Whether you’ve fully committed to building your own rig at home or have only dabbled in it a little bit while at an esports venue. The fact remains that Sim Racing has been massively growing in popularity over the last few years. Partly because of Covid, when it struck and the F1 circuit stopped, a lot of the F1 drivers took to streaming on websites like YouTube and Twitch.Tv, playing games like iRacing and the F1 video game series online in their home made sim rigs. But the other reason is that good sim equipment has become more readily available and affordable.
On the entry level you could pick up products like the Logitech G29/G920, depending on your platform, those things cost around £200-250. Then as you go further up the scale you have things like Logitech’s Sim Racing gear that sets you back around £1200-1400, all the way up to some of the Fanatec gear that costs ungodly amounts of money, I’m talking £1500 for just a wheelbase! While all of that is great to have in your home, if you want the best sim racing experience? Then you should be looking no further than the F1 Arcade venue.
Tour of the F1 Arcade venue in London.Though the Boston venue won’t be identical, you can get an idea of what to expect!
For those who perhaps don’t know, the Formula 1 Arcade venue is a joint venture between Formula 1 and Kindred Concepts, they opened up their first venue in London, with two more planned, one being in Birmingham and the other over in the United States, specifically Boston. But since they’re a growing thing, you may be wondering what is an F1 Arcade venue? Firstly, it’s a sim space. The F1 Arcade venue in London has sixty sim rigs for drivers of all levels with multiple different racing modes. The rigs are based on the latest F1 2023 game and feature motion technology that will allow you to feel the G-Forces!
They also have a whole host of different social activities available from F1 watch parties with their multiple big screens, including a very limited run of pitwall seats, seven to be precise, which includes front row seats at their biggest screen with your own screen featuring stats and live data directly from the race. They have live music, gaming tournaments and meet and greets with Formula 1 drivers. Not only does it feature the things we’ve already mentioned, but it has a bar that sells a wide range of drinks and cocktails as well as food. All of which is themed around the different F1 circuits across the world.
The first venue in London opened its doors in November 2022 and has been a huge success, because of this they have decided to open the two venues we’ve already mentioned. While there isn’t a solid date for the opening of the Boston-based venue, the estimation of “early 2024” could mean we may see the F1 Arcade venue around the time the 2024 F1 season could begin. Again, there are no concrete dates but preseason testing in Bahrain will likely be at the back end of February with the first race weekend being at the beginning of March. In an ideal world they’ll get the venue open in time for a Bahrain Grand Prix watch party. One thing is certain though, with three F1 races in the US, Miami, Austin and Las Vegas there is a lot of potential here for exciting events!
It seems like the United States has caught F1 fever over recent years, the United States Grand Prix in Austin has been in and out of the F1 calendar for a few years now but has been running since 1908, the Miami Grand Prix had its first outing in 2022 and the 2023 calendar will feature the very first Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be a temporary street circuit including the Las Vegas Strip. Not only that but with American investment firm Redbird Capital who are partners with Boston based Fenway Sports Group have recently invested in Alpine Racing, alongside actor and Wrexham FC owner Ryan Reynolds.
With Boston and Massachusetts, in general, seeing many developments in sports with other things like legalising sports betting in August 2022 and with that was a huge growth of sportsbook promos in Boston Massachusetts, we can expect plenty more eyes to be on the sport. Some of those people could be getting their kicks with another product also owned by FSG’s John W Henry, iRacing,com. Racing isn’t the only thing they have their fingers in however, they also own the Boston Red Sox in the MLB, Liverpool in the Premier League, the PIttsburgh Penguins in the NHL and there is talk of them wanting to pick up the Phoenix Suns in the NBA.
For any Americans reading, how do you feel about the expansion of F1 onto US soil? Did you already have an interest in F1 or have you recently seen your interest growing due to the attention the sport has been getting over in the US? If they made more F1 Arcade venues across the US after the Boston Seaport venue opens up, would you take time out of your day to visit one? Or would you go for a watch party? While it’s true it isn’t the same as experiencing the race in person, being surrounded by like minded people is a fantastic way to experience the race!
For UK based readers, have any of you had the chance to check out the F1 Arcade in London? If so, how did you find it? I personally haven’t found the time to visit it yet, but with one opening up later this year in Birmingham I’ll have a better chance of getting across to one. It seems like a fantastic place for a stag do, drinks flowing, competing against the boys and then take in the race weekend? What’s not to like! It’s great to see more and more venues like this popping up across the globe, it’s something different for us gamers to get our hands on!