Perez, Gasly join grid for penultimate F1 Virtual GP

Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly have joined Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix grid for the penultimate event this weekend.

The Racing Point and AlphaTauri drivers will make their F1 Esports debuts in the race, which is acting as a replacement for the postponed Azerbaijan Grand Prix which was meant to be held on 7 June.

F1 confirmed that the Baku race will be the second to last Virtual GP in the series, with the final round taking place on 14 June when the Canadian Grand Prix was due to take place.

There will be a total of eight current F1 drivers taking part in the Azerbaijan Virtual GP, with Perez and Gasly joined by Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi, Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, and George Russell - who is aiming to achieve a hat-trick of wins following his victories in the Spain and Monaco rounds.

After making his Virtual GP debut last time in Monaco, Valtteri Bottas is not returning for Mercedes, with Anthony Davidson stepping in to fill the Finn’s vacated seat alongside reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez.

Celebrity guest stars include Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte and AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who will drive for Renault and AlphaTauri respectively, while Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will make his fourth Virtual GP appearance driving for Alfa Romeo.

Former Dakar Rally World Champion, Matthias Walkner, will also make his debut for Red Bull, teaming up with Albon.

Julian Tan, F1’s head of digital business initiative and Esports, said: “We are immensely proud of the Virtual Grand Prix series, which allowed us to bring Formula 1 to fans around the world, in a time when actual racing was not possible.

"We are very grateful to the teams and drivers that have taken part in the series to date and look forward to ending the series with a bang in the coming weeks as we all gear up to kick off the 2020 Formula 1 world championship season in Austria.

"Great momentum has been gathered as part of our Virtual Grands Prix Series and we are excited to build on this momentum in our esports strategy going forward."

The Azerbaijan Virtual GP will be broadcast live from 6pm BST on Sunday.

Full Azerbaijan Virtual GP line-up:

Mercedes: Esteban Gutierrez, Anthony Davidson
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Enzo Fittipaldi
Red Bull: Alex Albon, Matthias Walkner
McLaren: Lando Norris, Ben Daly (Tiametmarduk)
Renault: Oscar Piastri, Aymeric Laporte
AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly, Gianluigi Donnarumma
Racing Point: Sergio Perez, Jimmy Broadbent
Alfa Romeo: Antonio Giovinazzi, Thibaut Courtois
Haas: Pietro Fittipaldi, Louis Deletraz
Williams: George Russell, Nicholas Latifi