LONDON • Formula One drivers Max Verstappen and Lando Norris revved up to race in a coronavirus-free virtual world yesterday after the cancellation of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Norris, whose McLaren team pulled out of the Melbourne race last weekend before it was cancelled after a team member tested positive for the Covid-19 disease, competed against a field of top gamers.
The Not The Aus GP organised by Veloce e-sports was shown live on twitch.tv and YouTube from 1745 GMT (1.45am this morning, Singapore time).
"Racing in Australia but not actually in Australia," the 20-year-old Briton said on Twitter. He was joined by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, himself a keen motorsport fan, and former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne.
Red Bull's Verstappen, a regular virtual racer alongside Norris, joined a stellar cast of other top-line real-life racing drivers in an All Star E-sports Battle on www.the-race.com YouTube channel.
Other virtual competitors included Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud and former F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello, as well as their respective sons, and double Formula One e-sports champion Brendon Leigh.
Formula E drivers Neel Jani, Max Guenther and Antonio Felix da Costa were also in that line-up along with IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
"We got wind that Australia wouldn't be going on, we guessed that the IndyCar race might be canned and we already knew that the Formula E races were done," Darren Cox, founder of the Race and chief executive of Torque Esports, told Reuters.
"We started on Thursday morning to put together a plan and then by Friday lunchtime we had the programme launched.
"We thought some of the real drivers would fancy a go but the reaction has been absolutely massive."
Cox said the free-to-air streamed race would not use the Australian Grand Prix circuit, with the track kept secret to prevent drivers putting in practice time in the simulators before the start.
BBC radio's Formula E and F1 e-sports commentator Jack Nicholls was the voice of the event, which started with 60 drivers in three heats and the top 20 competing in the final.
"In 48 hours we've turned around what was nothing into something that looks like one of the races of the year," said Cox.
Formula One has postponed its next three races - Bahrain, Vietnam and China - and hopes to start the season in Europe at the end of May, possibly in Monaco (May 24), subject to review.
Formula E is temporarily suspended with hopes of racing again in June. US-based IndyCar has cancelled all events through March and April.
REUTERS
