Read time: 6.2 minutes

Many young drivers walk the fine balance between racing and day-to-day life, and Alfie Butcher is no different. His next 12 months will revolve around two things: completing his A-levels and competing in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship.

Alfie will enter his second F1 Sim Racing World Championship season as a McLaren Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team driver, fresh from an impressive debut campaign in 2023/24. The young Brit will partner 2022 F1 Sim Racing Champion Lucas Blakeley and two-time Premier Sim Gaming League Champion Wilson Hughes.

The 17-year-old from Oxfordshire has enjoyed an impressive rise through the sim racing ranks. Alfie’s potential was first noticed when he took the 2022 PSGL PC F2 Championship. He then went on to dominate the F1 Esports Challengers Championship in 2023, earning the attention of teams competing in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship.

For the 2023/24 season, Alfie stepped up to the F1 Sim Racing World Championship with Haas F1 Team Esports, joining the cream of virtual motorsport for 12 intense rounds of racing. His rookie campaign was extremely impressive, with two wins in Austria and Abu Dhabi, helping him finish fifth in the 2023/24 F1 Sim Racing Drivers’ Championship and securing Rookie of the Year honours. He’s also since made the step up to the PSGL F1 Championship, winning the season opener at the Circuit of the Americas. 

These results helped draw the attention of the McLaren Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team, who signed Alfie in September. After officially being announced with the team, Alfie visited the MTC to meet his new teammates and discuss his ambitions for the season ahead and how he was settling in.

“It's really exciting,” Alife says on his first day at McLaren. “Quite a surreal moment for me and my family because I've been working quite hard to get to this stage for quite some years now. I'm really looking forward to getting underway with the team, and I'm looking forward to where things can go.”

With his confidence up after his heroics in his rookie season, Alfie will go into the next season among the favourites for the championship. 

Alfie's teammates have plenty of experience in the series. Lucas has competed in every F1 Sim Racing World Championship since 2019, securing six career wins and the 2022 F1 Esports Pro Drivers' Championship. Meanwhile, Wilson enters his third season as a part of the McLaren Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team on the back of two points finishes in the last campaign.

“I've got some really good friends in the team who I've known for some years now,” Alfie explains. “I think in sim racing, it's quite important to have a good mindset in the team and have good relationships, and that is key for the best result.

“My first season was a little bit nervy at the beginning. I definitely settled in halfway through, and I picked up some really good results, so it will be hard to build on that, but I think I can, and I'm looking to challenge at the top this season. We're definitely prepared, and I think we'll be up there fighting for both championships. I'm going to work extremely hard to get the best results possible.”

Although he's a star in the virtual racing world, away from the track, Alfie leads a typical teenage life. As well as competing at the highest echelons of virtual racing, Alfie will complete his A-levels alongside his F1 Sim Racing World Championship commitments with the McLaren ​​Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team.

For the next few months, Alfie's day-to-day life will be a delicate balance between studying for a crucial period in his academic life in the day and banking thousands of laps in the virtual cockpit at night as preparations for the 2024/25 season curtain raiser ramp up.

The McLaren ​​Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team has given Alfie the support he needs by being flexible with his schedule. This means he can pursue his education and racing simultaneously without any compromise.

“I'm born in Oxford, and I currently live in Oxfordshire in Bicester," says Alfie. “I've gone through the whole of school there, primary school and secondary school. And I'm now doing A-levels at school. It's a really nice place to live, and I've got lots of friends and family around there.

“It is quite full on, obviously. Weekdays, from the morning to early afternoon, I'm at school and when I get home, I'm basically straight on the sim, doing as much preparation as I can.

“Everyone's been really supportive of my schedule and they're being really flexible with it, so that's going to be key to our success.”