F1 Sim Racing: Ronhaar wins Round 8 to lead championship

There is a new driver at the top of the current F1 Sim Racing championship standings, as Thomas Ronhaar claimed his first win of the season at a virtual Circuit of the Americas.

Following a sixth and two third places in this week’s races, the Dutch driver qualified in second place at the Texan venue.

At the beginning of the 28-lap race, pole-sitter Otis Lawrence moved his Aston Martin to cover Ronhaar into Turn 1. However, this move allowed last season’s championship runner-up to sweep around the outside and claim the lead through Turn 2.

The Kick F1 Sim Racing Team driver diced with Larence for the next 10 laps, while the Ferraris of Nicolas Longuet and Bari Broumand pitted to swap from hard to medium tyres earlier than most.

The Red Bulls of Jarno Opmeer and Frederik Rasmussen followed a similar strategy, while Ronhaar and Lwrence waited until the end of the 15th lap to swap.

They rejoined six positions behind Broumand, five behind Rasmussen, and two behind Opmeer.

It initially seemed like they had waited too long to take the mandatory pitstop, but their pace was searing, Ronhaars especially.

Three laps later and he was up to fifth, and as Rasmussen and Broumand fought for the lead, it all seemed academic – they were one significantly worse tyres than the charging Kick driver.

By Lap 22, Ronhaar was by both Longuet and Rasmussen to sit second and neartly dispatched the one remaining Ferrari to lead with five laps remaining.

Just behind, Opmeer managed to pass both a Longueti and his team-mate in one move at Turn 12 to reach the podium. Lawrence, meanwhile, while pitting on the same lap as Ronhaar, wasn’t able to maximise his tyre offset and finished in fifth.

It now means that ROnhaar leads the standings by six points ahead of William’s driver Ismael Fahssi and 10 ahead of Opmeer with four races remaining, all in March.

F1 Sim Racing 2025 Round 6, Spa-Francorchamps, Results

1. Thomas Ronhaar – KICK F1 Sim Racing Team – 28 laps
2. Bari Broumand – Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team +0.642
3. Jarno Opmeer – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing +1.307
4. Frederik Rasmussen – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing +1.711
5. Otis Lawrence – Aston Martin Aramco F1 Esports Team +2.175
6. Ismael Fahssi – Williams Esports +2.991
7. Alvaro Carreton – Williams Esports +4.886
8. Daniel Bereznay – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team +5.150
9. Nicolas Longuet – Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team +5.652
10. Tom Manley – Origin RB +5.880

F1 Sim Racing 2025 drivers’ standings after Round 8

1. Thomas Ronhaar – KICK F1 Sim Racing Team – 98 pts
2. Ismael Fahssi – Williams Esports – 92 pts
3. Jarno Opmeer – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing – 88 pts
4. Bari Broumand – Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team – 75 pt
5. Daniel Bereznay – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team – 64 pts
6. Otis Lawrence – Aston Martin Aramco F1 Esports Team – 64 pts
7. Alfie Butcher – McLaren Shadow – 63 pts
8. Istvan Puki – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team – 59 pts
9. Frederik Rasmussen – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing – 49 pts
10. Jake Benham – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team – 42 pts