The Formula 1 Esports Series 2018 has been announced

Prepare to don your digital driving gloves. The Formula 1 Esports series is back for 2018, following on from its debut in 2017.

The Formula 1 Esports Series will differ from its inaugural outing, except for the fact it uses the Codemasters video game F1 2017 as the basis.

Players will be able to qualify for a position on the official Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Force India F1, Williams, Renault Sport F1 Team, Haas F1 Team, McLaren Toro Rosso and Alfa Romeo esports teams.

Getting selected to represent an official team means completing four qualifying rounds as fast as your joystick-hardened fingers can manage, the first of which begins on the 13th of April, 2018.

The first qualifying event involves playing as Veltteri Bottas in the Mercedes, starting in sixth place with a view to coming first within five laps on a wet, but drying Shanghai circuit.

The fastest ten players to complete the challenge on PC, PS4 and Xbox One will then have to come within the top three during a live-streamed race to qualify for the 'Pro Draft'.

By the end of four qualifying events and one 'Wildcard stage', all the official Formula 1 Esports Series teams involved must pick at least one player from the Pro Draft selection (comprised 40 players) to represent them for the second part of the season.

The Formula 1 Esports championship, sponsored by DHL, has been designed as such that the last three races will determine the outcome of both the 2018 F1 Esports Series Teams' and Drivers' World Champion.

Making all this effort will not only reward players with the right to brag to their fellow gamers, there will also be a prize fund 'of at least US$200,000', so says the official announcement.

"It has always been our goal to get the teams involved as soon as possible and we are delighted that they have recognised the potential of the F1 Esports Series at such an early stage," said head of digital growth and F1 Esports, Julian Tan.

"Last year's series was a great success and demonstrated that there is a clear audience and interest in this innovative, exciting form of racing. We will continue to invest in the Esports Series as we feel it is a great way for us to interact and engage with a new audience," he added.

Codemasters CEO, Frank Sagnier, commented: "Codemasters is extremely proud to be involved in the F1 Esports Series. The quality of the racing we saw during last year's series was spectacular and the integration of the teams for the coming season is going to take the competition and its promotion to the next level.

"We strongly believe that Esports is a platform that allows us to engage with a wide, diverse audience in addition to our traditional gaming community."

The 2017 Formula One Esports Series was won by British gamer Brendon Leigh.

You may have noticed there is one team missing from the official team list. We'll give you a clue: It begins with 'F' and ends in 'errari'. Figures.

The presence of video games in Formula 1 has been growing. McLaren ran a competition called the 'World's Fastest Gamer' in 2017, the prize of which was becoming a simulator driver for the 2018 season. Renault F1, meanwhile, had already announced an Esports team.

On a similar note, the official MotoGP 2018 game will have its own racing series when the game launches in the summer. Good news, then, if you are faster on two wheels than four.