LUCAS Blakeley is a Formula 1 world champion watched by millions – yet many people don’t know who he is.
The Scottish-born competitor races for McLaren’s F1 Esports team and was crowned world champion last year.
He finished third in the 2021 season with Aston Martin and beat four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in the Race of Nations Cup in 2022.
The racing superstar most recently knocked out Mika Hakkinen and Valtteri Bottas at the 2023 Race of Champions.
Lucas, now in his twenties, started go-karting at seven years old and was inspired by Lewis Hamilton winning the championship in 2008.
His dream was to become an F1 driver, but he had to stop for financial reasons.
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“That’s the harsh reality for many racing families out there,” he told the BBC.
More than 45 million people watched at least one Esport race in 2022, according to Gfinity.
With fans watching major competitions on Twitch, Lucas said the ‘the pressure is immense’.
He continued: “Mentally that’s the hardest part, the results in F1 esports can change in a literal flash of an eye.
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“You also learn about yourself. How do you react to pressure? How does your body respond? How does your mind respond?”
Lucas also previously described his racing style as ‘calculated’ and commented on the rigorous training regime in Esports.
“It’s a lot of dedication. You’ve got to be prepared to put in the hours because you can’t leave any stone unturned. The training needs to be in-depth and unrelenting,” he told McLaren.
“The second complacency seeps in is when things start to go wrong. During the day, it involves a lot of driving.
“You’re driving for eight, nine, 10 hours a day, sometimes more when you’re gathering data, going through video footage, or looking at telemetry. If you want to get to that point, you need to really work hard for it.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
