We've had a ton of races up to this point in ARC Formula 1, 198 to be exact. Through the first 192 of those races, we crowned 9 different champions across 7 games.
Enjoy a walk through those championship seasons, one by one, as we highlight the driver who came out on top.
2016A | Alex Mieth | Hairpin Racing Team | F1 2016
The 2016 season was the first in ARC Formula 1, kicking off in Albert Park with only 8 cars. Coby Dellis would take victory there, with eventual champion Alex Mieth debuting in the next round at Bahrain.
Alan Cavagnaro, the other HRT Mclaren, would claim back to back victories in the next 2 rounds, before Alex Mieth claimed his first career victory in the 2016A Russian Grand Prix.
The following weeks saw victories from Coby Dellis, AJ Knickle, Alan Cavagnaro & Jacob Brown, but ultimately a 4 win-stretch through the middle of the season solidified Mieth's title.
Alex Mieth | Hairpin Racing Team | 228
AJ Knickle | VanWesten Racing (Team 44 Racing) | 203
Alan Cavagnaro | Hairpin Racing Team | 198
2016B | Alex Mieth | EVO Simsport | F1 2016
2016B stretched into 2017, but the new year didn't bring much different beside significantly more drivers & a team change for Alex Mieth, opting to join the Seth Rawls-led team of EVO Simsport (now Shift eSports).
Alex Mieth would kick off the season with a fourth place behind winner Camden Luca, followed by 7 straight wins, a slight lull, then 4 more to cap it off. Nobody came even close to this dominance, & Alex Mieth walked off with his second straight title. For years this remained the most dominant season in ARC history.
Alex Mieth | EVO Simsport (Shift eSports) | 329
AJ Knickle | VanWesten Racing (Team 44 Racing) | 189
Camden Luca | Camden Luca Motorsports | 182
2017A | AJ Knickle | Team 44 Racing | F1 2017
After 2 straight seasons of P2 finishes, it would finally be AJ Knickle's year in ARC Formula 1 in 2017A, despite a slow start behind Shift eSports driver Jacob Brown. Brown led the standings through the halfway point, but the season came down to a closely contested battle between Knickle & Camden Luca with 3 wins apiece.
Alex Mieth returned as a reserve driver for Infinity Sim Racing, posting 2 wins & not losing any speed, while Mitch Kahan posted 2 wins as a rookie.
AJ Knickle | Team 44 Racing | 185
Camden Luca | Camden Luca Motorsports | 162
Mitch Kahan | Team 44 Racing Development | 155
2017B | Matthew Bayyouk | Team 44 Racing | F1 2017
Matthew Bayyouk debuted as a full time driver in 2017B, replacing Jamal Stallings in the second Red Bull Team 44 Racing seat alongside defending champion AJ Knickle.
The story of the season was between Team 44 Racing, Team 44 Development (Toro Rosso), Tanner McCage & Camden Luca trading blows in the championship standings.
Alex Mieth & Alex Cavagnaro, the 2016A teammates, scored their final career victories in this season, for Red Racing Team & East Coast Racing as reserves.
Team 44 Racing drivers won 11 of the 16 events in 2017B, with Matthew Bayyouk's 6 victories allowing him to walk off with a title in his rookie season.
Matthew Bayyouk | Team 44 Racing | 222
AJ Knickle | Team 44 Racing | 192
Tanner McCage | 901 Racing | 153
2018A | Kamren Walker | Hairpin Racing Team | F1 2017
Kamren Walker spearheaded a 2018A return to dominance for Hairpin Racing Team, the 2016A Champions, with 6 wins & what one could call an "easy title." While it may not have been easy, he certainly made it look that way, with all his wins coming through the first 9 races.
He then capped off the final 3 races of the short 12 race season with 3 podiums, ensuring he bagged the title as early as possible.
Camden Luca scored his final career AF1 victory in this season, while Shane Odeyemi & Harrison Seeley would score their first.
Kamren Walker | Hairpin Racing Team | 226
AJ Knickle | AJ Knickle | 152
Camden Luca | Camden Luca | 151
2018B | Conner Stanek | Team 44 Racing | F1 2018
The back half of the 2018A season was dominated by eSports level talents, Harrison Seeley notably winning the last 2 events, while Shane Odeyemi claimed one as well.
This led to an "open season" free agency of sorts, where teams scrambled to put together the fastest team possible for 2018B. Conner "McSendit" Stanek signed with Team 44 Racing alongside James Gibson, while AJ Knickle took a step away from F1 for a season to refresh.
Hairpin Racing Team put together a team of Harrison "Speedstah" Seeley & Spender Marsh, in hopes to defend their title.
EVO Simsport signed Shane Odeyemi to their first seat alongside Seth Rawls.
Ultimately, that's all we have to mention for 2018B, as Stanek claimed 12 of the 16 wins, while Seeley claimed 3, & Odeyemi claimed 1 at Monza in a shockingly close finish. This would be the fastest AF1 season of all time, as the wave of incredible eSports talent subsided at the end of this season, moving on to other things.
Conner Stanek | Team 44 Racing | 372
Harrison Seeley | Hairpin Racing Team | 238
James Gibson | Team 44 Racing | 112
2019 | AJ Knickle | Team 44 Racing | F1 2018-19
The seventh season of ARC Formula 1 was a season of new things for drivers, as ARC trialed for their first time, the annual schedule, in a bid to make racing more realistic while continuing to give people plenty of racing.
This 21 race season across all of 2019 would see an almighty battle between Jaxon Glenn-Austin, Tyler McIntosh, Mitch Kahan, & AJ Knickle, the latter coming away with the championship on his return season.
Amazingly, Knickle overturned a 75 point deficit at the season's start to Mitch Kahan, only jumping in the car after Shane Odeyemi shockingly retired from ARC after 2 straight victories.
This season would see Tyler McIntosh post a career best 4 victories, as well as his last victory, while Chad Thurnquist would snag his first career AF1 victory.
AJ Knickle | Team 44 Racing | 308
Mitch Kahan | Infinity Sim Racing | 284
Tyler McIntosh | Carolina Racing Team | 200
2020 | Francis Pharand | Team 44 Racing | F1 2019-20
At the end of 2019, Team 44 Racing picked up Francis Pharand as a teammate to defending champion AJ Knickle, replacing the outgoing James Gibson. Kylar Boggs also drove for T1A in his second AF1 season, moving on from EVO Simsport.
This season looked to be a rematch between AJ Knickle & Mitch Kahan, but after only a few races, it was clear Knickle had taken a step back, & it would be the rookie Team 44 driver, Pharand, in the spotlight.
Kahan led points through the first 3 races with 2 victories to kick off the season, but retired after Monaco from racing altogether, leaving Francis Pharand to walk off with the title.
Pharand would have won anyway, of course, with 9 wins & 18 podiums in a 22 race season being basically unbeatable.
The season also saw a record 11 winners, with victories coming from Kahan, Pharand, AJ Knickle, Kylar Boggs, Mikey De Jong, Nathan Carr, Jaxon Glenn-Austin, Chad Thurnquist, Keenan Kimber, Cameron Lopes-McDermid, & reserve James Bunty.
Francis Pharand | Team 44 Racing | 404
Kylar Boggs | Turn 1 Autosport | 236
Mikey De Jong | Racing Predators | 198
2021 | Lee Kelly | SHR eSports | F1 2020-21
Lee Kelly joined the fold for SHR eSports in 2021, coming off an ownership change at SHR eSports from Cameron Lopes-McDermid, to Nathan Carr.
Carr signed Kelly as a partner, kicking off the season with a win of his own, before it became clear that the spotlight would be on Kelly for the remainder of the season, reeling off 6 wins.
It was not smooth sailing however, as the season was contested hotly between Kelly, Cameron Dowds, Liam Angelo Carag, & MIkey De Jong, all finishing within 50 points of each other after 24 races.
Dowds' second place finish was especially notable, as he joined after Round 7 in Canada as a rookie, collecting 6 wins in his limited amount of starts.
Lee Kelly | SHR eSports | 298
Cameron Dowds | New Horizons Racing Team | 274
Liam Angelo Carag | East Coast Racing Racing | 256
2022A | Cameron Dowds | New Horizons Racing Team | F1 2021
Cameron Dowds would make up for the runner-up in 2022A, during a return to a bi-annual schedule in 2022A, with an incredible influx of new drivers forcing the league to create more racing.
Dowds dominated the season, having a 103 point gap by Round 8. Dowds would actually get so far ahead that he retired from racing after 11 rounds of the 16 race season, & still managed to win the championship by a full race over Liam Angelo Carag.
Dowds would go on to sign with R8G eSports, Romain Grosjean's eSports team, a testament to the talent of the champion driver.
Aside from the domination, Lee Kelly picked up 2 wins, his final 2 in ARC, while Liam Angelo Carag picked up 4, Francis Pharand & Preston Brenen picked up 2 each, Mikey De Jong picked up 1, & AJ Knickle picked up 1 after Singapore, his first since 2020 & final to date.
Cameron Dowds | New Horizons Racing Team | 214
Liam Angelo Carag | East Coast Racing | 189
Francis Pharand | Team No Hesitation | 148
2022B | Nico Piche | Hairpin Racing Team | F1 22
Hairpin Racing Team plotted their return to racing at the front in the offseason, swapping Preston Brenen & Tristan Adams for Ethan Fonseca Moreno & Nico Piche.
The story of HRT dominance is what 2022B would become, with the 2 drivers winning 14 of the 18 races, 10 of which went to Piche.
The only other drivers who managed a victory in 2022B were Francis Pharand with 2, Michael Loudenslager, his first & only, & Liam Angelo Carag, reserving for Team No Hesitation.
Piche went on to win the championship by 81 points, putting the final nail in the coffin after 16 rounds at Mexico.
Nico Piche | Hairpin Racing Team | 272
Ethan Fonseca Moreno | Hairpin Racing Team | 191
Francis Pharand | Team No Hesitation | 176