The ABB FIA Formula E Championship has teamed up with Virtually Live to create a gaming app with which you can race against real Formula E drivers.

The ghost racing app takes real time telemetry data from actual Formula E races, and feeds it into the game so you can drive alongside the real drivers as the race is going on.

So, when Jean-Eric Vergne is heading into turn one in real life, you'll see that in the game at the same time, and you'll be able to try and do it better.

A work in progress screenshot of what the game will look like in action when it releases in 2019

Mail Esports spoke to Formula E Media and Business Dev. Director Ali Russell and Formula E Marketing and Brand Director Ben Padley about how it all works.

'What happens is we have the track layout done months in advance, and that's completely reproduced in the game, whether it's New York, Zurich, Hong Kong,' said Ali Russell.

'On the day of the race we've got live telemetry which comes off the car. That's fed into Virtually Live and that represents the car in real time. As a fan, you'll be a ghosted car and you'll effectively be the 21st car on the track.'

The action will mirror what's happening on the track, and players will not only be able to race alongside the drivers, but you can also share exciting moments and challenges with friends on social media.

At the moment all the cars will be purely ghosted, so players can focus on getting the correct racing line. However there are plans for detrimental effects if you run into other cars.

In the future, more functionality will be added to make the game as authentic and realistic as possible.

Heavy audience participation has always been at the core of what Formula E is trying to do

There will be more features in the game too, including being able to go back to previous races and recreate challenges and scenarios that occurred before, and then pitting your skills against your friends.

The app will be available on mobile platforms on PC, and is due for release some time in 2019.

Formula E drivers don't get to test the tracks until the day of the race itself, and fans will be given equal footing.

'You'll be able to download the track and trial it at the same time as the drivers,' said Ben Padley. 'We're trying to stay as close to the reality of the situation as the drivers are, so you'll have the same amount of time on the track. We want to give a very authentic experience to the player to be a real Formula E driver.'

This audience participation aspect has always been at the core of what Formula E has been trying to do. For example, there are currently fan votes for which drivers can get an extra speed boost. There are also e-races at every event, where fans can come and race against the real drivers in simulators.

Alejandro Agag, Founder & CEO of Formula E, said: 'I remember before we launched the first-ever season of Formula E, we said fans no longer just want to watch or follow a sport - they want to participate in it too. The cutting-edge technology used to create the live ghost racing game is extraordinary.'

The idea for this virtual participation actually came about six years ago, before the championship even started.

'Unfortunately the technology to develop that was incredibly expensive and quite time consuming,' said Russell.

Now however, thanks to advancements in VR technology and the partnership with Virtually Live, the vision is finally coming to life.

'No matter where you are or who you are, you just need a mobile phone to be able to race against your mates and drivers live,' said Padley.

Current Formula E leader Jean-Eric Vergne is involved in gaming, as part of Veloce Esports

Formula E is involved in a couple of simulation racing games, but for the average player, the simulation racing rig you need to play them properly is far too expensive. Everyone has a mobile phone though, opening this kind of thing up to far more people.

As we've seen in recent years, the skill sets for simulation racing and actual motorsport are actually very close. The esports pros race on highly accurate rigs, and the McLaren F1 team signed a gamer to be an official sim driver for this year's championship.

'You'd never be able to have Lionel Messi against a gamer,' said Russell. 'The gamer would have the skill set and mind set to wipe the floor with Messi. When you look at driving games and the skill set needed against a real driver, they're in the same sort of area.'