Charles Leclerc won his second successive Formula One esports race with victory in a virtual Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, and then celebrated at home by cooking himself a plate of plain pasta.
The 22-year-old Ferrari driver, who took real life back-to-back victories in Belgium and Italy last season, won from pole position two weeks after he did the same on his debut in a virtual Vietnamese GP.
Racing on a simulator installed in his Monaco apartment, Leclerc prevailed over Red Bull’s Thai driver Alexander Albon by two and a half seconds.
The pair went wheel-to-virtual-wheel after the pit stops, with Leclerc passing Albon with a move that was not picked up on the official broadcast of the race. Chinese F2 racer and round one winner Guanyu Zhou finished third for Renault.
« I’m actually enjoying very much playing, and streaming, » Leclerc said on Twitter.
« And I enjoy it even more when I win. But the post race celebrations are somehow feeling a bit different. Switching off the computer and go cook white pasta is a bit less glamour than spraying champagne on the podium. »
I’m actually enjoying very much playing, and streaming. And I enjoy it even more when I win. But the post race celebrations are somehow feeling a bit different. Switching off the computer and go cook white pasta is a bit less glamour than spraying champagne on the podium
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) April 19, 2020
The 28-lap race was the third in a series designed to give fans something to watch after the coronavirus pandemic stalled motorsport worldwide and left Formula One still waiting to start its season.
Six current drivers took part in Sunday’s race with McLaren’s Lando Norris, who would have been the seventh, suffering technical problems for the third time in a row.
During the first two rounds, the British driver was kicked out of the game ahead of the race, but in the Chinese round he failed to take part in qualifying too. His Spanish team mate Carlos Sainz crashed, led briefly and then finished 11th on his debut.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Lazio striker Ciro Immobile also made guest appearances for Red Bull and AlphaTauri respectively, finishing 15th and 17th respectively. Golfer Ian Poulter brought up the rear for Renault.
Williams’ George Russell finished fourth, thanks to Mercedes reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne being penalised post-race, after a penalty for illegal blocking had demoted him from the front row of the starting grid.
Leclerc’s success on the official Formula One platform wrapped up a busy and winning weekend all round for the youngster.
He also won a « Race for the World » esports charity event that raised more than $71,000 for the World Health Organisation’s cornavirus solidarity relief fund.
Leclerc also beat Williams’ Canadian F1 rookie Nicholas Latifi in the final of Veloce Esports’ « Not the GP versus » series event on Saturday.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/29069969/leclerc-celebrates-esports-win-pasta-norris-fails-connect-again
