Courtesy of Red Bull Media Service Team
Debutant Olsson runs fourth before race incident drops former skier down.
Alexander Albon finished the F1 Esports Virtual GP Series on a high with second place around Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as teammate Jon Olsson finished 19th. Here is all you need to know:
– The eighth and final round of the series that replaced actual 2020 Formula One races saw Thai-British driver Albon joined by debutant and former skier Olsson.
– The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing duo knew they would have to dig deep at the Virtual Canadian GP to deny in-form Williams driver George Russell.
– Albon had a strong qualifying to start the finale from the front row in second, meanwhile two-time Winter X Games gold medallist Olsson qualified back in 20th.
– The race got off to a brilliant start for Olsson, who climbed up to 10th on the opening lap before Albon entered into a fascinating duel with polesitter Russell.
– Swede Olsson delivered an amazing debut, running as high as fourth, before falling victim to a racing incident that put him down in 19th at the chequered flag.
– Olsson, 37, said: “I absolutely loved it – it was so great to be a part of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, and the race was going amazingly until a hit from behind put me into the wall of champions. It was a true F1 experience!”
– Albon, 24, added: “I messed up my qualifying pretty badly, but I had really bad connection issues which didn’t help. The pace was there but I got track limits in Turn One which was marginal, then on my next push lap where I was purple in sectors one and two, I got traffic in the last sector which ended my chances of pole. Still, P2 wasn’t a bad place to start the race from but then my internet just got worse. At the start, my game kept lagging and jumping so it was hard to know where I was on track. I had more pace to give but another second place on the podium will do. Well done to my teammate Jon who drove an amazing recovery race and I hope he enjoyed the experience at a track like Montreal. The Virtual GPs have been a lot fun and they’ve definitely kept us active, but now I’m looking forward to getting back to the real thing.”
F1 Virtual Canadian GP selected results:
1. George Russell – Williams
2. Alex Albon – Aston Martin Red Bull Racing
3. Esteban Gutierrez – Mercedes
4. Caio Collet – Renault
5. Ben Daly – McLaren
19. Jon Olsson – Aston Martin Red Bull Racing