Virtual Canadian GP Results & Standings: Russell wins the championship in style

The Formula 1 season will begin in three weeks' time and today's race is scheduled to be the final Virtual GP.

This weekend was meant to have the Canadian GP, but the event has been delayed and could yet be cancelled. Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a fan-favourite and consistently delivers close and exciting racing.

George Russell won his third race in a row in last week's Virtual GP. The Williams effectively won the title before this race began, as Charles Leclerc was unable to participate.

There were plenty of interesting battles further down the order though, as it was a tight affair from fifth down.

Could anybody stop Russell from winning his fourth race in a row? Here's all the highlights of the action in Canada!

Virtual Canadian GP Highlights

George Russell continued his imperious form in the Virtual GP series in qualifying. The Williams driver claimed pole position by five tenths of a second, a lap time that even Lewis Hamilton would be blown away by.

Turns one and two are always difficult to round on the first lap in Canada. That showed in this race too, as a pile-up in the midfield sent a handful of drivers down the order.

Ben Daly (McLaren), Louis Deletraz (Haas), Gianluca Petecof (Ferrari) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) were some that were involved in this incident but all continued to race.

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The Wall of Champions chicane is infamous for claiming drivers and the corners caught out Nicholas Latifi. On lap four the Williams driver spun and fell from P3 to ninth, forcing the Canadian to go for an early pit-stop.

Just like in previous races, Russell was on another level to the competition, only Alex Albon could stay within the same sector as his rival.

Guanyu Zhou's 1-stop strategy could've usurped Russell but the Renault driver spun mid-way through the race and took himself out of the leading battle.

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Russell offered to slow down to allow Albon to battle with him but the Thai driver unsurprisingly refused.

Every driver picked up penalties but Russell avoided them entirely, it was another faultless drive to win for the fourth time in a row. After penalties were applied, Albon was over 15 seconds off the leader.

Russell looked genuinely blown away by his achievement, his pace was sensational in the second half of this Virtual GP season, a fully-deserving champion.

Final classification

So it was Russell in P1, followed again by Albon and Esteban Gutierrez, but where did everyone else finish?

Social Media Reaction

STUFF OF DREAMS: Olsson's setup is extremely impressive

Many drivers have had to order in their gaming setups for these Virtual GP's and we saw the most impressive yet today. Jon Olsson put our efforts to shame with his F1 setup, we can only dream of matching the Swede's rig.

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WHAT A SURPRISE: The F1 YouTubers were the but of many jokes during this race

With Matthew Gallagher commentating and both Aarav Amin and Ben Daly driving in this race, there was always going to be banter.

Penalties afflicted most of the grid but when Daly claimed a corner cutting penalty after a few laps, Gallagher had to point it out. "What a surprise!" Sarcastically exclaimed the former F1 YouTuber.

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At least Daly was in a points scoring position though, Aarava had no such luck. Aarav was slapped with multiple penalties throughout the race, including a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.

POKING FUN: Gasly may have bitten off more than he could chew on Sunday

Pierre Gasly also deserves a mention, as he became the second man in the Virtual GP series to be disqualified. The Frenchman was likely running on fumes after competing in the Virtual Le Mans series and it showed.

The Alpha Tauri driver was lapping at the edge of the points but was picking up numerous corner cutting penalties. Eventually, the virtual stewards had enough and Gasly was disqualified from the race.

Final Standings

Russell won the championship, but what was the order behind the Brit?

The Virtual GP's may be over for now but there's plenty of Formula 1 esports on offer thanks to Gfinity's coverage.

Be sure to check our site for all the latest news ahead of F1 2020's 10th July launch!