Esports quickly is gaining popularity among followers of traditional sports, but arguably nobody has embraced the novel form of competition more than racing fans. Now, one of the biggest names in motorsport seemingly is looking to cash in on that trend.
McLaren-Honda tweeted a short video Tuesday that appears to tease a new esports league. The video shows some of the brand’s iconic race cars and road cars lined up in the McLaren Technology Centre, though at the end of the lineup there’s a sim racing rig rather than a traditional racer.
The Woking, U.K.-based team followed up the teaser video with an equally cryptic tweet a few hours later. Although a sim racing league seemingly was what McLaren was hinting at in its initial post, the followup could suggest otherwise.
By saying “The ultimate job” we can’t help but think McLaren is considering offering a reserve driver role to the winner of a sim competition, similar to what Nissan does with its “GT Academy.” It might not be likely, but certainly possible, especially based on comments from McLaren CEO Zak Brown when the team announced its partnership with Logitech in March.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with such an iconic team,” Brown said in a statement, “and in doing so expose millions of Formula 1 fans to our Logitech and Logitech G brands. And you never know what the future might bring.”
Considering how few details McLaren revealed in both posts, we wish it at least gave a more specific date than “coming soon” for when we can expect to learn more information.
