Esports

FIA Esports Commission

Strategy, regulation and best practice 

This year, the FIA Esports Commission has continued to establish best practice for Esports, and has begun distributing guidelines to help grow the sport in a consistent and regulated manner. As part of this, the Commission published a comprehensive support document, which touched on topics such as project management, communications, commercials, and event organisation, to help clubs organise their own Esports events.

The Commission has also continued developing the FIA’s strategy on Esports. The strategy makes use of its findings from the FIA Esports Survey, a global questionnaire distributed on FIA social media during the autumn of 2023.

At the 2023 Annual General Assemblies, the FIA World Motor Sport Council validated the addition of Esports into the FIA International Sporting Code. This means that for the first time, Esports is recognised as an official discipline of motor sport by the Sporting framework used for all FIA competitions.

Olympic Esports Series Motor Sport Event

The FIA joined forces with the International Olympic Committee to organise the first-ever Olympic Esports Series Motor Sport Event in Singapore using Gran Turismo 7.

More than 160,000 drivers vied to qualify during the online qualification period. 32 drivers came together for the final in Singapore, competing on identical simulators provided by Gran Turismo.

Kylian Drumont (FRA) ultimately took the victory ahead of William Murdoch (GBR) in second and Angel Inostroza (CHL) in third.

ASN Esports Report 

This year, more and more ASNs have looked to organise Regional Esports events. A total of five regional Esports events took place throughout the year, in South America, Northern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia Pacific. The FIA supported the organisation of a number of these events, for example by providing planning and on-site support for the first ever South American Esports Championship, and by supporting the North European Esports Masters through the Sport Grant Program.

The FIA and iRacing’s F4 licencing agreement boosted these efforts even further. As a result of the agreement, each FIA-affiliated ASN received the opportunity to distribute 2,000 12-month iRacing subscriptions at no cost (valued at $250,000 USD). Thirty-nine ASNs have taken this opportunity in 2023, with the number set to grow even further.

Towards the end of the summer, iRacing expanded their offering further with the launch of FIA F4 Regional Tour. Thanks to these efforts, over 22,000 iRacing drivers participated in FIA F4 branded races during the last quarter of 2023.