Enzo Fittipaldi wins a thrilling race ahead of a storming Stoffel Vandoorne and disappointed Athur Leclerc.
It looked to be a certain victory for Arthur Leclerc, but Enzo Fittipaldi had other ideas, stealing 1st with 2 laps to go. Vandoorne took a huge strategy risk and it paid off as he took 2nd on the last lap.
The Virtual Grand Prix made a welcome return after the immensely successful ‘We Race On’ series last year. While the previous chamionship took place due to lockdown from the COVID-19 Pandemic, these events have been reintroduced to entertain fans during the off season.
The fast and exciting Red Bull Ring in Austria was the host for the first of 3 Virtual Grand Prix. Current and former Formula 1 drivers signed up immediately, as well as budding racers from junior Formulae and various celebrities, keen to try their hand at motorsport.
First, the Esports drivers qualified for their team-mates and Davide Tonizza’s dominant performance left Marcus Armstrong on pole, with Anthony Davidson and Arthur Leclerc following.
Feature Race Report
The top 3 had a strong start and remained in position through the first corner. Anthony Davidson looked hopeful from 2nd, but overshot himself attempting to take the lead into turn 3. This led to a spin for the British driver and he fell down to the back of the grid. One lap later, Leclerc made a powerful move into turn 4 and nudged his team-mate out of the way and down to 2nd.
Behind, Jimmy Broadbent was clinging on to 3rd but lost it to Enzo Fittipaldi on lap 3. On Lap 5 it was Pietro Fittipaldi’s turn and the brothers found themselves in 3rd and 4th for the Haas team. However, Pietro gained a 3 second time penalty in the process, giving him a time and place disadvantage.
Stoffel Vandoorne was the next driver to take Broadbent and soon, Nicolas Latifi was in the hunt. A rather forceful overtake took him past on lap 10, placing him 6th.
The Ferrari’s had a strong 1-2 out in front, but Leclerc gained a 3 second penalty on lap 11. He had been maintaining a tight 0.5s gap and now had a huge task to try and break away from his team-mate.
Mid-Race
On lap 15, Leclerc pitted from the lead and came out just behind Courtois and Broadbent, battling for 7th. Leclerc was bleeding time behind the battle, but was gifted a reward as Armstrong received a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. This placed Leclerc in front, with a 2 second time advantage, but both drivers were in a significant amount of traffic.
By lap 21, all but 2 drivers had time penalties, bizzarrely levelling the field.
Vandoorne was leading by the time he pit, but came out in 5th on lap 23. However, the Belgian had new Soft tyres bolted on and had a significant pace advantage toward the end of the race. With 10 laps to go, he had a 10s deficit to the lead.
In the mid-race madness, Enzo Fittipaldi found his way into 2nd and started to harass Leclerc for the lead. Both drivers had equal penalities, so on track position would determine the victor.
Tense ending
Fittipaldi barged his way past on lap 28, but miraculously escaped a penalty. Leclerc hounded the back of the Haas car and managed to keep the DRS advantage for the next few laps.
With 3 laps to go, Vandoorne found his way on to the podium and was recording lap times over 2s faster than the battling duo in front.
The battle for the lead was reaching fever pitch as Leclerc retook the lead from the Haas. Time was running out and opportunites for Fittipaldi to take the lead were becoming sparse. Yet, this didn’t stop the Portuguese driver and he muscled his way past on lap 34.
Vandoorne managed to catch the top 3 with one lap to go. The desperation finally took Leclerc and a huge, desperate lunge gifted Fittipaldi the victory and promoted Vandoorne to 2nd overall.
Behind, Alex Albon’s superb recovery drive left him a solid 4th, ahead of Amstrong and the other Fittipaldi brother. Anthony Davidson managed to punch his way back to 7th while Jimmy Broadbent recorded his first VGP points scoring finish. Christian Lungaard and Luca Salvadori rounded out the top 10.
There was pressure for the series to live up to the heights it managed last year. But, as with the first race in 2020, Austria did not disappoint. The VGP will return in 7 days time, for the British VGP.
Feature Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
