2026 F1 Sim Racing World Championship - Event One Report

ESL DreamHack, Monday, 30 March

The 2026 Sim Racing World Championship kicked off on Friday, 27 March at ESL DreamHack in Birmingham. Nine teams raced the circuits of Shanghai, Suzuka, and Sakhir across the weekend. The McLaren F1 Sim Racing Team brought home two podiums and a total of 38 points, putting the team in P4 in the Championship after the first of four events. The weekend started on a positive note for Alfie Butcher, who showed a strong pace throughout the session, qualifying in P4 for the Shanghai race. Jake Benham qualified in P15, missing out on Q3. The race in China saw both cars make up places, with Alfie bringing home the first podium of the year for the team, finishing third after a strong drive and a bold pit strategy. Jake did well to recover positions, finishing in P12 after an initial three-second penalty was rescinded. On Saturday, the teams raced around Suzuka, a favourite circuit of many. The McLaren F1 Sim Racing drivers made it to a wet Q3, where Jake qualified P6 and Alfie P9. The weather was dry for the race, where the team opted for a Medium to Hard tyre strategy. It was an eventful race start, which allowed the team to capitalise on the penalties given to the drivers ahead. Jake, who was running in fourth, was able to keep the gap to Longuet’s Williams under 10 seconds, promoting him to P3 and achieving his first podium with the team. Alfie drove a consistent race, making up places to finish in P7. The Bahrain race on Sunday proved to be more challenging. Jake suffered a tough Q1 exit as his final lap was deleted due to track limits. Alfie drove strongly in Q1 and Q2 but finished Q3 in P8, 0.115s behind the Ferrari on Pole. Both drivers started a recovery race, with Jake opting for a long tyre strategy. A solid race from Alfie saw him in the hunt for the win after pitting for the Medium tyre, but he was involved in an incident which forced him to retire from the race. The final five laps were eventful, with various penalties and overtakes throughout the field. Jake was on course to finish in the points, crossing the line in P8. However, he was dropped to P9 after being given a three-second penalty. The McLaren F1 Sim Racing team take many positives from this first event, including two podium finishes. With strong drives and good pace in the cars, the team look forward to the next event, which will take place at Formula 1’s Media & Technology Centre in Biggin Hill on the 22 and 23 April. Event Two will feature the circuits in Saudi Arabia, Spain and Great Britain.

Alfie Butcher

Round 1 – China (Shanghai International Circuit)

Round 2 – Japan (Suzuka Circuit)

Round 3 – Bahrain (Bahrain International Circuit)

“That’s Event One wrapped up. There are lots of positives to take away from it. We had a good start during the first round in China, qualifying P4 and bringing home a podium in P3. In Japan, I had an okay Qualifying, finishing in P9. I wanted a bit more, but we recovered as best as we could in the race to P7. For Bahrain, we showed strong pace after qualifying P8. We got to a really good spot in the race, but unfortunately, I had to retire the car due to an incident. We could have been fighting for the win in Bahrain, so I know we have what it takes. Thank you to the team for a solid first event. We now regroup and look forward to Event Two.”

Jake Benham

Round 1 – China (Shanghai International Circuit)

Round 2 – Japan (Suzuka Circuit)

Round 3 – Bahrain (Bahrain International Circuit)

“Overall, I am pretty happy with how the event went from our side. After a difficult last race for the team, we finished Event One with a reasonable first three races. We’ve got some work to do around Qualifying, but our race pace was strong, and we always moved up positions, which is good. I got my first podium with the team, which I’m really proud of, and it was also fun to race in front of a live audience. We’re going into Event Two with the confidence that we can do a better job and come away with some more points. Thank you to everyone for their work, I am looking forward to going again.”

Joel Chapman

Team Manager

“So that wraps up Event One of the 2026 F1 Sim Racing World Championship. It was a good start to the season, with a podium for Alfie in China and Jake in Japan. During Round 3 in Bahrain, there was a moment where it looked like we could be leading both championships by the end of it, but some unfortunate incidents prevented that from happening. However, I’m incredibly proud of the team and thank them for their efforts. We’ve had amazing drives from both drivers and very strong strategy calls from our team. We’ve got some work to do ahead of Event Two, but we can go into it confident and ready to fight at the front. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”