© TPM Photo2025 F1 Sim Racing World Championship Event 1 Report A Solid Start But More To Come
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Tom Manley made a solid start to the 2025 Formula 1 Sim Racing season, ending Event 1 with three points finishes to his name. The Racing Bulls F1 Sim Racing Team driver was competitive in all four races, including a P4 finish in Bahrain, and currently sits eighth in the drivers’ standings.
Meanwhile, Declan Barrett and Ulaş Özyıldırım showed flashes of form in the second seat, most notably when Özyıldırım put his car on pole in China. With two events still to come, the Racing Bulls are eighth in the teams’ standings on 27 points.
The event got underway at Albert Park in Australia, where Manley delivered a solid qualifying performance to start the race in P9, ahead of Barrett in P18. Both drivers opted to start on hard tyres and run long, with the goal of utilising their fresher tyres in the closing stages.
Manley was involved in some epic battles throughout, including a particularly notable wheel-to-wheel sequence alongside Lucas Blakeley, and eventually came home in P8. Agonisingly, Barrett just missed out on the top 10, but deserves plenty of credit for battling from the back of the field to finish in P11.
Driver | Qualifying Position | Race Finish Position | Tom Manley | Declan Barrett |
P9 | P18 |
P8 | P11 |
Making The Strategy Calls© TPM Photo
Ulaş Özyıldırım replaced Barrett for round 2 in China and wasted no time, putting his car on pole after a spectacular Q3 lap. Manley started P9 once again and was running well until his race was altered following a clash at the Turn 14 hairpin with Brendon Leigh. He would end up retiring from the race, his only non-points finish of the week. Meanwhile, Özyıldırım was leading the race as late as lap 9, but he suffered with his tyres in the closing stages following an early pit stop and finished in P13.
Driver | Qualifying Position | Race Finish Position | Tom Manley | Ulaş Özyıldırım |
P9 | P1 |
DNF | P13 |
Welcome To The Team Ulas© TPM Photo
The drivers quickly shook off the disappointed of China with a strong showing during qualifying in Bahrain, where Manley and Özyıldırım finished P8 and P9 respectively. Both then made excellent starts to the race, with Manley climbing into P3 before the end of lap 1 and Özyıldırım briefly occupying P6.
However, Özyıldırım struggled with the soft tyres and dropped back to P15 before pitting on lap 9, after which he was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He retired from the race while Manley, also running on the softs, moved up into second place on lap 4 and held that position until stopping for a pair of hard tyres on lap 14.
Re-joining the circuit in P19, Manley climbed through field throughout the remainder of the race and finished in P4, less than half a second adrift of the podium spots.
Driver | Qualifying Position | Race Finish Position | Tom Manley | Ulaş Özyıldırım |
P8 | P9 |
P4 | DNF |
Manley continued his fine form in Saudi Arabia, the final race of the event, putting his car on the second row of the grid in qualifying. After holding position at the start, he passed Ismael Fahssi for P2 on lap 7 and began putting pressure on leader Otis Lawrence.
He briefly led the race after Lawrence boxed, before exchanging his hard tyres for the mediums on lap 15. Just like in Bahrain, he fought through the field well and was rewarded with a P5 finish. It was a more difficult afternoon for Barrett though, who started the race from P20 and was forced to retire on lap 20.
Driver | Qualifying Position | Race Finish Position | Tom Manley | Declan Barrett |
P3 | P20 |
P5 | DNF |
Engineers Watching On© TPM Photo