F1 Esports drivers have cheats installed on their PCs, but why?

[@JDisLimitless]

Please refrain in making any abusive/hateful comments towards the people within this video, I do not condone it nor is what this video is trying to achieve. It is simply once again a discussion regarding recent events within the F1 community and how we can avoid doubting drivers entirely in future.

[@0verfiend]

You don’t get to decide what we think though bro.😂

[@yasracing98]

@@0verfiend he never said don't have an opinion. he's just advocating being sensible because if he's speaking on such a sensitive topic some people are bound to being hateful. As the saying goes, innocent until proven guilty

[@yasracing98]

@@0verfiend not having a go at you btw

[@bricktop2090]

because the dates on the hacks was recent, that could just mean he has updated those hacks to a newer version?,

[@jam_Svl]

can you update the outro music link plz?

[@mrhxrse]

Mr Horse does not approve cheats

[@adcr_e]

Common Mr Horse W

[@marianorodriguez9257]

W Mr Horse

[@Mr_MachoGlobe]

Based Mr Horse

[@SLIDE-N-SCOPE]

My horse is bigger

[@coliimusic]

We love you Mr. Horse

[@danielbaldoni6725]

Plot twist: Underpaid code masters employees are selling the cheats to up and coming drivers

[@marijn17s]

No lol

[@ryanespinoza7297]

They’d have to know how to code their own game before they could make exploits

[@ToneRetroGaming]

@@ryanespinoza7297 💀☠⚰ 😂

[@olliep8117]

@@ryanespinoza7297 Savage but 100% true

[@LunnarisLP]

@@ryanespinoza7297 code game poorly so its easier to code your cheats, easy money

[@Felano00]

It feels quite unintelligent to use the excuse of working with codemasters if no such relationship exists. There is no way a company would allow such a statement if it was untrue. I guess we'll find out soon

[@cameronski77]

I think it's more likely to be independent, like the Trackmania cheating investigations. Then they'd submit their proof to codemasters, from the sounds of it they wouldn't listen otherwise. Hope Alvaro is innocent, personally think he is but you never know what to trust

[@alpha007org]

The statement from Alvaro should have come from CodeMasters+EU themselves.

[@mrwhodr]

He said they were sending info after testing to CM, not that CM asked drivers to do that. edit: nvm just saw Jarno's response in the vid

[@hillclimb182]

Opmeer has said he was working with cofemasters

[@Alex-hr2qq]

@@alpha007org no way codemasters would admit that they asked people to cheat

[@jacobeddy3966]

The "shortcut" you are pointing to is just the downloads folder on any Windows machine. If you want something to point at there, use the fact that your recent frequent (activity) folders show up below your pins in the Quick Access Menu. Love the videos, have a great day, and good luck in your next race.

[@danieldorn9989]

Are you actually stupid? F1ModderBypass is not a link to the Download folder.

[@JDisLimitless]

Was an edit error with the circle. The shortcut is still underneath it

[@alpha007org]

I feel like Windows itself puts a pin to a shortcut if used regularly. First, the shortcut appears in that list without a pin, but then if you are using it, I think that sometimes (if some conditions are met) the pin automatically appears. I could be wrong, but if I look at my Explorer, there are pins to shortcuts I know I didn't put them myself. Or simply I don't remember, or misremember.

[@911wasaninsidejob]

@@alpha007org No no, you're right. That's exactly what happens

[@MartinMaisriemler]

Tbh it's also sometimes strange which folders end up there, I've folders in my shortcut list that I've only used frequently for one day, several weeks ago.

[@jeffdredd1172]

The fact that it's the last folder he had open as well as the .exe file being highlighted is kind of damning.

[@Flash224]

Not just damning, it's the biggest amount of proof you are ever going to get if you want to decide if someone is cheating or not without an actual anti-cheat. The F1ModderBypass file was the last thing he opened up before starting the game and his stream.

[@jadetaylor3548]

I think that it’s reaching a little to say that this is damming, as there are many ways you could end up with a folder being highlighted without having actually opened to program; including having opened the program in that window and then closed the program without deleted the original window from which that file was opened

[@showlate1]

@@jadetaylor3548 Nonsense! for even having the cheats he should be banned from f1 esports IMO.

[@nitram.9621]

@@showlate1 Guys, what alvaro careton said is real, Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley to name some, have answered under his statement and confirmed what he said to be true.

[@showlate1]

@@nitram.9621 True or not, who says he is not using it in actual comp games?

[@mavadelo]

I have been an alpha and beta tester for games since the early 00's.I have never encountered a dev that asks their (top) players to willingly install potentially dangerous apps for "testing".

[@buli_kk]

7:30 imo its directly about Ronhaar. What i think is happening they all downloaded 0.015 grip hack or whatever he might be using based on his streams and checking if the times are similar to Ronhaars or maybe just checking the behavior of their cars when playing to see if Thomas is using. Lets be honest, the best people to check this sort of thing are e-sport drivers.

[@mrstim96]

Problem is, if they would already figure it out, they'd already rat him out. But they haven't still. Why? Either they are not 100% sure about it or Ranhaar has found an exploit and is abusing it hence f1 esports drivers can't match his style with the hacks

[@LionAndALamb]

The thing with Alvaro is that, unlike TR, he has always been very fast, and he didn't suddenly gain a second of pace relative to the field out of thin air.

[@sopvp7719]

altough i dont think he is cheating he did suddenly gain speed in the recent pslg e seriers races that he didnt have on this game before

[@LionAndALamb]

@@sopvp7719 Can you quantify that? Because he's always been a beast of a qualifier and racer for as long as I've known about him (4 years or so now), and only the official F1 esports series drivers have ever made him look human.

[@YaphetS6]

Once a cheater always a cheater! F1 games had never anti cheats so if he's cheating he probably cheats for a long time. If Ronhaar is cheating then you can be sure that 70% of Esports drivers are cheating aswell.

[@raymondwilborne4206]

These things have to be done at LAN at this point

[@willho4202]

@@sopvp7719is E series not a much lower level than regular PSGL

[@dannygarcia1707]

He’s face when he realized his mistake 😮

[@pogmaster4559]

No, he doesn't use the cheats. I can confirm Im am working alongside him and a number of other esports drivers such as Jarno, etc. A few drivers have used the cheat in private testing to see if they can replicate times Tomas Ronhaar seems to be getting. Alongside that we're trying to see where the root folder etc is saved to see if we can locate it on other user's machines when investigating a driver.

[@tacovan5609]

@@pogmaster4559 sure u do

[@Noshi64]

@@pogmaster4559 if he can prove it I will believe it

[@ΓιώργοςΚωνσταντίνου-ψ3ψ]

@@pogmaster4559 source: trust me bro

[@marijn17s]

@@pogmaster4559 his reaction says otherwise....

[@mja2317]

In Carreton's case I'm willing to believe him for now because his performance the last year is much more in the realm of possibility than Ronhaar's and he hasn't improved at a ridiculous rate since last year. It's a slippery slope though. If Ronhaar continues to get away with it than many more will start cheating if they're not already.

[@backseatgamer1808]

exactly, if it's tolerated, why wouldn't you cheat, when there's so much at stake?

[@mrstim96]

Ngl I believe that Alvaro is indeed cheating after this. Its very suspicious and to also delete the stream vod on top of that makes it even more sus. Plus, like Jarno said, if he has approval from game developers, it's pretty much a free pass to cheating

[@miekaaahh]

I used to be on a different esports game where there were no hacks for the 1st 2 years. Then people started aimbotting and necksnapping without the admins banning them. So the whole server started using hacks that could let you see through walls but no one could catch you.

[@elonmusk9697]

So why not just say it? That's the most "sh*t they got me.." reaction I've ever seen. We all know Rönhardt has got some bs going on so if he helps bringing it down, that would definitely not be his reaction.

[@RacingTherapy]

@@elonmusk9697 ofc he's cheating people are so naive!!! only dummies will believe that shitty excuse look at activision protecting BIG STREAMERS that use cheats and hacks it's all over the internet DISGUSTING

[@pizzadriver]

I think that he is in fact cheating. The folder being open and also the folder being the first thing in the background, the file clicked, etc. are just too many things. Also why did he not explain it right away in the stream then and just put a statement out much later when he had time to think of an excuse.. This doesn't smell right to me, no matter how much you know him personally. People are always good at hiding things no matter how well you know them.

[@Lola30545]

to be honest i don't see a development team asking players to download cheats in order to help them, that makes 0 sense. however IF what he said is to be true then i would imagine he is not to say anything to anyone about it hence why he would try his best to ignore it and move on, imagine you had been playing a companies games for years and they asked you to work with them to help solve a big issue and they specifically told you "DO NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS", if you quickly leaked it on stream would you instantly tell everyone everything? more than likely you would wait and ask the development team and your team what the appropriate thing to do is, after so many people started to talk about it he was forced to make a statement to save face.

[@radspeed113]

In American short track racing, there's a common saying that goes something like "if you're not cheating, you're behind someone who is" and this just seems like the 21st century variation of it

[@ConnorH2111]

They all are cheating, if they are defending this blatant cheater it just means they are all doing it.

[@silverspiderpig5]

JD- much respect for how you’ve handled and positioned these videos, being clear you are here to document and report, not spread hate or rumors.

[@Moondingo1980]

The major problem i have with this is it's his main rig. It's the rig he uses to do all the racing with that it's on. Its also his streaming rig. If you were professionally testing you would be using a separate VM (virtual machine) to do so and you would never be streaming from it. His facial reaction indicates heavily he knew he got caught, he just closed the file explorer, put his hands up and covered his face. It's a full "oh crap" response and it's his first initial reaction. He doesn't just walk it off or explain it instantly, he didn't explain before in the stream he was using it for testing. Williams eSports team has cheated repeatedly in the last couple of months, I'm more in the belief that the drivers are being pushed to succeed at any cost. So far it's iRacing and F1. It's definitely looking like it's a big core part of their mentality. Win at all costs.

[@pogmaster4559]

No, he doesn't use the cheats. I can confirm Im am working alongside him and a number of other esports drivers such as Jarno, etc. A few drivers have used the cheat in private testing to see if they can replicate times Tomas Ronhaar seems to be getting. Alongside that we're trying to see where the root folder etc is saved to see if we can locate it on other user's machines when investigating a driver.

[@Atlas.Brooklyn]

My only disagreement here is that he wasnt "professionally testing", and there is no guarantee that anybody has access to a full second computer/rig to do these tests on. The response you are 100% on, but expecting anybody to have a fully separate rig just for that is a little much.

[@Moondingo1980]

@@pogmaster4559 Ok, but it doesn't cover his reaction. It doesn't cover using his personal rig, it doesn't cover that the folder was open. It really doesn't help that Williams eSports reputation is in tatters. It makes much more sense for all the other drivers to rally around him and try to deflect when he's the guy you don't want to be caught or look to be exceptionally guilty. No matter how much damage control that is attempted now, you will never escape that clip and the suspicion of guilt. I don't know the guy, I don't know yourself. All I can see is a video and the historical evidence of cheating by Williams eSports. That's going to be the really big hurdle to overcome. I really hope he survives this. If he really has not cheated if it's completely accidental that would be amazing. But this is the internet and the danger that comes from livestream and being an online celebrity. You get a modicum of trust and faith. Shatter that and its career ruining

[@Panda-xx4hs]

@@Atlas.Brooklyn He didn't say that they need to buy a new system as a whole. He suggested that you can install a Virtual Machine (VM) environment on your PC and replicate the cheats there. The VM and the main system are not connected in any way, you just use a program to enter it.

[@OCinneide]

@@pogmaster4559 So you've just said he doesn't used cheats and then you've turned around and said that they're privately cheating?? How do you know if they're not just "leaving on" the cheats for WOR or PSGL or whatever.

[@alpha007org]

In ACC we have MoTeC telemetry, and most (higher e-sportsy) leagues can ask you to hand over the the MoTeC files. F1 game should implement more telemetry information, and a tool to validate if everything is OK. They must have a function, that defines when do you have a wheelspin. Something like "if grip*y < rotation_speed_of_a_wheel*x*Speed = wheelspin Yes." (I added x and y, because that function is more complicated.) Put this telemetry into an encrypted container; clients are sending this to the validation server; if something is fishy, you're marked for investigation.

[@ksells]

I've played ACC for a long time and never knew that existed, that's genius

[@calvinbullock1626]

One (potential) non-cheating reason to have the file open recently would be to make sure the mod is disabled for the event he was running. If he actually wasn't cheating, then this could be the reason that the folder was used prior to the event, although I believe this still wouldn't excuse having these files downloaded on your main PC. However, if they are compiling data like he stated, it could simply be that he wanted to have as accurate of a comparison as possible between cheated and non-cheated lap times/recordings, therefore he used his competitive setup for consistency purposes. I don't really have a solid opinion on whether he is cheating or not, but there really isn't any explanation that would make everyone agree that he isn't. And, if he actually isn't cheating, he made the mistake of putting the files on his main streaming rig (even if that was the intention) when it should have been on a separate VM. People can make mistakes that make the situation look worse than it is, but they can also claim those mistakes as excuses to cover up more sinister activities. So in the end, without more information we likely won't know the extent of the use of these programs for him specifically.

[@j.3o21]

Mate.... why have the file at all? Then to say "I'm working with Codemasters" ... prove it dude show me an email from Codemasters asking you to cheat on there game.

[@charles-antoinemartel-roy]

@@j.3o21 That's not what he said though, he said he was working with the community and sent his results/reports to Codemasters, he never said he was hired by them

[@jadetaylor3548]

I think we may know soon if this investigation is fruitful. Someone, somewhere will have to say something when ronhaar isn’t on the grid next year lol

[@mrstim96]

​@@charles-antoinemartel-roy no, Jarno has confirmed literally that he has an approval from the developers to help them with the game

[@mrstim96]

It doesn't really help the situation since he also deleted the stream

[@Skafiskafnjak51]

Funniest thing is while you are talking about cheaters you are actually racing against confirmed one (Jernej Dovzan) oh the irony 🤣

[@xJMC]

As a game dev I would never say to anyone to download cheats, when you download cheats your basically give alot of access to the cheat providers so, they can do a lot of damaging things to your pc. Also, why would they need esports drivers to use cheats it doesn't help detecting them at all, the only data you will get is that they can go faster. If I was going to try to detect cheats in a racing game I would log the inputs of the drivers and track conditions and then replay it and see if it outputs the same results. If that is too bad for performance make it so, it's only activated on esport races.

[@SFUEng]

Hope we could move to iRacing, much better tracks, realistic traction, realistic kerbs, laser scanned tracks, drivers can have their own sponsers as you can paint your own car, anti cheat

[@-AthleteInAction-]

iracing makes F1 look like a cartoon game

[@itherealykb1317]

actually on iRacing you can't paint the F1 cars (w12 et w13)...

[@nickklavdianos5136]

Well since F1 has a licensed game it would be stupid for them to have their e-sports series not be played on that game.

[@MrTrevisol4]

Thing is, iracing doesn't have weather system yet IMO Rf2 have both, and is cheaper.

[@jaroogee]

@@itherealykb1317 u sure? I painted my yellow and black. Or r u referring to logos ?

[@al3xsl129]

6:33 he actually hasn´t streamed some PSGL-E races, he streamed on Williams´ channel

[@JDisLimitless]

Okay that's good to know!

[@Nick-ix4cs]

I agree with what you said towards the end of your clip that in the short term, until this is sorted out, eSports racers should be made to race on console where cheating is nigh on impossible. This is the only way (at the present time) to level the playing field.

[@hind6799]

Cheating on consoles is no problem aswell. There are hardware cheats that go between controllers and console or that intercept network traffic to manipulate it.

[@SHZ_Tristan19]

Casually watching Limitless fly past me on the straight

[@chrisc3825]

Williams eSports at the center of another cheating controversy, you don’t say. Let’s see the “Accessed” timestamp live (right click, properties on the .exe) on a stream to show that the last accessed time stamp was hours before the event, otherwise I’d have reason to believe that he’s implicated himself cheating live, just as many others have. With that said, EA needs to fix this game and a lot of the fault needs to be laid at their feet as well as ANY competition that is using PC as a platform until there is a reliable fix in place

[@Lola30545]

Has the cheats folder opened with the bypass highlighted during a league race, it's on his frequently opened sidebar, he clicks on his downloads tab and you can see he's deleted it from his downloads, EA/Codematers have no statement and who knows if they did or did not ask him to "test" cheats for them, you can see how badly this looks.

[@ktjohnsey4659]

Given the history of Williams, given his reaction, given the dates they were open and the results of e series, he has used it in competitive racing. Sad to see really

[@fabivideosfull]

As a software testing engineer I do not think any company would ask the most competitive players, specially those racing for esports championships, to test cheats as it could easily give them bad reputation on their gaming careers and possibly unfair knowledge of game vulnerabilities. On top of that, if it were the case, they would not ask him to test cheats using his personal PC but rather give him another PC only for this type of testing. On the other hand, if Alvaro is truly collaborating with Codemasters, an announcement should be made by them to clear up this situation. Sadly, the unlikeliness of Codemasters asking an esport player to test cheats and his reaction on his stream, does make him look like he is lying.

[@Lola30545]

unlikely they would ask players to test cheats, even less likely they will make a statement admitting to it.

[@JoelTehMole]

Quite frankly, it amazes me. An esport with no anti cheat - what the actual fuck?

[@BeachJedi101]

It would help his case if a public statement was made by developers on actively working with esport drivers.

[@GSSimRacing]

All this would prove is the developers don't know their own game and code. The cheat engine is fairly commonly known, so this is something that codies and EA could easily test themselves with the knowledge of what parameters is changed....as opposed to a random racer. He was caught and no is seeking excuses.

[@jadetaylor3548]

If this investigation is meant to be kept quiet to not alert those who have cheated/ are cheating then no such statement can be released without compromising the investigation.

[@mrstim96]

Problem is, yeah they might release a statement and so on. But it doesn't 100% guarantee that these esports drivers are not in fact cheating. It's like giving an athlete some drugs and tell them use them so we can monitor how it affects your body system and your performance. It's more of a free pass to actually cheating

[@ericmcmanus5179]

If these professional esports drivers were using these hacks to help identify cheating in the community, then this wouldn't be a secret until AFTER he gets caught with the cheats. Nor would he give that worried, embarrassed look after he got caught.

[@anarchodrenalin]

One thing I would argue about the modified date on the files is that it's possible he has a new updated version of the files, which would explain the more recent date. He could have been using an older version of the files during the previous races, and they may have had an older date.

[@jwebxx]

The file could be that newer date, because it is a newer version of the cheat. So, it is possible he uses a cheat in other racea before.

[@FortunaMEJG]

2:32 I mean, even IF he’s not using hacks to win it’s still a great career being in the F1 Esports bubble. Making a good amount even if you’re not up front. Smart as well to avoid being at the front when using hacks because the people automatically think you’re legit because if it. Anti cheat system is needed for 23. It’s not rocket science. He could be using it After the F1 Esports season in order to do well in PSGL to have a chance to keep his seat. Here we have clear evidence.

[@peterschweinberger4396]

Its very interesting that the gap to the other drivers is 2 tenths as well. Same as Thomas Ronhaar

[@Lapul10ga]

When these kids are faster than Nico Rosberg and Leclerc themselves there is something not right

[@anuma6217]

The game devs could alter the grip themselves the same way the modder did... no way would they ask for something like this

[@Maunoster]

Exactly, no way they would download random files from internet to have tests with developers

[@joeogle7729]

If Codies were investigating it I imagine it would be more about how the program itself works and interrogates the game rather than finding if it was being used or not. The F1 game itself doesn't officially support modding and it's why you have to install tools like EGO archiver to install skins and whatnot to do it. I agree though that I doubt it would be used for testing if cheats themselves were actually used. Because you could just fire up time trial, play around with the XML files a bit with the aforementioned EGO archiver and see how far you have to go before you can match the lap times. No dodgy as fuck files required...

[@firacingast]

They could also download the exact cheat, for free. The same way he did. Seems weird they'd ask him to do it. I think more likely is that he and some other pro drivers were testing to see if they would get Ronhaar's times with cheats.

[@mrstim96]

​@@joeogle7729 the only problem with that is that the game recognises the change in xml file if you do it manually through ego or something. But cheat engine changes it differently it seems which allows the game to actually work

[@alpha007org]

Well Actually,... :))) Game devs a lot of times are in their own bubble and cheat makers have the imagination needed to modify the game in a way game devs just can't imagine.

[@Fallenchuck22489]

here is my issue. Its too convenient of an excuse. Could they be using the pros to help get better understanding of where the performance of the car should be? MAYBE? But i doubt it. Also, The other problem i have is that the file that he tabs over to, is already open and highlighted blue which means it was the last selection he had in that file. The way this cheat works is you run the bypass, load the cheat, then load the game. So somethings not adding up. They need to monitor these guys Task Manager durring races IMO..

[@Lola30545]

We have 2 options to believe, either the development team are extremely stupid....or alvaro is lying, A game company asking players to download cheats for them doesn't make a whole lot of sense, their goal would be to understand how the cheats inject and alter their game files and you do not need an esports driver for that, It's mainly just numbers and values, with or without an esports driver testing cheats all the development teams issues lead to an anti cheat, so why even involve them in the first place, it will only lead to bad things as proven by this situation...

[@lukebraddford3287]

If codemasters backs this up, I will believe him. Until then I just can’t.

[@GonzoDonzo]

I played with some high level people back in the day when i was a kid. Cheating was almost part of the culture because of gameshark, cheat codes implemented into games, etc. We all would cheat against each other for fun. Kinda see who was the best cheater, type of thing. Messing with those cheats made u aware of what was out there so when you were playing legit u could know when someone else wasnt. While i doubt this is one of those cases it can be good to research these things if your involved on the competitive side.

[@Joemamahahahaha821]

I’m new around here and your intro never ceases to make me chuckle. Love the channel.

[@hanneslell2990]

Imagine Alvarro deleting his stream to not draw too much attention on the cheating systems and then Mr. JD obviously continuing this amazing series :)

[@vrandomserious]

while I'm convinced Alvaro cheats, i think twitch has 0 tolerance policy and i would assume his account would be banned if cheat folder is shown on vod. I'm actually surprised they haven't banned him nevertheless.

[@hind6799]

@@vrandomserious Because at this point everyone over there is profiting or in fear of losing profits, all the livestream game cheaters, devs, publishers, Twitch. Nobody of them would gain from people realizing that these days online gaming is infested with cheaters, in fact they would lose alot. The only real losers are the kids that keep their fake idols fueled with fame and cash.

[@Switch_X_Back3884]

So there's a couple of points here for me. 1)if Alvarro was doing this with other drivers. Why wasnt there a pre statement made publicly that this is what hes doing. 2)why did he NOT mention the others drivers names. 3)during the stream it looked like a guilty "Oops i been caught face." He could of addressed it right then and there. And said Hey this is what Im doing and why. 4)why does other eSports drivers seemed puzzled by his statement. Why wouldn't Jarno who is struggling on this years game. Be one of them? But none of these things happened that I think could of helped him tremendously. Just my Humble thoughts.

[@richcodesweb]

Comment on points 2 and 3, assuming that truth is being spoken about doing the testing, Alvarro probably has an NDA in place which would prevent discussing doing it. The fact that the folder was shown on stream, and his reaction of "Oh Fudge" could be because it was shown, and that something would have to be said. Dealing with companies about making a statement that effectively breaks an NDA is a very difficult conversation to have

[@mrstim96]

Majority of your points(1-3) are to do with the agreement with EA/Codies which basically restricts the drivers to speak publicly on it. So his reaction may have been as in "Ah fuck this is not good" but in terms of him then having to go and break the No Disclosure Agreement which means the trust for him from game developers will go down hill for future. But yeah too many things are not adding up hence I do believe he could still use that excuse as a free pass to actually cheating

[@planetzing7796]

Wasnt Williams the team that used the track skirt exploit at the Daytona 24H?

[@jwebxx]

They have done many unsportsman things in this race. Blocking others with lapped car. Williams esport is a rwally evil team.

[@VitorShadowSouza]

yep. I'm not a F1 22 E-sports specialist, but after the Daytona 24h fiasco and their stupid statement, I will double doubt everything that comes with "Williams Esport" attached

[@Lil-Lou]

Cheating on lan is still very possible. Ask CSGO esports players. cheat injected from mouse, or other peripheral. Should also check the recent Escape from Tarkov cheaters fiasco, apparently there was at least 1 cheater in every other lobby... just crazy

[@amin7581]

No one in csgo tier 1 pro scene is cheating though.

[@Yayo509]

they still eventually get caught.

[@mrstim96]

​@@amin7581 forsaken is the most recent LAN ban I remember. KQLY years ago(just about a decade), Akuma using radarhacks

[@Jordy268]

It just keeps getting better huh.

[@drbeast795]

He’s quite clearly cheating, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t do it in esports, it’s still against the game’s guidelines. No development team would allow drivers to install cheats and tell them to use and hide them. Codemasters should have people and the technology to simulate things themselves there’s no reason why they’d allow cheating in their game for the sake of ‘testing’

[@YaphetS6]

That's what I was saying! Why is only Ronhaar being accused of cheating ? I bet if he's cheating 70% of the esports drivers are cheating aswell. Some of them might not even deserve to be in Esports but cheats gave them the extra speed needed. F1 had never anti cheats and people probably cheated on previous games aswell.

[@Yayo509]

Plot Twist: So is JD.

[@ProTroy_]

I agree that if this continues to get out of hand maybe switching to console may be the best options, not to mention it would mean it would be a lot more accessible to everyone

[@godzvnm]

however an issue with switching to consoles for at least all the current f1 esports drivers is that unlike a pc consoles dont allow/arent compatible with every type of wheel or certain consoles only have certain wheels and pedals that are compatible so that could fuck over some of the esports guys depending on what wheels and pedals they use.

[@jimbo992]

@@godzvnm you can use pretty much any iteration of wheel on consoles, bar something very custom.

[@Squatch76]

It is more complicated to do the cheats on console, but this is big money with a big team. They will figure it out if they want to

[@qncynl1003]

EA will never ask esporters to test is, thats BS. EA/Codemasters got enough of their own people to try and test is. I think best short term solution is by doing those events during some LAN or something with pc/hardware provided by the organisation instead of own supply.

[@RalonsoF1]

I think after THIS, the whole Esport-F1-Thing can be cancelled right away..

[@terks43]

His reaction does 100% of the talking. So it's hard for me to buy his explanation at all. His reaction is 100% that of a cheater exposed and not a "tester".

[@jarigustafsson7620]

Cheaters are not gamers, they are the anti-gamers killing multiplay.

[@theonewhoknocks2118]

Agreed

[@BR4JK21]

The fact carreton pulled it up during psgl quali made no sense. It is obv cheating. There is no reason to have the files open in that time

[@joshstead2950]

He’s using it (not during races) to see what to look for with the likes of Ronhaar, even Jarno knows he isn’t cheating.

[@HoutarouOrekiOsu]

Some people just don't ever close folders or programs.

[@jinx20001]

i wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the top esports drivers are cheating... its impossible to police 100 percent for the qualifying events but holding main events on the LAN would be the best solution to at least cement that the result of the race is legitimate, hopefully the risk of being exposed during the LAN event would stop cheaters from bothering to even qualify because if they cant get anywhere near their qualy times during a LAN event they would be shining a spotlight on themselves. The real problem is codies dont give a crap about Esports, the only thing they care about is sales, there is no real passion for the sporting side of the game, why invest the profits into fixing anything when they are only 12 months away from a new game and all this gets forgotten about. Their priority has always been to appeal to casual console players, thats where the main bulk of the money is for this franchise and to be quite honest even as a pc only player myself i do think they should just hold competitions on the consoles alone, anybody who is legit in the fight to win on talent alone will go get a console if they dont already have one, anybody who actively cheats will just have to cry into their pillow at night that they cant compete anymore as they will find an excuse not to get the console. The only limitation on consoles is wheel support ofcourse so it may restrict genuine players on that aspect alone if they use a simucube or something but again, if you are in it to win thousands of dollars it may just be worth the investment into a console compatible wheel.

[@UCBjaIt4jsW]

I saw a comment somewhere stating this: If EA or whoever really wants to identify cheaters, just copy imputs (outputs) from a lap, run it to the maximum precision and see if the car in simulation behaves the same as on hotlap/racelap, with current technology we have ingame, referring to for example racenet, that definitely shouldnt be much of a struggle in neither finantial way or any other and even if so, this NEEDS to be invested in and solved, for me this is absolutely unacceptable.

[@kevinb2474]

The shortcut at 5:09 isn’t leading to this folder. Its just the “downloads” folder and this is a standard shortcut. Also the cheat folder isn’t on this path, as you can see at the top

[@ericmcmanus5179]

Thank you for bringing this up as much as you have. It needs to be talked about.

[@VisualDylan]

He also didn’t say that Codemasters asked him to test the hacks, he said “I was investigating and sent the insights to Codemasters” which is a nice try to cover it up... but very sus

[@danielrain_yt]

The esports drivers have built a case file for ea and f1esports to look at they have all experimented to see what's possible and what's not with and without mods... this is my understanding from a couple esports drivers

[@Ticoliniee]

You stated that the dates refer to installation dates in the File Explorer view, but that is the last modified date, not installed date. Those dates can change and are not a fixed value of day of installation.

[@callmeshelton4544]

As someone who works in the Esports industry, Codemasters saying nothing looks BAD. So much time and money has been put into F1 Esports, I don’t get it. If someone cheats in any other Esport title there’s typically an announcement saying they will run an internal investigation. Not even getting that from Codemasters makes it seem like they don’t care.

[@Steezy93]

imagine not even running a 20 second delay so you could cut it incase you accidentally did that (if he really was cheating)

[@Xzibitfreek]

dude, there would be so many ways to avoid this. such as only streaming the game application and not the entire desktop. or rename those files into something unsuspicious

[@mrstim96]

​@@Xzibitfreek if he would rename them, that would cause even MORE questions I think if someone found out

[@3pICTheAnimal]

You don't have those without using them, his reaction gives it away. Even having them at all should be a bannable offense

[@Switch_X_Back3884]

I think the way for Alvarro to validate his statement is for the others that are doing the same thing to speak up and say. Yeah we are helping Alvarro and EA

[@showlate1]

even this could be no proof of thats he wont be using it when he's actual racing. he does have the program and EA can't see if he uses it or not...

[@Tomas_Buldra]

4:47 i believe it was during the psgl, beacuse he practiced for psgl, be on the limit with legit game. And then if he will use the hack he can see the difference better

[@Primo420]

If he was genuinely gathering data for devs, why did his reaction suggest that he's just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Have codemasters confirmed this so-called testing?

[@Dolek135]

they haven't

[@cameronski77]

How would you react if you accidentally showed that, and were testing it like he says? You'd think 'oh shit' because you know how bad it looks. I don't think his reaction necessarily shows he's guilty

[@TrueSonOfWalhall]

@@cameronski77 exactly, also if this testing has been done in secret without anything getting out he'd also think about how he can explain this without giving away too much about the tests they're doing

[@toby7647]

@@cameronski77 we need codemasters to confirm or deny whether there is a test being carried out by him. If his claim is found as not true, he is clearly cheating

[@slimlacy2]

Might be they wanted to come up with a counter measure in secret and nail everyone without their knowledge. Now they can't, or at the very least, good chance it will have less of an affect. He also violated twitch TOS irregardless of whatever or not the cheating was sanctioned by PSGL and codies. This isn't to defend him, I honestly don't give a shit. But I can see plenty of reasons to look like "ahh fuck" I also doubt codies will confirm anything. It seems much more likely, that if he was lying, at the least codies or PSGL would've slammed him for it and kicked him out of the tournament immeadiatly. I think them NOT doing that (assuming they don't, still plenty of time until Wednesday) is all the confirmation we will ever have.

[@K543]

His PSGL results were much better than his esports result, it's not far-fetched to assume he was using cheats during (some) PSGL events. I do believe there are some other drivers who are using cheats.

[@4_14_fan]

I am almost certain every f1 eSports player uses grip hacks, it's unfortunate but it's the only real way you can compete because people are already using them across the entire game. I think other games that are much more realistic and actually have an anti cheat like iracing are much much better suited for a pro eSports scene like this.

[@jackdimambro484]

NGL, the fact F1 has sanctioned this official esports in the first place without putting controls in place, (Live audience, stock (and all the same) sims, input monitoring etc) is pretty embarrassing for them. Its not who cheats, its the fact they dont even know for sure and cant prevent it

[@adamleon3501]

If you double click something it doesnt highlight an applications, a highlighted application is not necessarily running, the folder pinned is the downloads folder which is very common.

[@jakebeaker4243]

wrong on Windows 10 an application keeps being highlighted after running it

[@Tobi67890]

I think if other e -sport drivers believe him, it's a good sign. However I'm struggling to believe the Williams e-sports team in general after your Daytona video. It's a extremely difficult theme.

[@miekaaahh]

No I think people just want to find a way to beat ronhaar.

[@lmo4453]

would it not be possible for someone to create an ai to drive using ronhaar's exact inputs into a system without cheats to see if it's possible to do his exact moves without medications to the game files?

[@atkiinnacat]

probably too difficult as how would they get his exact inputs

[@lmo4453]

@@atkiinnacat i would have assumed that the telemetry for the e-sports races would be saved to ensure fair play, and if it is not then that's something that absolutely needs to be done in the future.

[@mrstim96]

Afraid would be too difficult to make and might not work as you'd want it

[@thewalrus1968]

a cheat is a cheat....the fact that he has it on his system says hes a cheat ... of course hes using cheats.. dirty hacker needs banning for life

[@jordanharris5013]

From Codemasters perspective the only way to truly test cheats in the esports level is to have esports drivers use it unfortunately. Anybody at a level even just below an esports driver would have to turn up the cheats a little bit to make up the esports time and then it's not accurate. It is a weird situation but I think they should have come out and said they were doing this before they started this.

[@mrstim96]

Would have blown the whole purpose of getting an AC in cause then they'd make a new version which would require a whole new AC system. And with short time before release of new game, that'd take too long to make

[@flacohernandez4380]

About to go download the cheat so I can smoke the AI 😂

[@atkiinnacat]

bro make it even, these bots are hella op

[@wellanyway4]

@@atkiinnacat Facts. the straightline speed is the most OP thing ever

[@Jkarl74]

I knew a few at the top esports players used cheats just like with cod no matter what game they will find a way easy way to win

[@gaborvarga6567]

I literally would have said the same thing as he did , but then again , i dont think he would cheat to get avarage results

[@SwordnScale]

In aus we have a saying, where there’s smoke there’s fire, his reaction (getting rid of the evidence, something a guilty person might do) is pretty telling. Good luck getting out of this one 😂

[@waldo1531]

Seeing his statement now, it does make sense and I do expect a report coming soon from EA/Codemasters about cheating in F1 esports.

[@miff227]

Quick PC lesson for you: At 4:50 You say "the application has been clicked on" and "the program has been executed" and "it's been executed on that day when he started up his PC" - none of those statements can stated as fact. Open an Explorer window (WindowsKey+E): Click in the empty space. Press PageDown. You'll see the bottom file highlight. You haven't clicked it, you haven't executed it. (Arrow keys will likely do the same in some situations, or even hovering over the file with the mouse pointer if you have single-click to run activated.) Now open another window (WindowsKey+E): Play around in that folder, navigate about, feel free to do this for a minute, a day, 6 months. Close that new window (CTRL+W): What happens? Oh, you are left with what Alvaro has on his screen. The previous window is brought to the front, with the same file highlighted. Now, you also claim he has a "shortcut" to that folder in Quick Access. You have highlighted the Downloads folder shortcut. That is default Windows10 setup. He has pinned his Programs Archive folder in their, but the folder he is viewing is a subfolder of that. And you have no idea how long his computer has been on, with that folder in that state open. My PC has been on for 18 days currently.

[@constantdissenter5825]

That look seemed awfully guilty.😢

[@gigiamoroso3066]

For me this is complete bs, anyone with cheats on their computer should be banned, I also don't believe in cooperation with ea/codemasters. I've never heard of doping being used by professionals in any other sport with the permission of the organiser. Might as well find out that most of the grid is using cheats. My trust in f1 esports has been seriously compromised.

[@doubleboy2388]

It's possible that he was indeed being a mole of sorts and testing the cheat waters for codemasters. But....I think it's also a very convenient excuse to make it he got caught. It's possible he was cheating, and using the cheats during his league races. And since he got caught he's like oh I've just been doing testing for codemasters. Which might be true. Like you bring up, why was it even out and clicked on?? Very suspect to say the least.

[@theballack21]

It's probably gathering data to gauge the difference between legit and cheated drives. They are probably trying to get the cheaters like in chess. It's the best way of doing it if the data actually gives a clear result.

[@nikolakm7139]

yeah probably lol

[@RacingTherapy]

that's easy to solve, make F1 competitions esports exclusive to consoles, like EA did with FIFA 22 & 23 The FIFA competitions are PS5 exclusive PC games will always have CHEATERS unfortunately.. I HATE CHEATERS in online games Keep up the great work you do

[@famoliveira]

The method for cheating is well known back to 2017 when we started battling former CS/RB6 players who were banned have joined F1 game platform. There is no rocket science behind Cheat Engine and I'm pretty sure there is no way Codie and EA do not have a clue about it either. There is no excuses for F1 Pros have it installed in their main PCs. If you are and old sim-racer like me and raced offline leagues (I read someone calling ancient racing leagues - yes I'm that old) in the end of the 90's / early 00's you are aware of that as many of the old LFRS stars are working for Codie since early days of the F1 series.

[@toxicch.6739]

As more of an outside observer looking in, personally, I don't buy it at all. The idea that codies and EA would need an esports driver to download cheats onto their own machine to test some thing out seems pointless, If they wanted to find out how it worked, they would take the program itself and try and reverse engineer what was happening, not having random esports drivers downloading it themselves. Also if it was the case, they should've mentioned it right when it happened, instead of publishing a statement. If codies and EA were actually working with him, I'd understand the wait, but given the lack of evidence to support that, I don't believe him at all.

[@Imtraned]

I honestly thought it was lando norris at the beginning

[@Dolek135]

His face expression alone tells more than thousand words.

[@demise.8748]

You can mark a program and not open it. Also the folder could have been open because he tested before doing the race and then closed it when the race began. But ultimately its a bit sketchy to open a cheat folder while doing a competitive event.

[@colmjamesoneill1910]

EA sports needs to crawl out from whatever rock their hiding under and address this crap. Not only is it destroying the reputation of E-Sports but imagine been a driver and practicing for hours on end for some lowlife cheater's just use a hack and become faster. Unbelievable how this can happen at this level

[@iscareyou11]

Hey JD! Long Time watcher here, thank u for ur content:) To Clarify - why dont u buy a Cheat for the F1 game to show us an example by yourself? It would be really cool to See the impact cheating has in a hands on hands situation

[@hellowill]

So he made a statement not backed up by the actual devs, and his results have improved since installing (i.e. after the F1 esport season) ???

[@manuelbonelli3690]

I mean...unless I missed something the Devs didn't even say the opposite (that is lying) so tbf as long as the Devs say nothing he is telling the truth

[@FrenchiKO]

What i do believe is that Alvaro tested the cheats himself off Esports so he could spot it better in the future but clumsily showed it on stream. I did just that back then for another game..

[@Freklund]

I have a theory. If for example the top 4 drivers use cheats and the rest of the grid have no chance at all. Then they install cheats to not lose or simply have a chance to compete. And therefore it's spreading.. Just look at the leaderboards in time trail. Some of those times is just to low cause ppl use glitches and what ever. Every game has cheaters cause ppl need to be "best" EA have problems in many of their games and they do nothing against it.

[@F1Jackz]

Codies/ea should say whether the statement is true

[@Zlatans]

might be installled after that date but cheats can be deleted and redownloaded and updated versions with new dates on program installer....

[@jimbo992]

Only way to stop cheating in the current climate is to restrict F1 Esports to Xbox SX and PS5 only.

[@spappy34]

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.