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LONDON (REUTERS) – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was a dominant winner on his Formula One e-sports debut on Sunday (April 5) while World Cup-winning England cricketer Ben Stokes brought up the rear in a virtual Vietnam Grand Prix.
The 28-lap race was the second in a series organised to provide some entertainment for fans starved of real-life action due to the new coronavirus pandemic that has stalled most sport worldwide.
Sunday was originally scheduled to be the inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix but the virtual race, with the 20 drivers joining remotely from their homes, was staged on a version of Melbourne’s Albert Park.
The Hanoi street circuit is not yet available on the official F1 video game.
“It was unbelievably hard,” said Leclerc, who led from start to finish and took the chequered flag 14.094 seconds clear of Danish Renault junior Christian Lundgaard with Williams F1 driver George Russell in third place.
“We are sitting on a chair, so there is not even the G-force we have in a real car, but I am sweating like crazy,” added the Monegasque, winner of two races last year in his first season with Ferrari.
“The muscles are not hurting but the concentration and everything, I’ve been sweating a lot.”
Leclerc’s 19-year-old brother Arthur was fourth for Ferrari, just ahead of Italian Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi.
Lundgaard would have started on pole but was given a five-place drop for exceeding track limits in qualifying.
