George Russell dominates F1’s Monaco Virtual GP
George Russell claimed his second victory in a row in Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix series in dominant fashion around the streets of Monaco.
The Williams driver made a quick start to leapfrog pole sitter Pietro Fittipaldi on the run to St. Devote and never looked back, turning in a commanding display on his way to recording a second consecutive Virtual GP win.
Russell, who took his maiden Virtual GP victory last time out at Barcelona, opened up a huge 32-second buffer before pitting and maintained his lead following the mandatory pit stop window.
George Russell claimed his second victory in a row in Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix series in dominant fashion around the streets of Monaco.
The Williams driver made a quick start to leapfrog pole sitter Pietro Fittipaldi on the run to St. Devote and never looked back, turning in a commanding display on his way to recording a second consecutive Virtual GP win.
Russell, who took his maiden Virtual GP victory last time out at Barcelona, opened up a huge 32-second buffer before pitting and maintained his lead following the mandatory pit stop window.
Unlike the majority of his rivals who picked up time penalties for track limits abuse, Russell was flawless throughout as he led all 39 laps around the digital streets of Monte Carlo en route to a convincing win.
Nearly 40s behind Russell, Esteban Gutierrez achieved his second consecutive podium finish for Mercedes in second spot.
Gutierrez collided with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the closing stages as he overtook the Monegasque driver, who managed to collect a big spin coming out of the tunnel on his way to salvaging third place, despite a time penalty.
Red Bull’s Alex Albon beat Arthur Leclerc to fourth following a titanic late battle, while Pietro Fittipaldi finished sixth having stormed to pole position during a wet qualifying session.
Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren, with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, Haas’ Louis Deletraz and Racing Point’s David Schumacher rounding out the top-10.
On his Virtual GP debut, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas recovered to 11th after first lap contact sent him spinning to the very back of the grid.
Renault's Esteban Ocon was also making his first appearance in the series but technical issues prevented him from taking part in the race.
The event acted as a replacement for the 2020 Monaco Grand Prix, which was due to be held this weekend but became a casualty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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