Motorsport Australia Esports licence holder and Motorsport Australia OFI Cup Series competitor, Oscar King, is relishing his latest opportunity in the Esports sphere as an Engineer for the Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team.
The opportunity, an unprecedented achievement for one of Motorsport Australia’s Esports licence holders, came after years of dedication to his craft in Esports, paving the way for him to join the world famous team in Europe next season in-person at the team’s base in Maranello after a successful 2025 campaign.
“As a fan of Formula 1 and motorsport all my life, I started sim racing in Australian league racing competitions in early 2022 on the F1 2021 game with a basic wheel and pedal setup,” King said.
“Over the next two years I worked to become the best driver I could eventually aiming to make it to the F1 Esports grid myself as a driver. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite talented enough as a driver, but I had developed a great understanding of high-level sim racing so decided to become an engineer.
“I also established a small team of Australian sim racers with F1 Esports ambitions that I would support to pursue their dream. After a lot of work, by mid-2025 I had worked to have an opportunity to interview for a role at Ferrari Esports.”
The most recent sim racing season season concluded in May, with a new 2026 DLC for F1 25 released in early June.
As part of King’s role, he is currently working on the new DLC pack each day developing the team’s understanding for the 2027 Formula 1 Sim Racing World Championship season.
“I usually wake up in the evening and work through the night as almost the entire team is based in Europe,” King said.
“When the next season starts, I will travel to Europe for the season to work with the team in-person at Maranello and at events.
“When I was living and working in Italy, it was a wonderful experience.
“Getting to wake up every day and work with world class sim racers to pursue world championships for Ferrari is a great privilege.
“I think what surprised me most was how useful it was to work with the team in-person and how it allows you to really unpack the most complex things we work on much easier.”
King outlined sim racing is a unique sport for a multitude of reasons.
These include league racing offering a perspective into the real-life intensity of Championship battles, how close Esports competition resembles real-world application, the support racing participation receives from fans, and developing talent for real-life opportunities.
“The biggest thing I have learnt across my entire sim racing journey is that there is always more to find,” King concluded.
“There is always more performance and more lap time to be found and you cannot settle.
“Mentally this is difficult because you cannot measure how close to the limit you are operating at, but you need to develop an instinct for it.”
King’s advice for anyone in Australia wanting to pursue a similar pathway it takes a special level of commitment as almost the entire industry is comprised of personnel based in Europe. He reiterated there is a path to get there, with local competitions being the best place to start.
If anyone wants advice or help on their sim racing journey, they can contact Oscar via the Motorsport Australia Development Team (esports@motorsport.org.au) or get in touch with OFI Cup organisers via Discord.
