Aubameyang considering own esports team after virtual F1 debut

May 24, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal’s top-scoring striker and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who raced for McLaren in Sunday’s virtual Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, is considering setting up his own esports team.

The Gabonese is a keen video gamer, and has been getting in plenty of practice during the COVID-19 lockdown with the Premier League out of action.

He is also a lover of fast and expensive cars, with a couple of Lamborghinis and an exclusive pearl-wrapped Ferrari LaFerrari in his garage.

“I play FIFA of course, but this year a lot of Fortnite and I definitely need to play Warzone: Call of Duty,” he said in a video conversation with McLaren’s regular F1 race driver Lando Norris ahead of Sunday’s race.

“I’m actually thinking about launching an esports team and Rocket League is definitely a game that I’d need to have a team for,” he said.

Real Madrid’s Welsh winger Gareth Bale started his own esports team this year while Arsenal team mate Mesut Ozil launched one in 2018.

Aubameyang said that was something he’d like to follow. “Something is cooking,” he said.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero are among other soccer players to have taken part in Formula One’s virtual series.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)