George Russell eases to third Virtual GP win around streets of Baku
2020 AZERBAIJAN F1 VIRTUAL GRAND PRIX – RACE RESULTS
George Russell moved to the top of the F1 Virtual Grand Prix esports standings with a third consecutive victory at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.
Following on from his last gasp win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and his dominant performance in Monaco, Russell was once again in imperious form around the tricky virtual street circuit to clinch another success for Williams.
The Briton qualified second on the grid but after out-braking pole sitter Alex Albon into turn one steadily eked out his margin during the first stint before adding to his advantage over the Thai racer during the second and final stint.
Coupled to a disastrous race for erstwhile series leader Charles Leclerc, it means Russell heads into the final round of the esports ‘season’ in Canada on the verge of title glory.
Behind Russell, Albon chased hard but had no answer to his rival as he returned to the podium in the Red Bull, while Esteban Gutierrez enjoyed a lonely run to third place in the Mercedes.
Finally free of the glitches that have hampered his Virtual GPs all year, Lando Norris secured his best result of the season in fourth place, ahead of impressive youngster Oscar Pietri – who will compete in Formula 3 this year – taking fifth on his Virtual GP debut for Renault.
Pietro Fittipaldi finished sixth in the Haas, ahead of Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams, Ben Daly in the McLaren, Mercedes’ Anthony Davidson and Racing Point’s Jimmy Broadbent in tenth.
Elsewhere, Leclerc – a two-time winner in 2020 – barely featured after a poor qualifying and a pile-up at turn one dropped him down the order. Picking up a number of penalties, the Monegasque ended up down in 14th, behind his Ferrari team-mate Enzo Fittipaldi on what was a pointless outing for the Ferrari team.
Pierre Gasly was another to get caught up in the turn one skirmish before recovering to 12th, while Sergio Perez yo-yo’d around the classification en route to 15th.
Meanwhile, Louis Deletraz qualified third for Haas but fell back early on before dropping out of the race altogether with five laps remaining.
