Rindi Putra
In recent years, F1 Esports has grown in popularity, with more and more players competing for large prizes and recognition in the virtual racing world. However, with the rise in popularity comes the unfortunate increase in cheating accusations and now all eyes are on Haas F1 Team Esports driver, Thomas Ronhaar.
Recently the title like "Is Thomas Ronhaar cheating?" or "Thomas Ronhaar F1 cheating controversy" or "Thomas Ronhaar Exposed" are often mentioned in some YouTube video titles, and most of them are giving their opinions about the allegation whether Ronhaar is cheating or not in the competition. And of course, none of them are 100% sure.
These allegations have led to controversy and heated debates within the Formula 1 Esports community, as players and fans alike grapple with how to maintain a fair and competitive playing field.
Why the Thomas Ronhaar Cheating Allegation Is Very Loud
George Morgan, a commentator at PSGL (Premiere Sim Gaming Leagues), recently stated on Twitter that Thomas Ronhaar's PC was independently checked six times and declared clear of cheating. Why does the community still doubt Ronhaar's innocence despite the PC being independently checked and cleared six times?
In terms of the Thomas Ronhaar situation - I want to point out that he was independently checked out by the same people that caught Edouardo Leo - and his PC and system was checked 6 times and it was declared clean. -George Morgan
While George Morgan's statement was enough to put the allegations to rest momentarily for me, it seems that the community remains unconvinced and continues to accuse Thomas Ronhaar of cheating.
To fully comprehend the situation, we must explore the key moments that led to these allegations
Frederik Rasmussen Pushes Thomas Ronhaar in F1 Esports Race
At the F1 Esports event during the Mexico GP in November 2022, Frederik Rasmussen surprised everyone by executing a reckless divebomb on Thomas Ronhaar while they were both competing for a podium finish. As a consequence, Rasmussen received a 10-grid penalty for the next race at C.O.T.A. USA.
Initially, it was widely agreed that Rasmussen's maneuver during the Mexico GP was unprofessional. However, when cheating allegations were leveled against Thomas Ronhaar a few months later, the incident was revisited by the community, with some even expressing support for Rasmussen's actions.
According to some people, Rasmussen may have been testing Ronhaar's car by deliberately making high-impact contact during their Mexico GP battle. However, this is difficult to prove and unfortunately, Rasmussen's actions proved nothing except for earning him a penalty.
As I delve into Rasmussen's Twitter account, there is no explanation or even an apology from him regarding this exact incident, and this is one of the reasons why the allegations persist. By keeping the real explanation amongst themselves (drivers and officials), they have allowed the community to create their own conspiracy theories.
Thomas Ronhaar Qualifying Result Pattern
The reason why the allegation regarding Ronhaar is still unsettled is due to his qualifying result pattern. James Dorothy from the "TRL Limitless" channel says on his video that Thomas Ronhaar always has the (almost) perfect lap in his Q1 session.
Ronhaar usually gets a significant lap time margin from the rest of the field in Q1. By doing so, Ronhaar will get to save more fresh tires to use in his Q2 or Q3 session. With that advantage, Ronhaar could get a good grid position for the race.
In his video, TRL Limitless also showed a side-by-side comparison with Thomas Ronhaar and Jarno Opmeer's qualifying onboard lap. He was able to discern the difference, but there is still no solid evidence that Ronhaar used any kind of cheat or hack to achieve his qualifying pace.
The Grip Hack cheat is real! But not on Ronhaar
Until now, in F1 22 game competition, at least 3 sim racers (Jamie Mels, Bugrahan Duman, and Eduardo Leo) were disqualified from the league because they were caught cheating using the grip hack mod. One of the drivers even confesses that he was using the grip hack mod when racing in the competitive league.
Recently, during a live stream (March 2023), a Williams F1 Esports driver, Alvaro Carreton, was caught opening a folder that contained a grip hack mod. But he clarified that he has been part of an investigation into suspicious activity within the community. He also added that he shared the finding with the EA/Codemasters to eliminate any cheating.
Please find the complete statement from Alvaro Carreton here.
Given these facts, it is clear that grip-hack mods exist and some people have used them to gain an unfair advantage in competitive racing. In Ronhaar's case, there are only allegations of cheating, with no concrete proof to support them.
Jarno Opmeer quits from Competition
During the PSGL Round 8 on March 2023, Jarno Opmeer announced on Twitter that it would be his final participation in the competition. Opmeer stated that he has had enough of competitive racing in the F1 22 game and no longer enjoys playing it. He also mentioned that he hates practicing for races.
Opmeer said that until the release of F1 23, he may only play F1 22 casually, such as in an open lobby or playing Co-op with his teammate, Jake Benham.
If you haven't been following Opmeer's recent races, his decision may come as a shock. However, for those who have been following him as a subscriber or fan, his announcement is understandable. Opmeer has had a string of poor results in recent races, with only one win in the PSGL.
Overall, his performance in the F1 22 game has not matched his previous achievements as a two-time F1 Esports world driver champion.
Regrettably, Opmeer's decision has had an indirect impact on the allegations against Thomas Ronhaar. Some people are speculating that Opmeer's departure from the competition is related to his frustration with competing against Ronhaar, as no action has been taken against him despite months of complaints.
PSGL Shortened the race number
After Jarno Opmeer quits the leagues, PSGL announces that they will shorten the current PC F1 season to 11 races (from 14 races originally).
PSGL has taken the decision to shorten the current PC F1 season to just 11 races, rather than the original 14, amid the state of F1 22 and the community in general. It's been a very difficult few weeks for PSGL and the wider league racing scene given the wavering attendance figures combined with the various dramas, particularly associated with cheating.ent about this allegation -PSGL
Find the full statement from PSGL regarding the announcement here.
It is understandable that they decided to shorten the race number, in recent races the live chat was dominated by people accusing Ronhaar of cheating. People seem not convinced that Ronhaar is clean.
No clear statement from the officials!
Since the allegations arose, there has been no statement whatsoever from the official or event organizers such as F1 Esports Official, PSGL Official, or WOR Official (the F1 22 competition in which Ronhaar participates). They could easily release a statement that says "Thomas is clean, please stop the rumors" with more diplomatic wording, of course.
The only statement regarding the allegations comes from PSGL, but it does not directly address the exact allegation. It was simply a reminder to remain respectful and follow the stream chat rules.
Ahead of tonight’s PC F1 race, we’d like to remind all viewers to remain respectful and follow our stream chat rules throughout
Failure to do so will result in timeouts & bans from the PSGL YouTube channel
Otherwise, let’s enjoy the racing -PSGL
If they had released a statement early and courageously mentioned the allegations against Ronhaar, I believe the community would not be as agitated as they are in today's situation. Unfortunately, they did not want to take any risks and preferred to let the community make their own interpretations.
No clear statement from the teams!
Ronhaar's situation has been met with silence from all the teams, including his own. As a result, he appears to be an easy target for mockery without any support. The only person who has publicly supported him is George Morgan, the commentator at PSGL. Morgan's statement clears Ronhaar of any wrongdoing, but the other teams have yet to take a stand.
Unless Ronhaar is proven guilty of cheating, his team should support him. If all ten teams were to come forward with a statement of support, it would show their belief in his innocence and be taken seriously by the community. It's disheartening to see that there's still no proof of cheating, yet all the teams are seems waiting for an announcement of him cheating.
No clear statement from Thomas Ronhaar!
So far, there hasn't been a strong and definitive statement from Thomas Ronhaar denying any cheating or use of mods for personal gain. Despite my search, I couldn't find any clear statement from him.
Critically, the absence of a clear statement from Ronhaar regarding the allegations of cheating raises doubts about his transparency and willingness to address the accusations. This could negatively impact his reputation and career.
It's important for a professional player to be transparent and upfront about their actions when facing allegations. Ronhaar needs to come forward and address the accusations directly and transparently to clear his name and regain the trust of his fans and competitors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Thomas Ronhaar cheating allegations have gained significant attention in the F1 esports community due to a number of factors. Firstly, the incident with Frederik Rasmussen pushing Ronhaar in a race raised suspicions about the legitimacy of his performances.
Additionally, Ronhaar's qualification results raised further questions about his capabilities as a driver. Despite investigations proving that the grip hack cheat was not used by Ronhaar, his results continued to be called into question.
Furthermore, the recent departure of Jarno Opmeer from the competition and the PSGL shortening the race numbers have also contributed to the growing concerns around the fairness of F1 esports races.
What's particularly concerning is the lack of clear statements from officials, teams, and Ronhaar himself, which has left the community to draw their own conclusions and fuelled the spread of conspiracy theories. It's essential for all parties involved to address these allegations transparently and comprehensively to ensure the integrity of F1 esports races.
Jimmy Broadbent step up!
Recently, Jimmy Broadbent talks with Jarno Opmeer about this issue on his channel. This is the first time Jarno give his full opinion on the current situation. I suggest you guys watch the video to add more perspective.
And Jimmy also added on his pinned comment that he also reached out to Thomas Ronhaar to get his side of the story. I really hope Thomas gives his bold statement like "I do not cheat, and will not cheat" or something like that for his own good.
One day later, Jimmy updated his pinned comment and add this sentence:
Thomas responded to my message and decided that he didn't want to appear in an interview. He was polite and courteous but didn't want to add any more discussion to the topic. -Jimmy Broadbent
I was a bit shocked when I read that the first time, but hey, at least he has been consistent with his stand to not address this issue. It will be a great scenario if everything unfolds and it turns out that Thomas Ronhaar is not cheating.
Given the current circumstances, all eyes are still on Ronhaar and it seems like everyone is waiting for him to admit to cheating.
PSGL Finale Drama
Actually, after Jimmy Broadbent's "mediation", there are so many moments here and there about this drama but I believe the most important moment came from the last race of PSGL. In the last few laps, Nicholas Longuet tries to get close to Ronhaar by cutting the corner a lot, like A LOT!, but he finds no good result.
At the same time, Jarno Opmeer was watching the race live on Twitch and spectated some of the drivers (including Longuet and Ronhaar's onboard). At lap 25, Opmeer immediately quits watching and said it is a joke.
"This is a joke, I can't watch this, one (Longuet) is taking track limit every single corner using all of his battery, and the other one (Ronhaar) is saving battery and staying on the track and he still can't (be) catch up. You either gotta be st***d or delusional not to see it." - Jarno Opmeer
You can see the frustration from Opmeer's actions on his live stream, but once again, there is no solid proof of Ronhaar cheating on that event.
Ronhaar back to console (XBOX)
Ronhaar originally came from console (XBOX) competition and moved to PC for F1 Esports. Recently, on April 4, 2023, Ronhaar shows the screenshot of his updated time trial on XBOX in reply to Otis Lawrence's time trial attempt, but why is it a big deal?.
It's kind of a big deal because the console is known as the platform with no cheater because it's not that easy to tweak or cheat on the console (XBOX and PS). There is no access for the player to open or tweak the program file, it is still possible but a lot harder.
In other words, Ronhaar wants to convince the community that he can still perform well on any platform.
I personally hope the F1 Esports 2023 will be held in a local LAN event and from there we can really judge whether Ronhaar is cheating or not.
Update F1 23!
Recently during the PSGL competition, Jarno Opmeer made a shocking comment, Opmeer clearly accused Thomas Ronaar of being dirty and cheating while live on Twitch. I have made a separate article about this, please read it here: Opmeer Called Ronhaar Dirty and Cheater on Live Stream
Also read:
- Thomas Ronhaar Finally Proves He Doesn't Cheat in F1 Sim Racing Races
- What is the meaning of "Dentist Driver" in Racing Community?
- This F1 22 Player Caught Cheating and Disqualified Immediately
- This Esports Team Cheats and Wins at Virtual Daytona 24h
- Here's the complete Steam Sales & Fests 2023 schedule: mark your calendars!
- Top 5 Most Realistic Racing Games for PC
- RaceRoom Review: The Most Underrated Sim Racing Game
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