Formula 1 launched its esports programme in 2017 under the name Formula One Esports Series, initially as a driver-only competition to engage players of the official F1 video game. For the 2018 season, nine official F1 teams — including Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Force India, Williams, Renault Sport, Haas, McLaren, Toro Rosso, and Alfa Romeo Sauber — joined for the first time, each forming their own esports squad. The introduction of factory-backed teams gave rise to the constructors' dimension of the championship, mirroring the dual-title structure of real-world Formula 1.
Teams recruit drivers through a combination of the Pro Draft (open to players who qualified via online Challengers Series) and, from the 2023 season onward, free signing of any driver they choose after the traditional qualifying process was abandoned. Each team fields three drivers per season but selects two for each of the twelve 50% races broadcast on official F1 channels.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport took the inaugural Teams' Championship in 2018, with their driver Brendon Leigh simultaneously claiming his second consecutive drivers' title. Red Bull Racing Esports captured the constructors' trophy in 2019, a season in which David Tonizza won the drivers' crown for Ferrari Driver Academy.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 and 2021 seasons into fully remote online formats. Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Esports won the 2020 teams' title, while Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports took the 2021 constructors' honour. McLaren Shadow claimed both the drivers' and teams' titles in 2022, with Lucas Blakeley winning the drivers' championship.
For the 2023–24 season the championship was rebranded to F1 Sim Racing and returned to LAN competition for the first time since 2019. Frederik Rasmussen won the drivers' title that year after four consecutive runner-up finishes. The 2025 season saw Jarno Opmeer claim his third drivers' championship, becoming the first three-time champion in the series. Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, with Opmeer and Rasmussen pairing together for the first time, won the teams' title — their third constructors' championship — setting a record for the most teams' titles in the history of the programme.
The teams' championship uses the same points-scoring system as real-world Formula 1. Points earned by a team's two selected drivers in each race accumulate across all broadcast rounds, and the team with the highest aggregate at season's end wins the trophy. A prize fund is distributed to teams based on their final standings.
The constructors' cup dimension of F1's esports programme represented a landmark in sim-racing legitimacy: actual Formula 1 constructor brands committed resources, staff, and branding to virtual competition. The prize fund grew from $200,000 in 2018 to $500,000 in 2019, and the 5.5 million viewer audience reached in 2018 demonstrated mainstream crossover appeal. The parallel structure of drivers' and constructors' championships deliberately echoes the dual-title format that defines real Formula 1, reinforcing the esports competition's status as a sanctioned extension of the sport rather than a peripheral gaming event.