Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix series will continue to run for another month while the championship remains on hiatus due to the pandemic.
The Virtual Grand Prix series was launched after the opening rounds of the 2020 F1 season were cancelled or postponed. It was originally scheduled to run until May.The sixth round, Monaco, is due to take place this weekend. The series will continue to run races on weekends when real-world grands prix were originally scheduled, meaning events will be he;ld for Azerbaijan (June 7th), Canada (June 14th) and France (June 28th).
The extension to the series was confirmed by event host Gfinity, which also announced a new contract to continue hosting the official F1 Esports events. The arena in London will continue to present the events over the next two years.
“The Virtual Grand Prix series has caught the imagination of race fans, as shown by the amazing viewing numbers, and we are excited that a new, younger global audience is experiencing the F1 brand in a totally different way,” said Gfinity’s CEO John Clarke.
The series, which uses the official Formula 1 game F1 2019 by Codemasters, has been contested by seven out of 20 current F1 drivers: Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.
In addition to the Virtual Grands Prix, Gfinity will present the Pro Draft Reveal Show and the Pro Series in 2020. Further details of this year’s format are to be confirmed.
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Virtual Grand Prix winners so far
Virtual Grand Prix | Track | Winner |
---|---|---|
Bahrain | Bahrain International Circuit | Guanyu Zhou |
Vietnam | Albert Park* | Charles Leclerc |
China | Shanghai International Circuit | Charles Leclerc |
Netherlands | Interlagos* | Alexander Albon |
Spain | Circuit de Catalunya | George Russell |
*The correct tracks for these rounds are not present in F1 2019.
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StephenH
20th May 2020, 16:26
After his win at Indy last weekend, Jimmy Broadbrent get the Virtual Triple Crown ??
Ninjenius
20th May 2020, 16:29
Drivers’ Standings (for anyone interested!)
1. Charles Leclerc 83
2. George Russell 70
3. Alexander Albon 59
4. Stoffel Vandoorne 48
5. Guanyu Zhou 40
6. Esteban Gutierrez 34
7. Christian Lungaard 26
8. Nicholas Latifi 23
9. Antonio Giovinazzi 16
10. Louis Deletraz 16
11. Philipp Eng 15
12. Jimmy Broadbent 14
13. Arthur Leclerc 12
14. Lando Norris 11
15. Anthony Davidson 8
16. Enzo Fittipaldi 6
17. Luca Salvadori 6
18. Liam Lawson 4
19. Paul Chaloner 4
20. Pietro Fittipaldi 4
21. Antonio Fuoco 2
22. Dino Beganovic 2
23. Carlos Sainz 1
24. Max Fewtrell 1
Ninjenius
20th May 2020, 16:32
Admittedly that doesn’t take into account fastest laps. I think Albon got FL in Catalunya, not sure about the others.
JohnNik (@johnnik)
20th May 2020, 19:08
Brilliant, I actually came to ask if anybody was keeping score. Many thanks.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
20th May 2020, 17:49
I kinda switched off after China, but might have to watch Monaco this weekend as it can’t be anything other than utter carnage.
Imre (@f1mre)
20th May 2020, 20:17
They should turn on some damage finally.
JohnNik (@johnnik)
20th May 2020, 19:11
So is Leclerc going to win the virtual event while sitting in his flat in the physical location?
Jere (@jerejj)
21st May 2020, 6:23
@johnnik Possibly.
John Plateu
21st May 2020, 4:30
I can’t stand seeing footballers and random celebs driving with the F1 drivers.
Let’s put Juju Noda in the online field.
Young girl, smashing records in the world. That would be interesting.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st May 2020, 6:25
@John Plateu I agree with you on the first part: It indeed would be better to limit the access to real-life racing drivers (and possibly also sim-racers) only. People who know how to drive an actual racing car.
John
22nd May 2020, 2:53
@jerejj
How the second part?
Young real racing driver.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd May 2020, 11:44
@John I don’t care about that paragraph as much, but falls into the same category as the above.
John
4th June 2020, 23:56
Albert Park is Australia and Interlagos is Brazil, not Vietnam and Netherlands.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th June 2020, 19:49
See the note under the table.