© @Zakon_ByEvent Two - 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro ChampionshipEvent two sees the Bulls compete at Silverstone, Monza and Spa-Francorchamps.
Welcometothesecondeventofthe2021F1EsportsProChampionship,whichwillseetheBullsracingatSilverstone,MonzaandSpa–threeofthemosticoniccircuitsontheFormulaOneCalendar.
This season boasts four events taking place between October and December. Each event features three races that are same as the tracks the real-life Formula One Championship. For this season the prize pool is an impressive $750,000.
At the first event in early October, Frede Rasmussen and Marcel Kiefer, both collected a podium each, but were unable to show off their best in difficult conditions. Frede currently sits P4 in the standings and Marcel in P8.
In the Constructors’ Championship the Team is in third on 43 points, behind both Aston Martin and Mercedes. However, the Bulls are confident as they’re going into event two which has three races on tracks they love to compete on.
Wednesday sees the Bulls racing at Silverstone and Monza, and then on the Thursday, they will be racing at Spa.
Frede Leading The Charge At Silverstone© @bcampbell_photo
Frede was able to take his first win of the season after an epic drive that saw him battle with Dani Moreno of Mercedes for the last seven laps of the race. Marcel was able to bring his RB16B home in P7.
Racing the 18-lap race in our now-iconic white ‘Thank You Honda’ livery, Frede qualified on pole and Marcel was to start the race in P7. Both Bulls got off the line well and were able to hold their positions.
Not much changed in terms of positions until after the pits stops. Frede came into the pits at the end of lap five and swapped his mediums for a set of soft tyres. His strategy worked and he came out of the pits with only the drivers who were still to pit in front of him.
P1 And P7 For The Bulls At Silverstone© @bcampbell_photo
On lap 11 Moreno made his move of Frede to take the lead and behind the Bull was Aston Martin Driver Lucas Blakeley who was on his rear wing the entire race. On Lap 15 Frede looked to make a move on Moreno, but couldn’t make it stick. However, this showed Frede that he could take the lead back from Moreno, and on the last lap he was able to make the same move and take the lead. With only a few corners remaining not only was Moreno unable to take back the lead from Frede and finished in P2. Lucas Blakeley took P3. Marcel collected solid number of points in P7.
Joni Törmälä and Sebastian Job, who were driving for sister team AlphaTauri were able to bring their cars home in P8 and P18 respectively.
F1EsportsProChampionship2021Round4–Silverstone–Result
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Frederik Rasmussen | Dani Moreno | Lucas Blakeley | Nicolas Longuet | Bardia Boroumand | Brendon Leigh | Marcel Kiefer | Joni Törmälä | Jarno Opmeer | David Tonizza |
| Red Bull Racing Esports | Mercedes | Aston Martin | Alpine | McLaren | FDA Esports | Red Bull Racing Esports | AlphaTauri | Mercedes | FDA Esports |
Attacking The Chicane© @bcampbell_photo
The second race for event two witnessed Marcel claim the win after an epic battle, helped by teammate Frede, who kept the wolves from the door enabling his partner to take the chequered flag. His loyalty cost him as he was clipped in the chicane on the final lap and dropped from P4 down to P8.
Marcel qualified in P2 with Frede in P7, but both drivers made fantastic starts and during the pit stops were able to make the undercut work. Frede pitted on lap five and Marcel the following lap.
When Marcel came out of the pits, he was in P10, and in front was his teammate. Every other driver ahead of the Bulls still had to pit. Frede let Marcel pass him and when everyone else had swapped their tyres. Marcel was the race leader with Frede in P2.
On lap 11 of the 19-lap race the attacks towards Frede began with Alpine’s Fabrizio Donoso trying to get ahead of the Bulls, but Frede was able to fend him of.
Frede Battled Hard For His Teammate© @bcampbell_photo
These attacks kept happening lap after lap and Frede’s defence held strong.
The Mercedes team of Jarno Opmeer and Dani Moreno were hunting down the lead as well and managed to overtake Donoso on the penultimate lap. At the start of the final lap, the pair were also able to get ahead of Frede after he defended so well. Behind Frede, David Tonizza of FDA Esports and Lucas Blakeley collided and wiped out Frede in their wake dropping the Bull to P9.
But Frede had done enough to ensure his teammate was able to take the win in style, with Moreno in P2 and Opmeer in P3. Frede’s final position was P8.
Sebastian Job and Joni Törmälä racing for AlphaTauri again had very different race with Sebastian claiming his first point in P6 and Joni finishing in P20.
“Monza was a near perfect replica of Austria last year, until Frede got crashed out from cars behind him. I am happy to seal of my first win of the season! Fortune wasn’t in our favour during the first three races of the season, but we’ve been working extremely hard to close the gap setup-wise and it seemed like we are back in the mix, we just need to make the final step to consistently be ahead of the pack now.
Monza and Spa have been my least favourite tracks of this event – my pace in Silverstone was awesome, but I made a mistake which cost me a great result. Despite Monza being my worst track so far, this one had me winning for the first time of the season. I’m really excited for Spa as I reckon our pace will be right in the mix, but we still have to see how it plans out tomorrow. A Red Bull double Podium is the aim!”
F1EsportsProChampionship2021Round5–Monza–Result
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Marcel Kiefer | Jarno Opmeer | Lucas Blakeley | Fabrizio Donoso | Sebastian Job | Bardia Boroumand | Dani Moreno | Frederik Rasmussen | Daniele Haddad | Alvaro Carreton |
| Red Bull Racing Esports | Mercedes | Aston Martin | Renault | AlphaTauri | McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Esports | BWT Racing | Williams |
RaceThree–Spa-Francorchamps
Ready For The Charge At Spa© @zakon_by
The second event of the week was a drama-filled wet race at Spa, won by Frede. Both drivers took a risk on Intermediate tyres and it paid off as Frede, the only driver in the top 10 not to start on full wet tyres, came home in P1. Late drama on the final two corners saw Marcel just miss out on a podium place, but with his head held high after another solid outing.
Frede qualified on the front row with Marcel in P12 as the grid was completely divided on wet tyre choice. As the red lights went out and the cars approached La Source, Frede dropped down to P4 heading up to Eau Rouge, as it appeared the full wet tyres had the advantage. Marcel had a great start and rose to P8 after the first few corners. Frede kept dropping down the order and on lap 4 found himself in P8, with Mercedes driver Dani Moreno separating himself and Marcel down in P10.
The track appeared to be drying out, but Frede was struggling to catch Aston Martin’s Daniele Haddad in front. On lap 7, five of the top seven drivers went into the pits for Intermediate tyres, as Frede and Marcel were promoted to P3 and P4. It appeared the gamble for Intermediate tyres was paying off. Race leader, Ferrari’s Brendon Leigh, went into the pits at the end of lap 8, followed by Daniele Haddad who was sitting behind him, as Frede and Marcel took their place out in front.
The Bulls continued driving strongly, but by lap 11, Mercedes driver Jarno Opmeer and Ferrari’s David Tonizza closed the gap to Marcel to under one second. Opmeer also took the strategy to start on Intermediate tyres, whilst Pole-sitter Tonizza was looking fast on fresh Intermediate tyres that were eight-laps younger than the rest of the leading pack. Marcel’s defence finally gave way to Opmeer on the final lap at Kemmel Straight, as the German driver was now battling Tonizza for P3.
Frede came home in P1 to secure the team’s third win back-to-back, but it wasn’t to be for Marcel who was overtaken by Tonizza on the final chicane of the last lap. Despite the late heartbreak, it was a valiant effort as the Bulls once again showed incredible strategy and teamwork to record another strong result in the F1 Esports Series, and go joint-top in the Team Standings.
F1EsportsProChampionship2021Round6–Spa-Francorchamps–Result
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Frederik Rasmussen | Jarno Opmeer | David Tonizza | Marcel Kiefer | Nicolas Longuet | Lucas Blakeley | Sebastian Job | Bardia Boroumand | Simon Weigang | Daniele Haddad |
| Red Bull Racing Esports | Mercedes | FDA Esports | Red Bull Racing Esports | Renault | Aston Martin | AlphaTauri | McLaren | Alfa Romeo Racing | Aston Martin |
Marcel Kiefer© Red Bull Racing Honda
"We are now in P1 points equal with Mercedes, but we come away feeling like we should have had more. That being said, the results and performances show promising signs for the rest of the season. We were expecting an improvement from Event 1, and we knew our pace is probably one of the strongest on the grid if everything goes right. The results in this event were mega and we know that it could have been even better but we have focus on what we can control in the end.
“I couldn’t be happier than knowing my Teammate is Frederik Rasmussen. I trust him on track with my life and so does he – I hope! Our egos are fully aside and we are fully focused on achieving the best possible result for the Teams Championship! We are on the charge!”
Frede Rasmussen© Red Bull Racing Honda
"The decision in the end to start on inters was made due to the fact that rain should ease up at some stage and in a 15-lap race. It’s really unlikely that we would lose more time by picking the inters and not pitting rather than the opposite. I’m really pleased the decision paid off – to get three wins in this event is great and I am really happy with how we performed.”
