FIA adds esports event to 2025 FIA Karting World Championship

The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) has announced that the 2025 FIA Karting World Championship will feature an esports event.

Organised by the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation, the event aims to showcase sim racing as a viable pathway to real-world motorsport.

The event, taking place in Kristianstad, Sweden, from September 11th to 14th, 2025, will use the iRacing platform and is open to everyone aged over 14 years old who holds an international racing license.

The FIA has selected its virtual F4 cars to race in the competition. The single-seaters are no strangers to the world of virtual motorsport, having featured in the motorsport governing body’s FIA F4 Global Esports Championship, which returned in June.

“Bringing together Karting and esports at the 2025 FIA Karting World Championship underscores the FIA’s commitment to grassroots investment and expanding the ways people can engage with motorsport,” said Vincent Caro, Head of Circuit Grassroots Disciplines and Activities at the FIA.

“Accessibility is central to the FIA’s Global Karting Plan and this initiative is a major step forward growing participation and opening new entry points into the sport.”

Esports appearing as part of an FIA-sanctioned motorsport event is a continuation of the governing body’s efforts to integrate sim racing into its initiatives.

In December 2024, it approved an esports regulatory framework to regulate sim racing competitions alongside offering the legal framework for national events to take place.

Following its initial boom period during the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of sim racing has stagnated, with fewer large-scale esports events taking place.

Interest in sim racing esports is expected to gain traction towards the end of 2025, with Motorsport Games announcing the return of the Le Mans Virtual Series following a two-year absence. Qualifiers for the event are set to take place in the fourth quarter of the year.