British driver George Russell managed to win the fifth Virtual Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona, making it a historic success for his team Williams. His close battle with Charles Leclerc was an exciting one.Reading time: 2 minutes
It was a tense race on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday. But just as the week before, Charles Leclerc eventually finished in second place. He lost his duel against the 22-year-old British Formula 1 driver George Russell, who earned the first win for Williams in Formula 1 since 2012. Alex Albon, winner of the Virtual GP in Brazil, finished fourth.
Russell came in as one of the favorites after starting from the pole position. However, after a bad first lap he found himself in P5 and had to fight his way back to the top. Charles Leclerc was leading the race most of the time and looked like he could add another Virtual F1 GP trophies to his collection.
But in round 25, Russell overtook Leclerc getting back in the lead. The Williams driver had received a three-second penalty before, so Leclerc’s had still a chance to take home another victory for Ferrari. However, just before the finish line, the Monegasque received a three-second penalty himself and George Russell took the Spanish Grand Prix with a 2.5-second difference.
Not only the top drivers of the competition excited the viewers. Argentinian soccer star Sergio Agüero, playing for Manchester City FC in Premier League, finished the race in P14. Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ended the race on P12. The next Virtual Formula 1 GP will take the drivers to Monaco on May 24, starting at 5 PM CEST (11 AM ET) live on the Formula 1 Twitch channel.
Image source: Formula 1 / Codemasters
