“Merc Lost 2 GOATs”: 2-Time F1 Esports Champion Jumping Ship to Red Bull Leaves Fans in Disbelief

“Merc Lost 2 GOATs”: 2-Time F1 Esports Champion Jumping Ship to Red Bull Leaves Fans in Disbelief

The new Red Bull recruitEarlier this year, Lewis Hamilton announced that he would be leaving Mercedes to race for Ferrari from 2025 onwards. Following the footsteps of the seven-time world champion, the Silver Arrows’ two-time Esports champion, Jarno Opmeer has also left the team.

Opmeer has left the Silver Arrows’ Esports team to join rivals Red Bull. This news has left fans in disbelief with the Brackley-based team losing exceptional driving talent both in real life and on the virtual race track.

The 24-year-old made his F1 Esports debut with Renault in 2019. He then moved to Alfa Romeo where he won his maiden Esports title in 2020.

The new Red Bull recruit made it two wins in a row by bagging the championship once again in 2021 – this time for Mercedes. He is a twelve-time winner in the series with a staggering twenty-seven podiums to date.

In addition to F1 Esports, the Dutchman also represented the Silver Arrows in the Formula E: Accelerate series. In his rookie season, he finished fifth and ended up as the runner-up in the championship in 2022.

As soon as the news of Opmeer joining the Red Bull Esports team became official, fans stormed X (formerly Twitter) to share their reactions.

Opmeer would race for the Milton-Keynes-based team after a pretty solid 2023-24 campaign under his belt. The 24-year-old finished the season, after twelve rounds, fourth in the driver’s standings with 122 points to his name.

Opmeer continued his record of winning at least one race every championship season. Moreover, he stood on the podium twice, back-to-back, during the Sao Paulo GP and Las Vegas GP events. He missed out on the title by fifty points.

Interestingly, Frederik Rasmussen, the 2023-24 title winner, for Ferrari, will partner Opmeer at Red Bull from next season onwards. The duo is regarded as one of the most successful driver pairings in the history of Formula 1 Esports.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Jarno Opmeer Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Red Bull

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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