Two-time F1 Esports world champ, Jarno Opmeer, is at the end of his tether and making sure everyone knows about it.
This week, during a race, his Fanatec CSL Elite V2 LC brake pedal—required gear in the F1 Esports series—broke clean in half. This wasn’t an isolated glitch, but the fifth such incident in just a month and a half.
And Opmeer isn’t quiet about his discontent.
“Uh, I’ve bent my entire brake pedal,” he exclaimed during a live stream, holding up the evidence. “How can you drive F1 Esports with this? Look, this is supposed to be on the pedal.”
Opmeer wasn’t just mad; he was frustrated. And who could blame him? After all, this was his fifth busted pedal in quick succession.
“This is a joke,” he declared. “You can’t run a competition on these pedals. It’s broken in half. How are we supposed to compete on this?”
His issue isn’t just with the brake failures. “My knee hurts as well because of this. It’s a joke, man,” he admitted. “You cannot run a world championship on this. It’s so embarrassing.”
He even expressed doubts about his future in the competition, saying, “This kind of stuff makes me want to stop with F1 Esports because it’s so unfair.” His dismay is palpable, and his discontent isn’t isolated to just himself. He’s worried for others too. “So many people are gonna have issues now.”
Opmeer even used the recommended brake rubbers, but to no avail. “I’ve set it to 85 brake force, so it’s not even the maximum. I am running the recommended brake rubbers on purpose,” he explained.
But the repeated failures are sapping his motivation to compete. “I don’t see the point to even compete in F1 Esports,” he sighed. “I’m gonna have at least one or two pedal failures and you cannot win a championship like that when it’s so tight. So then, what’s the point in competing?”
Community Feedback
His frustration has resonated with the Reddit community. “As someone who doesn’t watch F1 esports but has seen the clips that get widely circulated, Jarno Opmeer does not look like a happy camper,” Reddit user bwoah07_gp2 posted.
Even the supportive comments have a worried tone. “Jarno was initially really happy with this game. He’s been on the pace from the beginning. But they’re making some huge mistakes,” added another user, MrXwiix, referring to last year’s LAN race omission and the obligatory outdated equipment.
Fanatec, the manufacturer of the pedals, is also in the hot seat. “Fanatec about to catch a lot of heat for this,” noted Mnesia97, a sentiment echoed by MrXwiix, who criticized both Fanatec and F1 for enforcing the use of dated gear.
The community is concerned about the potential departure of Opmeer from F1 Esports. “Although I understand why he wants to quit it’d be such a shame if he does. He’s one of the most talented sim racers with a huge platform and it’d be a calamity for the esports scene if he quit,” shared user Fliepp.
Even though some users think Opmeer may not retire from esports entirely but just move to another platform, his departure from F1 Esports could have significant repercussions. As MrXwiix pointed out, “If he’s not racing viewership numbers make a free fall.”
These issues raise serious questions about the quality of the mandated equipment. If a world-class player like Opmeer is facing these issues, who’s to say other players won’t follow suit?
It’s clear that the pedal problem needs immediate attention, and if things don’t change, F1 Esports may lose one of its star drivers.
