F1 Esports Pro Exhibition Race: Can Brendon Leigh continue his return to form? How to watch, start time, confirmed grid, Virtual Dutch GP & more


The Virtual Grand Prix Series returns this weekend with the Virtual Dutch GP.

While the F1 stars try to stop Charles Leclerc from making it three wins in a row, the F1 esports stars will be lining up to stop Brendon Leigh from reestablishing himself atop the F1 esports grid.

The F1 Esports Pro Exhibition race returns as the warm-up event for the Virtual Dutch GP, and it promises the most exciting racing of the weekend.

Last time out - China

The last exhibition race in China saw two-time F1 esports champion Brendon Leigh take victory ahead of Frederik Rasmussen to show that rumours of his demise were overstated.

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It was a hard-fought affair, with David Tonizza and Dani Bereznay also showing their quality.

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As ever though, the margins were minuscule from the front to the back. With the midfield covered by less than 0.1s in qualifying, every race involving these drivers is bound to be a superb spectacle of wheel-to-wheel racing.

Confirmed grid

We have 18 drivers confirmed for the race on Sunday.

Team
Driver A
Driver B
Alfa Romeo
Dani Bereznay
James Baldwin
AlphaTauri
Patrik Holzman
Graham Carroll
FDA Hublot Esports Team
David Tonizza
Enzo Bonito
Haas
Floris Wijers
Cedric Thome
Mclaren
TBD
TBD
Mercedes
Brendon Leigh
Bono Huis
Racing Point
Lucas Blakeley
Dani Haddad
Red Bull
Joni Tormala
Marcel Kiefer
Renault
Nicholas Longuet
Fabrizio Donoso
Williams
Alvaro Carreton
Michael Romanidis

Notable by his absence is Rasmussen, but that will open the door for the likes of Nicholas Longuet and Michael Romanidis to move on up.

Those two especially have impressed in recent exhibition races and will be looking to leave their mark on the 2020 F1 Esports championship.

Start time, format, & how to watch

The F1 Esports Pro Exhibition race will start at 5pm BST on Sunday, 3 May.

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It will consist of a short qualifying session and a 25% race. That should be around 17-18 laps of the Interlagos circuit, which is standing in for the absent Zandvoort circuit this weekend.

The race will be streamed live on Formula 1's YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch channels.

Virtual Dutch GP drivers

The Virtual Dutch GP will follow after the Esports Pro race.

Charles Leclerc is looking to make it three wins in a row but will face stiff competition from George Russell, Alex Albon, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, and Alessio Romagnoli among other confirmed drivers.

For more articles like this, take a look at our F1 and Motorsport page.