As it happened: F1 Monaco Virtual Grand Prix

Formula 1’s official Esports Virtual Grand Prix series continues today with the Monaco Virtual Grand Prix.

The F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix series will run as replacements to the postponed rounds of the 2020 season – which has been severely affected by the ongoing global coronavirus crisis – with all teams and drivers invited to take part in each race.

Renault test and reserve driver Guanyu Zhou claimed honours by taking victory in the first race in Bahrain, before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stormed to a pair of dominant back-to-back wins in the Vietnamese and Chinese rounds. 

Red Bull’s Alex Albon halted Leclerc’s winning run next time out in the Dutch Virtual Grand Prix, while George Russell went on to record his maiden Virtual GP win for Williams at the most recent Spanish round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The sixth round takes place tonight with the Monaco Virtual Grand Prix at 18:00 BST local time. The event is being live-streamed and will feature an 18-minute qualifying session followed by a 39-lap half-distance race on Codemasters F1 2019 video game around Monte Carlo.

The Monaco Grand Prix was scheduled for this weekend but is the third race of 2020 to be fully cancelled, marking the first time since 1954 that the principality has not held a grand prix.

WATCH THE MONACO VIRTUAL GP BELOW

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Renault’s Esteban Ocon will make their debuts in the Virtual Grand Prix series this weekend, taking the number of current F1 drivers contesting the official Esports series up to eight for this weekend’s event - the highest number to date.

Joining the F1 drivers on the grid will be a contingent of celebrity guests, including Arsenal’s Premier League star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who will race alongside Norris at McLaren.

Real Madrid and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois returns for his latest Virtual GP outing with Alfa Romeo, while surfer Kai Lenny and Latin American singer Luis Fonsi will make their debuts for Red Bull and Racing Point respectively.

Full Virtual Monaco Grand Prix line-up: 

Mercedes: Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Arthur Leclerc
Red Bull: Alex Albon, Kai Lenny
McLaren: Lando Norris, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Renault: Esteban Ocon, Nicolas Prost
AlphaTauri: Antonio Liuzzi, Luca Salvadori
Racing Point: David Schumacher, Luis Fonsi
Alfa Romeo: Antonio Giovinazzi, Thibaut Courtois
Haas: Louis Deletraz, Pietro Fittipaldi
Williams: George Russell, Nicholas Latifi