George Russell won the Virtual Spanish Grand Prix after a fierce scrap with Charles Leclerc which saw both drivers collect three-second time penalties for track limits violations.
The race was decided when Leclerc was given his penalty on the penultimate lap of the race. Russell had collected his penalty earlier on, then repeatedly cut the final chicane to re-pass Leclerc without gaining a further penalty.Russell had put his car on pole position but lost the lead within seconds of the race starting. Fellow front row occupant Esteban Gutierrez beat him to turn one, and Russell paid the price for trying to go around the outside of him. Leclerc, Albon and the other Williams of Nicholas Latifi relegated him to fifth place.
Leclerc took the lead from Gutierrez the second time the field passed the pits. Two laps later Albon got the job done as well, meaning the pair that scrapped for the lead last week were now heading the field.
But only for one lap: Albon peeled off into the pits the next time around, and gambled on a switch from softs to mediums. Leclerc came in three laps later, opted for hards, and rejoined on his rival’s tail.
While the others who qualified on softs all made their stops early, Antonio Giovinazzi rose into the lead of the race, running on mediums. He eventually surrendered the lead to Albon on lap 16.
By now Leclerc was almost five seconds behind and had the recovering Russell breathing down his neck. The Ferrari driver cut the apex at the chicane as the Williams drew within striking range at half-distance.
Albon made his second pit stop on the 19th lap, putting Leclerc and Russel in a fight for the lead. The Williams driver, suffering rear tyre wear, fell over two seconds behind at one point, but by lap 21 had the Ferrari in his crosshairs again.
He had taken too many liberties with the track’s run-off areas, however, and was given a three-second time penalty to serve at the end of the race. This changed the dynamic of the battle at the front: Now now only did he need to pass the Ferrari, he would then need to put three seconds on Leclerc to win.
For a while it seemed to be on. Russell took the lead in the DRS zone and briefly edged clear. But then he fell victim to a long-distance lunge from Leclerc who re-took the place around the outside of turn one.As the laps ticked down Russell increasingly took liberties at the final chicane, using it to attack Leclerc again and regain the lead. But the three-second lead he needed seemed out of reach. “I don’t think we’re going to get two seconds in two laps” he sighed as the 32nd lap of 33 began.
Suddenly, nearing the end of the penultimate tour, race control announced Leclerc had also been given a three-second time penalty. In an instant Russell’s half-second net deficit became a two-and-a-half second lead.
Russell took the win, and afterwards admitted he’d taken note of how aggressively the professional esports drivers had cut the final chicane without taking a penalty during their races. Leclerc took second ahead of Gutierrez, while Albon recovered to fourth ahead of Latifi following his second pit stop.
Lando Norris qualified only 13th after a five-place grid penalty. In the race he suffered his usual connection problems early on and dropped out.
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Starting grid
Position | Driver | Notes |
---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Williams |
2 | Esteban Gutierrez | Mercedes |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
4 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari |
5 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull |
6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams |
7 | Anthony Davidson | Mercedes |
8 | Jimmy Broadbent | Racing Point |
9 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas |
10 | Nicolas Hamilton | McLaren |
11 | Max Fewtrell | Renault |
12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo |
13 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
14 | Thibaut Courtois | Alfa Romeo |
15 | David Schumacher | Racing Point |
16 | Andrea Pirillo | AlphaTauri |
17 | Sergio Aguero | Red Bull |
18 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | AlphaTauri |
19 | Ian Poulter | Renault |
20 | Arthur Melo | Haas |
Result
Position | Driver | Notes |
---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Williams |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
3 | Esteban Gutierrez | Mercedes |
4 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull |
5 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams |
6 | Anthony Davidson | Mercedes |
7 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo |
8 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas |
9 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari |
10 | Max Fewtrell | Renault |
11 | Jimmy Broadbent | Racing Point |
12 | Thibaut Courtois | Alfa Romeo |
13 | David Schumacher | Racing Point |
14 | Sergio Aguero | Red Bull |
15 | Nicolas Hamilton | McLaren |
16 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | AlphaTauri |
17 | Andrea Pirillo | AlphaTauri |
18 | Ian Poulter | Renault |
19 | Arthur Melo | Haas |
20 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
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warrie
10th May 2020, 20:11
they should make these races as long as a real GP . 50 laps or more
Coefficient
10th May 2020, 20:27
Lando, invest in a leased line!
JC
10th May 2020, 23:34
Every other game he plays is fine. It’s just the F1 game that craps out! He had the same number of Twitch viewers for Indy iRacing.
It’s quite funny watching him and Max play COD…
sato113 (@sato113)
11th May 2020, 0:56
Actually Lando didn’t have network issues, he just gave up! Span his car, got a time penalty, span again, said on his stream he wasn’t having fun and just retired from the race. :/
Andyd
10th May 2020, 23:15
How did the footballers do? LOL
StephenH
10th May 2020, 23:17
The way Aguero shoved Jimmy Broadbent off and pushed him into the pit wall down the straight was outragious.
James Brickles (@brickles)
11th May 2020, 8:30
Makes sense for a footballer!
Kribana (@krichelle)
11th May 2020, 4:39
So you can actually cut the second part of the final chicane without getting a warning, even though on strict corner cutting rules? I will start to do this in career mode and in online racing too.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
12th May 2020, 20:26
@krichelle Yes. You are the first person I’ve seen who is in any way happy about this discovery. (And be careful – there’s a limit as to how much cutting can be done, even on that corner).
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
11th May 2020, 15:19
It was actually a decent e-race!
@keithcollantine a great addition would be to get an unofficial championship points tables :)