes or at team factories to keep the championship as safe as possible.

Event 1 takes place over two nights – tonight and tomorrow – and you’ll be able to watch all the race action on F1.com. For more information on the F1 Esports series, including the full team and driver line-ups, check out the official website here.