Alonso announces his own eSports team

Fernando Alonso has become the first Formula 1 driver to venture into eSports and head his own team called FA Racing G2 Logitech G.

Alonso has joined forces with McLaren sponsors Logitech and his team will enter a plethora of events in both Formula 1 sim racing as well as other series, too.

“I am a team principal finally,” joked Alonso at the team launch in the Yas Marina paddock. “There will be no meetings very early. We will change completely the way we work!!”

“It is very exciting, and it is a completely new thing to discover.

“I think eSports in other formats has been very successful but in racing, it is at the very beginning, and I think huge potential will come.

“I am happy to be one of the first investing in this direction and I think good and fun times are coming – not only for us, but for gamers at home and for fans.”

Formula 1 commercial boss Sean Bratches has welcomed Alonso's jump into eSports and believes it is something that will continue to grow within the sport.

“Fernando’s brand has been a pillar of the success of F1 in the linear world, and just like other brands going into other areas, he gives a credibility,” Bratches said.

“A lot of drivers and athletes, in their second career, go into business and I think while this is a fun participatory game, it is competition. It is a big business and it is just getting bigger.

"F1 and Fernando are getting in at the early stages, notwithstanding that it has been around a couple of years.”