Two-time F1 Esports Champion Jarno Opmeer and exciting young talent Jake Benham will stay with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports Team for 2023. The duo were team-mates in 2022, helping secure fourth place in the F1 Esports Teams' Championship.
Esports At The Double
Two driver extensions as Jarno and Jake continue with Team into new season
I'm extremely motivated to get my third world title, and second under the Mercedes-AMG banner.
Jarno Opmeer
Jarno, one of the foremost Esports drivers on the F1 game, remains with the Team for a third year. After a fourth-place finish in 2019, he claimed the Drivers' title in 2020 before moving to Mercedes-AMG for 2021. His success continued unabated and four victories, along with three second-place finishes, secured another Drivers' title along with the Teams' Championship too. The 23-year-old took two further race victories last year en route to fifth overall and is aiming for title number three in 2023. He also boasts a significant worldwide social media following with over one million followers across his channels.
Jarno said: "The Team has come on leaps and bounds since I joined in early 2021. It was therefore an easy decision for us to continue working together. I'm extremely motivated to get my third world title, and second under the Mercedes-AMG banner.
I'm excited to see what I and the team can achieve together this year.
Jake Benham
Jake meanwhile is one of the most exciting young talents in F1 Esports. The Brit has impressed from an early age, becoming a double World Online Racing series champion. A run to third place in the 2022 Pro Exhibition feeder series preceded his promotion to the full F1 Esports championship. He acquitted himself well in the final six events of the season, secured two points-paying finishes.
Jake commented: "I am very pleased to be continuing with the Team! Jarno, Marcel (Kiefer) and Dani (Bereznay) are all great teammates, as well as champions. It's going to be a great opportunity to learn from them and benchmark myself against them. I'm excited to see what I and the team can achieve together this year.
Oliver MacFarlane, Head of Esports for Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports Team, added: "We are absolutely delighted to have re-signed Jarno and Jake. The level of performance across the whole of the grid in F1 Esports is astonishingly high, but I wouldn't want to be working with any other group of drivers to take on the challenge this year.
"Jarno joined us in 2021 as a champion, but in the time we have worked with him we have seen his passion and dedication to all aspects of sim-racing only grow. From the first days of working with Jake last year meanwhile, we could tell that he has the potential to be a championship winner and that belief has only grown stronger. He is a natural born racer, and we are absolutely delighted to get to keep working with him to fulfil that sparkling potential."
The new F1 2023 game will be released on June 16, with the F1 Esports Pro Championship taking place later this year.