19 May 2026 10:00 (UTC)
"We'll take these as learnings, and we capitalise on our potential"
F1 Media & Technology Centre, Tuesday, 19 May
Event Three of the 2026 Sim Racing World Championship took place on 13 and 14 May, with all nine teams returning to the F1 Media & Technology Centre in Biggin Hill. This is the first season the championship is taking place in F1’s purpose-built space at their headquarters.
The event started with a wet Qualifying session around Spa-Francorchamps. Alfie and Jake were both knocked out of Q2, qualifying at P14 and P15 respectively. The race started with rain, and all drivers crossed the starting line with Intermediate tyres. Conditions improved slightly as the race went on. Jake suffered contact in a Lap 1 incident, compromising the rest of his race, finishing in P15 on Medium tyres. Alfie drove a good recovery to finish in the points in P10.
Thursday was a busy day, made up of two rounds. As in the previous round, Zandvoort was a wet Qualifying session. Jake qualified P15, and Alfie had a better session, finishing Q3 in P7. For the race, the team went for a split strategy, putting Alfie on a Medium tyre and Jake on a Hard tyre. Whilst some of the teams pitted twice, the McLaren F1 Sim Racing team opted for a one stopper for both drivers. Alfie pitted first on Lap 15, swapping to a Hard Tyre to stay out for the rest of the race. He came out of the pits in P17 but recovered to P6. Meanwhile, Jake stayed out until Lap 23, when he pitted for Medium tyres. Jake made up eight places, finishing in P7 and taking the extra point for Fastest Lap.
The final round of the event saw the teams take on Circuit of the Americas. Alfie had a difficult Qualifying, getting caught out by mixed weather conditions, finishing in P17.Jake made it to Q3, qualifying P7. Both drivers opted for Hard tyres for the start of the race. In a chaotic opening Lap 1, Alfie improved to P11 and Jake was caught up in an incident, pushing him back down the grid. Jake crossed the line in P15 and Alfie in P10 but was then promoted to P9 after a penalty ahead of him.
In F1 Sim Racing, anything can happen. All drivers have the same base car performance, but they run their own set ups. Margins are extremely right. The gap between P1 and P18 in Zandvoort’s Qualifying session was +0.717s. Only 31 points separate P3 and P6 in the teams’ Championship. With the teams racing the circuits of Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi for the final Event of the season, Alfie, Jake and the team will be focusing on taking advantage of all the points still available.
The 2026 F1 Sim Racing Championship will come to a finish on 27 and 28 May, where all nine teams will race from the F1 Media & Technology Centre in Biggin Hill.
Round 1 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps Circuit)
Qualified | P15 |
Finished | P10 |
Round 2 – Netherlands (Circuit Zandvoort)
Qualified | P7 |
Finished | P6 |
Round 3 – United States (Circuit of the Americas)
Qualified | P17 |
Finished | P9 |
“Event Three done. Not our best event, but we still walk away with some positives. We had good pace, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the results we wanted. I think there are many things we can learn, especially around Qualifying and wet weather. We’re not as strong in those conditions. I think we’ll take that forward into Event Four and look to put that right to end the season on a high. We still have three races and with a field as close as this, anything can happen.”
Round 1 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps Circuit)
Qualified | P14 |
Finished | P15 |
Round 2 – Netherlands (Circuit Zandvoort)
Qualified | P15 |
Finished | P7 |
Round 3 – United States (Circuit of the Americas)
Qualified | P7 |
Finished | P15 |
“A tough Event Three. I was looking at a solid drive at Zandvoort and had an okay Qualifying in COTA. I had a good launch in that final round, but in the end, a mistake on my end in Turn 1 cost me positions. I know we have what it takes to fight at the front of the field, we just need to re-group and come back strong. I’m looking forward to racing in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi for the last three rounds.”
“We come back from Event Three with fewer points than expected. The results do not reflect the pace we showed in practice, so we finish the event knowing we left points on the table. Spa, Zandvoort and COTA all threw challenging conditions for all the teams, such as repeated wet sessions, and in a couple of key sessions, we fell on the wrong side of the strategy, but I was very proud of the team's execution in Zandvoort.
“Event Four is the final event of the 2026 F1 Sim Racing Championship season. It’s only days away as we are back racing on 27 and 28 May. We'll take these as learnings, and we capitalise on our potential. The whole team is focused on scoring as many points as possible, and ending the season on a positive note.”
