McLaren F1 Announces Esports 'Shadow Project'

McLaren Formula 1 announced a "new initiative as a follow-up to last year’s successful World’s Faster Gamer contest," according to Adam Cooper of MOTORSPORT. The McLaren Shadow Project -- so-called because it "shadows" the real F1 team -- is "intended to be more inclusive than any other driving competition held to date." Global online qualification heats will start this month across a number of games, including Forza Motorsport (Xbox One), Real Racing 3 (mobile), iRacing and rFactor 2 (PC) and rFactor 2 (HTC Vive VR), followed by semifinals at Woking. The finals will be held in January and the winner will "go on to take part in events" as a McLaren esports team member. McLaren believes that the inclusion of what it terms as “more casual games” such as RealRacing 3 will allow it to reach a "much bigger audience" (MOTORSPORT, 7/3).