F1 Esports Series Pro Championship: Tonizza and Leigh ready for round 1

The Ferrari Driver Academy Esports Team is ready to tackle its third season in the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship with the tournament's most successful driver pairing. As announced back in January the line-up consists of Italy’s David Tonizza, the 19 year old who took the title for the Maranello team back in 2019 and Brendon Leigh, 22 years old and the driver with the most wins of anyone in the history of this category. The Englishman is the only competitor to have taken part in every year of the F1 Esports Series, capturing the title in 2017 and 2018.

Very strong team. The young man from Reading has been part of the team for almost a year now and he and Tonizza enjoy an excellent relationship, pushing each other to improve, sometimes racing against each other, as was the case at the start of 2021 in the non-championship Virtual GP series that captured the interest of the fans at the start of the real Formula 1 season and sometimes sharing the cockpit in virtual endurance races in which the team took part. David and Brendon will be the main drivers for the team, with Domenico Lovece, the Italian who has just turned 20 as third driver and Hungary’s Bence Szabó-Kónyi in the role of test driver.

The calendar. The season gets underway this evening with the first three races of the opening round. The Grands Prix of Bahrain at Sakhir and China at Shanghai provide the backdrop, starting at 20.30 CET while tomorrow the Austrian race runs at Spielberg. The second round takes place on 27-28 October with the British GP at Silverstone, the Italian at Monza and the Belgian event at Spa-Francorchamps. The third on 24 and 25 November features Portugal (Portimao,) Dutch (Zandvoort) and United States (Austin.) The season ends on 15 and 16 December with races run on the Imola, Mexico and Brazil (Interlagos) circuits. All the races can be watched on the FDA Facebook channel - @FDAFans – as well as Formula 1’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitch channels.

David Tonizza, Sim driver #95

"The new F1 Esports season is about to begin, and training has been great so far, so I can’t wait to start. I’ve got good memories of winning at all of these first round tracks in the past, so I'm really looking forward to showing what I can do and having fun out there right from the start!"

Brendon Leigh, Sim driver #72

"I’ve spent months training, not just driving on the simulator, but also working on my physical and mental abilities. I have left nothing to chance in the hope of winning the championship again. The stopwatch will tell the story and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel. It’s time to turn all this hard work into results."

Marco Matassa, Team Principal

"Back in January, the FDA Esports Team decided to go with the most successful pairing in this category to aim to win the teams classification in the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship, something we have yet to do in the two years it’s been run, although we have taken the Drivers’ title. Working closely for the past few months with David and Brandon, I’ve been able to watch them race in other categories and also follow their training for the coming season. I can see they work well together and they are fired up to race, all qualities that help you grow as a team and allow you to take on even the most complex challenges. We believe this line-up is a perfect combination of youth and experience and can lead the team to the ambitious goals it has set itself."