India Gets First Official Nationwide F1 Sim Racing Championship

Formula 1 and Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited announced the F1 Sim Racing India Open 2026 in Mumbai on April 28, the first time F1 has sanctioned a country-specific sim racing program. Mumbai Falcons holds the rights to host the championship in India under a formal agreement with F1.

Registrations open on April 30 through the MFRL App on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Players can compete on PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox using F1 25, the official game of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The format runs from online qualifiers into city-based simulator rounds, with a national final in Mumbai in November.

Can F1 Sim Racing India Open 2026 create a structured pathway into motorsport?

The launch arrives as Formula 1's Indian fan base grows and as esports gains regulatory footing under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA), 2025. It also lands amid renewed talk of an F1 race returning to India.

Narain Karthikeyan, India's first Formula 1 driver, said "with 78.8 million fans and a generation raised on F1 gaming, the time is right" for an official competitive format in India.

Ameet Gadhoke, Managing Director of Mumbai Falcons, said the program fits the team's long-term goal to "build a pipeline for world-class talent."

Mumbai Falcons' track record

Founded in 2019, Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited became the first Indian team to win an FIA-accredited single-seater championship after taking the 2022 Formula Regional Asian title. The team also won the inaugural Formula Regional Middle East Championship in 2023 with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has since reached Formula 1. Most recently, the team took two drivers' titles and the teams' championship at the 2025-26 UAE Rotax Max Championship.

The team's driver development list includes Kush Maini, Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, and Arvid Lindblad.

Building on existing scenes

By pairing F1's official sanction with an established driver-development team, the championship gives Indian sim racers a direct line into F1's global pathway. It builds on grassroots scenes that have grown without formal F1 backing, including the Indian Sim Racing League (SRL), the Indian eRacing Championship by IR Esports, and the Indian Racing Community (IRC).