Get to know Cedric

This season, drivers will have two new tracks to master in the quest to reign supreme over the rest of the grid, with Poritmão and Imola making their debut, while the Circuit of the Americas returns to the esports calendar. 

Cedric Thomé remains with Uralkali Haas F1 Esports for a second season, achieving a season’s best finish last year of eighth place at the Shanghai International Circuit. This season – with the support of former Haas driver Romain Grosjean’s Esports team, R8G Esports – the German will be looking for more consistent results across the course of the championship.

“I have been a fan of Formula 1 since my father introduced me when I was young. This passion led me to play F1 games. There were other racing games as well, but nothing had me as hooked as Formula 1. My first F1 game was F1 2002 on PC, on a controller of course, but my first F1 game I played on a wheel was F1 2012. 

“I started with the qualification championship on F1 2017, which I won on Xbox which led me to qualify for the semi-final in London. I finished second in the semi-final and went into the final in Abu Dhabi. In 2018, I made the first ever Pro Draft to be selected by real Formula 1 teams. The next year, I was signed by Renault Team Vitality and for 2020, I joined Uralkali Haas F1 Esports.”

Why do you enjoy Esports?
“I enjoy Esports because you are competing against the best in the world and being able to push yourself to new limits. Not many have this opportunity and that’s what makes it so special to me.”
  
How do you feel representing the Uralkali Haas F1 Team Esports?
“I feel honoured to be part of Haas for another year and to be representing them in Esports again. With the backing of R8G, Romain Grosjean’s Esports team, I’m sure we can achieve great things and I already feel in a better place compared to last season.”

What is the importance of Esports in your opinion?
“F1 Esports always been a huge part of my life ever since its first season in 2017. It’s not easy to be on the highest level of yourself every year again, so that requires a lot of hard work and dedication. You wouldn’t be able to do that without a proper team behind you, so that’s also very important.”
  
What is the crossover between an Esports driver and Formula 1 driver?
“For sure the main difference is the physical aspect, the physical training etc. I think you can’t deny that, but apart from that there isn’t much difference in how we work on and off track.”

What are your aims for the 2021 F1 Esports Pro Series?
“My goal is to score as many points as I can and finish in a better position compared to last year. I know I can be up there consistently, but it will require a lot of hard work to get there.”

What are you most looking forward to?
“I am most looking forward to the first race day again, just because that means it’s time to race again and I’m really excited to get back on track for this season.”

Who is your biggest competition?
“The biggest competition is probably the whole grid. I think this year’s grid has never been more competitive and literally every driver is capable of winning races. For sure, it’s going to be one of the hardest seasons ever, but certainly the people to beat are Mercedes and Red Bull.”

Fans can watch the inaugural race of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship via official Formula 1 social channels (Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Huya), as well as select TV broadcast partners from 14:30 EDT.