The second season of Hot Seat Racing League’s Formula One series is freshly wrapped up, but the driver lineup for season three is set. It might be the offseason, but that’s a good of a time as any to put together some power rankings.

The number in the brackets represents season two’s driver’s championship finish

10. Ferrari

Neither Wittboy nor Dr0pdeadLauren have any experience as full-time HSF1 drivers, but after a rather impressive season in HSF2 for both of them, they come into season 3 as a candidate to impress. Wittboy won the HSF2 drivers championship by a comfortable margin in season 2, and while Dr0pdeadLauren finished towards the middle of the pack, they were both part of a team that won the constructor’s standings hand over first. There is plenty of potential in this inexperienced duo, but unlocking it will be all the more difficult in their first full season in HSF1

9. Haas

The best piece of news for the Haas team is that they can’t possibly be as bad as their real-life counterpart, but it should be an interesting season for the Haas crew. MoldyMuskrat heads into the HSF1 season as one of the season two surprises, earning third place in the driver’s championship. Rustywelder was a season two surprise as well, but not for such great reasons. After a solid first season in the McLaren that included a podium, Rustywelder couldn’t find a way to score a single point in season two.

8. Williams

Season one champion XBradderz97 had a difficult second season and tumbled his way down the standings after being unable to adapt to a new setup, but you have to assume that he will re-find his form eventually. His teammate will be IceSpillerMC who has improved from season one to season two but has yet to establish himself as one of the upper echelon drivers in the league. The Williams team is hard to get a gauge on. They could be towards the bottom of the standings competing for nothing more than ninth or tenth each race, or they could be a surprise team that rockets up these rankings sooner rather than later.

7. Aston Martin

League owner SeiglerF1 is dipping his toes back into driving after taking season two off. For him, season one started a lot better than it finished as he fell all the way to fifth in the driver’s championship driving the Red Bull, one of the best cars on the grid. That fifth-place finish was competitive, but he would want to see himself improve on that. BlueBird2711 has come a long way to move up the HSRL ranks after starting season one as a Carlin driver before being promoted to the second AlphaTauri seat midway through the season. He would score nine points in seven races, but season two was much better. BlueBird2711 scored 42 points in nine season two races and found himself being the team’s number one point scorer by season’s end.

6. McLaren

If HSRL were to hand out awards, there’s no question that TC45MG would have been the recipient of the most improved driver award. After withering away in the underpowered Alfa Romeo car in season one scoring a measly zero points, he turned in a stellar season two scoring an impressive 52 points on route to an eighth-place finish in the driver’s championship. His teammate FFR Harry has shown that he can be a force in qualifying in the past but has struggled to maintain that when the race starts. If this team can limit their mistakes, they have a chance to shock the world and do some serious damage in season three.

5. Alfa Romeo

Both SeelsTeam6ix and Boiledice joined the league midway through season two but enjoyed varying levels of success. SeelsTeam6ix joined and found a way to make things click right from the get-go, scoring 60 points and finishing sixth in the driver’s championship. Boiledice on the other hand couldn’t cement himself among the league’s best, struggling for most of the season. With more experience in the league, the two drivers should be able to at least be a solid midfield team if not more.

4. Red Bull

There’s something so curiously interesting about this team that makes it one of the most interesting on the grid for season three. PWW Blueflamme is undoubtedly one of the best drivers on the grid. Race in and race out he finds a way to put himself far out-front of the midfield runners and score serious points. A tendency to get caught up in incidents (his fault or otherwise) took away a chance at winning the driver’s championship. VapeUpYourGame’s second season in HSF1 was not a very good one he admits, but in season one, he put the Red Bull in fourth place scoring 117 points. Somewhere in there, there is a championship-contending driver. That driver, however, needs to be found.

3. Alpine

The youngest team on the grid is loaded with tantalizing talent that has been denied a chance to perform at the highest level in the past. HSR Anarky72 was demoted out of the Mercedes in season one but managed to finish the season in third place in the Racing Point, and in season two, a fourth-place finish that could have easily been more with more consistency. As for FishingRic08, he entered season two as a favourite to win the driver’s championship but issues with his internet connection kept him sidelined for most of the season. The two young drivers are uniting and hope to lift Alpine to a constructor’s championship, something they are more than capable of on paper.

2. AlphaTauri

Marshmauro is back in the car that he out-performed in season one looking to bring a championship to the AlphaTauri garage, something that could only ever happen in the video game universe. Season two’s champion is clear cut the fastest driver every week, and with more experience, he has been able to limit mistakes and take his craft to the next level. It looks unlikely that anyone will be able to catch him for the driver’s championship in season three, but question marks remain about his teammate M1kelMiles after a season and a half off. M1kelMiles, the other league owner rejoins the grid after moderate success when driving F2 and filling in in season two. He has pace and should be able to score enough to put AlphaTauri over the top, but it won’t be easy for him to keep pace with Marshmauro.

1. Mercedes

Oh, you thought you could escape Mercedes being number one because it’s a video game? Nope, think again. There’s something about this team that strikes me as special. DPV909 is one of the most consistent drivers on the grid, scoring points more often than not and staying clean virtually every single race. II UnKnOwNn II has had issues in the past of finishing the race, but those have improved. He can qualify with the best of them in HSF1 and if he can capitalize on those chances, Mercedes will be tough to beat in season three. This is a group that aren’t necessarily the best drivers in the league, but when you don’t DNF and you don’t take penalties, you leave yourself a chance.

Want To Join HSRL?

Hot Seat Racing League is an F1 Esports league racing on Xbox. The league focuses on clean racing and having a great community base that is welcoming for all no matter the age or language spoken. If you are interested in joining, send the league a DM on either Facebook or Twitter.

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