1 week ago
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Formula 1’s recent popularity still feels a little strange to longtime fans of the sport, particularly in the US, where it had been so niche for so long. But the past five years have seen F1 rise meteorically, and a new, much younger fanbase infused with enthusiasm for the cutting-edge race cars and the athletes who pilot them has emerged. F1 Arcade capitalizes on that popularity, combining food and drinks—including Lewis Hamilton's agave tipple—with dozens and dozens of race simulators that let you race against friends or compete in teams against others.
With Washington, DC, chosen for F1 Arcade's second US location, I obviously had to go check it out.
My first visit to the arcade in DC's Union Market district was several weeks ago at the launch party, an affair that was packed with influencers and loud music. But I returned earlier this week, having booked a 45-minute, five-race session playing head-to-head against a friend. Prices vary depending on the number of races and whether you're that at peak time, starting at $22/player for three races off-peak and going up to $42/player for five races at peak time. There's no charge for people who are just spectating (or eating and drinking), not racing.
Perhaps surprisingly, the sims—which use hardware from Vesaro—don't run the official Codemasters' F1 game but instead a custom version of rFactor2 made by Motorsport Games for F1 Arcade, a title that's notorious for being hard to master.
F1 Arcade's CTO Gavin Williams thinks back to 2021. "There were a lot of things that weren't quite right with the game," he told me. "We actually went to Vesaro, who manufactured the simulators. We tried it, and literally none of us could race. It was just so unbearable to watch, and there were things that were missing, like the racing line, the skill settings weren't quite right."
English (US) ·