Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's Alex Albon finished second at the virtual Canadian Grand Prix.

Esports

How Alex Albon claimed 2nd place at final virtual F1 race in Canada

The virtual Canadian Grand Prix saw Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's Alex Albon secure his second consecutive runner-up finish, with George Russell in 1st and multiple X Games winner Jon Olsson in 11th.

Written by James W Roberts

3 min readPublished on 14.06.2020 · 21:45 UTC

For the final time this year the virtual Formula One grid assembled on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the virtual Canadian Grand Prix. Once again real-world F1 drivers were joined by a mix of racing drivers from various disciplines, alongside streamers, musicians and sportspeople to battle it out on the F1 2019 video game.

After 35 laps of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, George Russell signed off the 2020 virtual F1 season with a fourth victory in dominant fashion, once again followed home by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon, as they prepare to step away from the simulator and get back to the real thing in Austria on July 5.

A host of new names joined the moveable cast of racers. Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was teamed up with Biffy Clyro singer and guitarist Simon Neil, whilst virtual race winner Albon was joined in the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing stable by multiple X Games medalist Jon Olsson.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner Russell ended the 18-minute qualifying session ahead of Albon and Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi, with Gasly, fresh from finishing fifth in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans earlier in the day, making the top 10 by securing eighth on the grid.

It was Russell who made the best start when the lights went out, leading from Albon, who survived an early scare after getting very sideways exiting turn three to hold onto second place. Gasly dropped to the rear of the field and Albon's rookie team-mate Olsson went the other way, making his way up to the heady heights of 11th.

At the end of Lap 4, Latifi made an error at the infamous Wall of Champions chicane, spinning and dropping well down the field, promoting Esteban Gutiérrez to third and hard-charging Renault junior driver Caio Collet to fourth on his virtual F1 debut. At the head of the field, the Russell versus Albon battle drew away from third place man Gutiérrez, replicating their battle from the previous race in Azerbaijan.

Albon's bid for victory took a hit on Lap 8, as the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver was handed a three-second penalty. Meanwhile, further back in the pack there was plenty of squabbling as the drivers made their first round of pit stops.

By Lap 20, Russell's lead amounted to just under five seconds over Albon, the Englishman continuing the unstoppable pace that he's harnessed in these virtual races, with Albon once again providing his nearest competition.

Scuderia AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly was showing no signs of fatigue following his 24 hour race and managed to fight back from the rear of the pack to move into eighth with 15 laps remaining. His joy was short lived and the French driver would be disqualified nine laps later.

Other movers included Renault's winner of the season's first race, Guanyu Zhou, who'd made an early first pit stop and moved into fifth in his hunt for the podium, enjoying a fierce battle with rookie team-mate Collet.

At the end of the 35th and final lap, it was the imperious Russell who took the chequered flag ahead of Albon, with Gutiérrez claiming the final podium place in the Mercedes, as Collet won the battle of the Renault cars in fourth on his debut.