F1 Sim Racing: Butcher makes it six different winners from six rounds

Alfie Butcher has taken his, and McLaren Shadow’s, first victory of the 2025 F1 Sim Racing season, beating an on-fire Mercedes-AMG’s Istvan Puki at Spa-Francorchamps.

It was five-time race winner Thomas Ronhaar who set the quickest time in a wet-dry-wet qualifying session, 0.2s ahead of his nearest challenger, Butcher.

At the start of 22 laps, the KICK driver held onto the lead. Ronhaar and Butcher would then swap positions five times down the Kemmel Straight over the next 10 laps – each cautious to lose too much time duelling.

Further down the field, Ismael Fahssi was among the first to pit at the end of lap eight from ninth place.

The early stop from the Williams driver would prove pivotal, as when Butcher and Ronhaar exited the pits several laps later, they found themselves embroiled in a battle with Fahssi plus Brendon Leigh and Tom Manley – the Origin RB driver initially leapfrogging from fourth at the start to a net lead.

Leigh, Fahssi and Butcher made contact at Les Combes, but all survived. Then, on the 16th lap, Butcher dispatched Manley for the lead.

Meanwhile, the two Mercedes-AMG drivers left it late to swap tyres. First, Daniel Bereznay was undercut by most of the field but soon fought back into contention on fresher rubber, while team-mate Puki left it until the end of lap 15 to visit the pitlane.

It initially looked like the two Brackley cars had left it too late, but both were able to slice through the field with consummate ease.

Soon Bereznay was on the tail of the top three, and once he had dispatched Silverstone race winner Rasmussen, Puki was also in contention.

On the penultimate lap, Ronhaar got by Manley for second, helping Butcher extend his lead and crucially escape DRS. While the McLaren driver was able to hold on to win, Puki shocked the opposition, passing Berezney, Manley and Ronhaar in one move down Kemmel on the last lap to take second.

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

1. Alfie Butcher – McLaren Shadow – 22 laps
2. Istvan Puki – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team +1.197
3. Thomas Ronhaar – KICK F1 Sim Racing Team +2.214
4. Tom Manley – Origin RB +2.752
5. Daniel Bereznay – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team +3.410
6. Jarno Opmeer – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing +3.452
7. Frederik ‘Frede’ Rasmussen – Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing +3.577
8. Ulas Ozyildirim – Origin RB +5.426
9. Otis Lawrence – Aston Martin Aramco F1 Esports Team +6.547
10. Brendon Leigh – KICK F1 Sim Racing Team +6.747