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Charles Leclerc made it two wins from two as the Ferrari driver prevailed in a race-long battle with Red Bull’s Alex Albon to take victory in the Virtual Chinese Grand Prix.
The two F1 regulars proved the cream of the field, taking the top two spots on the grid in qualifying as Leclerc continued his domination of the eSports world with an untouchable lap time around the Shanghai International Circuit.
The event was in lieu of the postponed Chinese Grand Prix, which was the first of the eight races that have been called off this season following the coronavirus pandemic, with China’s initial outbreak laying claim to what was supposed to be the third round of the 2020 campaign back in February before anyone knew the extent of how badly Covid-19 would impact the sporting year.
But with a growing number of F1 drivers on the grid, every other Sunday evening provides something to fill the void left by the sport’s absence, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz the latest to make the crossover from vehicle to virtual and join Leclerc, Albon, George Russell, Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi among the professional drivers along with a handful of Formula Two hopefuls.
Plenty of the early-race teething problems have been ironed out by Codemasters and hosts Gfinity Esports Arena, yet the one constant absentee remained Lando Norris as the Briton experienced connection issues to leave him unable to compete for the third race in a row, causing his thousands of Twitch subscribers yet another frustrating evening.
Yet that wasn’t the only constant in the Virtual Grand Prix series as once again Leclerc led from the front as soon as the lights went out, only this time he had company to keep him honest in the form of Albon. The London-born Thai put his Melbourne struggle behind him to show his true pace in China and emerge as Leclerc’s fiercest competition, and appeared to outsmart Leclerc with an early lap-three pit stop to take the lead when the Ferrari stopped two laps later.
The gamble for Albon was managing his tyres to the end, only for Leclerc to surprise him into turn one by forcing the Ferrari up the inside and holding onto the lead through turns two and three, from where he was able to pull away lap by lap. The move mirrored the one that Leclerc actually produced on Albon back in 2017 in F2 when the two battled on this very track for the race victory, although this time Leclerc gave Albon a shove just to ensure the move was made – returning the favour after being on the end of a rather robust overtake himself in Saturday’s Veloce Esports ‘Not the GP Versus’ event.
Behind, former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne was able to make up for a disappointing qualifying session, which saw a second-place start unravel into a fifth-place start as the final lap times were posted, to undercut Renault development driver Guanyu Zhou and seemingly take the final place on the podium. Zhou was returning to the event after winning the opening Bahrain Grand Prix, but with the likes of Leclerc and Albon joining the series in his absence, the F2 race-winner got a quick realisation that the competition has increased significantly.
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Created with Sketch.
1/21 F1 2020
The Formula One grid shows just two changes from the Class of 19, meaning there will be a fair few familiar faces returning next season. Here's how the grid lines up.
REUTERS
2/21 Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton (No 44)
Heads into his 14th season in F1 as a newly-crowned six-time world champion and is showing no signs of allowing his stranglehold on the sport to ease. Will once again be the man to beat, but his future could well prove the biggest talking point in 2020.
AFP via Getty Images
3/21 Mercedes – Valtteri Bottas (77)
Bottas comfortably made second place his own in 2019 but he still needs to find an extra gear or two if he is going to really challenge his teammate. Whether or not his divorce affected him mentally throughout the season only he will know, but a more focused and driven Valtteri Bottas could arrive on the grid next season if his distractions are out of his mind.
Getty Images
4/21 Ferrari – Charles Leclerc (16)
Based on results in 2019 the Ferrari No 2 should step up and become the Ferrari No 1, but will that actually happen? Regardless, Leclerc impressed immensely in qualifying last season, taking five pole positions including four in a row, and he finally found himself on the top step of the podium in a sign of things to come.
Getty Images
5/21 Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel (5)
Perhaps the most under-pressure driver in the sport in 2020, Vettel knows another year of failing to meet the grade will almost certainly end his time with Ferrari, particularly with so many good drivers on the market in 2021. Vettel showed signs of the fire within him still burning with his win in Singapore, but much more will be expected from the four-time world champion.
Getty Images
6/21 Red Bull – Max Verstappen (33)
A year wiser and with a car that improved rapidly as the season wore on, Verstappen could prove the biggest challenge to Hamilton and Mercedes in 2020 if Red Bull can find that top level consistency they crave. Verstappen is also out of contract next year and will be as sought-after as Hamilton, and a season-long duel between the two would spice up that uncertainty no end.
Getty Images
7/21 Red Bull – Alexander Albon (23)
Has convinced Red Bull enough in his half a season with the team to bag himself the second seat with the team for next year, or at least for the start of it. Looked a calm head on talented shoulders in 2019 and should have had a deserved podium in Brazil had it not been for Hamilton’s rash overtake attempt, but now he will have to start closing the gap to Verstappen if he is to secure a long-term future.
Getty Images
8/21 McLaren – Carlos Sainz (55)
The ‘best of the rest’ last season will hope to build on the late podium that he secured in Brazil that ended McLaren’s long five-year drought, with aspirations that the British team will be looking up at the top three rather than down over their shoulder.
Getty Images
9/21
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10/21
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11/21
AFP via Getty Images
12/21
Getty Images
13/21
Getty Images
14/21
EPA
15/21
Getty Images
16/21
REUTERS
17/21
REUTERS
18/21
REUTERS
19/21
Getty Images
20/21
Getty Images
21/21
REUTERS
1/21 F1 2020
The Formula One grid shows just two changes from the Class of 19, meaning there will be a fair few familiar faces returning next season. Here's how the grid lines up.
REUTERS
2/21 Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton (No 44)
Heads into his 14th season in F1 as a newly-crowned six-time world champion and is showing no signs of allowing his stranglehold on the sport to ease. Will once again be the man to beat, but his future could well prove the biggest talking point in 2020.
AFP via Getty Images
3/21 Mercedes – Valtteri Bottas (77)
Bottas comfortably made second place his own in 2019 but he still needs to find an extra gear or two if he is going to really challenge his teammate. Whether or not his divorce affected him mentally throughout the season only he will know, but a more focused and driven Valtteri Bottas could arrive on the grid next season if his distractions are out of his mind.
Getty Images
4/21 Ferrari – Charles Leclerc (16)
Based on results in 2019 the Ferrari No 2 should step up and become the Ferrari No 1, but will that actually happen? Regardless, Leclerc impressed immensely in qualifying last season, taking five pole positions including four in a row, and he finally found himself on the top step of the podium in a sign of things to come.
Getty Images
5/21 Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel (5)
Perhaps the most under-pressure driver in the sport in 2020, Vettel knows another year of failing to meet the grade will almost certainly end his time with Ferrari, particularly with so many good drivers on the market in 2021. Vettel showed signs of the fire within him still burning with his win in Singapore, but much more will be expected from the four-time world champion.
Getty Images
6/21 Red Bull – Max Verstappen (33)
A year wiser and with a car that improved rapidly as the season wore on, Verstappen could prove the biggest challenge to Hamilton and Mercedes in 2020 if Red Bull can find that top level consistency they crave. Verstappen is also out of contract next year and will be as sought-after as Hamilton, and a season-long duel between the two would spice up that uncertainty no end.
Getty Images
7/21 Red Bull – Alexander Albon (23)
Has convinced Red Bull enough in his half a season with the team to bag himself the second seat with the team for next year, or at least for the start of it. Looked a calm head on talented shoulders in 2019 and should have had a deserved podium in Brazil had it not been for Hamilton’s rash overtake attempt, but now he will have to start closing the gap to Verstappen if he is to secure a long-term future.
Getty Images
8/21 McLaren – Carlos Sainz (55)
The ‘best of the rest’ last season will hope to build on the late podium that he secured in Brazil that ended McLaren’s long five-year drought, with aspirations that the British team will be looking up at the top three rather than down over their shoulder.
Getty Images
9/21
Getty Images
10/21
Getty Images
11/21
AFP via Getty Images
12/21
Getty Images
13/21
Getty Images
14/21
EPA
15/21
Getty Images
16/21
REUTERS
17/21
REUTERS
18/21
REUTERS
19/21
Getty Images
20/21
Getty Images
21/21
REUTERS
However, Vandoorne earned himself a three-second penalty for repeated infringement on lap 13, and it came back to bite him as both Zhou and Russell were able to finish within that timeframe to relegated him to fifth place and off the podium.
An infuriated Russell fought his way to the field despite receiving penalties in both qualifying and the race itself, with another F2 driver in Louis Deletraz holding off current Mercedes test driver Esteban Gutierrez to take sixth.
The grid also featured two superstar footballers in Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, and like so many times in the Champions League it was the Madrid man who came out on top with a 15th-placed finish on his debut, two places ahead of the Italian forward.
Virtual Chinese Grand Prix result
- Leclerc
- Albon
- Zhou
- Russell
- Vandoorne
- Gutierrez
- Deletraz
- Lawson
- Latifi
- Sainz
- Fittipaldi
- Ilott
- Broadbent
- Correa
- Courtois
- Davidson
- Immobile
- Poulter
- Giovinazzi DNF
- Norris DNS