With plans in place for the Formula 1 season to begin in July, this is set to be the penultimate Virtual GP. A double-header at Austria's Red Bull Ring will kick-off the campaign in four weeks' time.
This weekend was meant to have the Azerbaijan GP, but the event has been delayed and could be cancelled. The Baku Street Circuit has already produced some modern classics in its short history.
George Russell made it back-to-back wins in the Virtual GP season with a brilliant drive in Monaco two weeks ago.
Russell, Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon have been the cream of the crop in this series, winning all of the last five races between them.
Could a new driver challenge this triopoly around on of the most unpredictable circuits on the calendar? Here's all the highlights from tour rundown of the action in Baku!
Virtual Azerbaijan GP Highlights
George Russell got his day off to the perfect start, as he qualified his Williams on pole position. Russell lead through Turn 1 with Albon following closely but chaos ensued behind.
Leclerc, Fittiapldi Deletraz and more were all caught in the pile-up and dropped down the field as a result.
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Some of the drivers now have race engineers but not all are taking the Virtual races as seriously as F1. Jimmy Broadbent's engineer instructed him to "do what you do", a command that Kimi Raikkonen would approve of.
Just like in F1, the Ferrari's collided, as Enzo Fittipaldi caught the inside wall of the Castle section before collecting Leclerc, Donnarumma, Gasly and Perez.
Russell was on another level during this race, just like was in Monaco. The Brit's race engineer informed him that he was lapping in a similar pace to the esports drivers, an incredible performance given no setups are allowed.
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We should mention Oscar Piastri too, as the F3 driver made his Virtual GP debut and finished an excellent P5 in his Renault.
The star of the show was George Russell, nobody could close to the Williams man, as he climbed to the top of the standings with his third straight victory.
Albon did his best to hang onto Russell's coattails, but the Thai driver couldn't get within striking distance all race.
Final classification
So it was Russell in P1, followed onto the podium by Albon and Gutierrez, but where did everyone else finish?
Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Williams |
2 | Alex Albon | Red Bull Racing |
3 | Esteban Gutierrez | Mercedes |
4 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
5 | Oscar Piastri | Renault |
6 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas |
7 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams |
8 | Ben Daly | McLaren |
9 | Anthony Davidson | Mercedes |
10 | Jimmy Broadbent | Racing Point |
Social Media Reaction
RACING OR PING-PONG? Drivers were battling on-track in qualifying
Baku is both a narrow and high-speed circuit, so contact between drivers was inevitable. Some won't have predicted incidents in qualifying though but Leclerc and Broadbent bumped wheels with minutes left on the clock.
The Turn 18-19 collision earned Broadbent a five-place grid penalty, while Leclerc had to start down in tenth on the grid.
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SHOWBOATING: Russell had some time to laugh at Leclerc's misfortunes
Leclerc's misfortunes unsurprisingly drew jokes on social media, as the Ferrari driver dropped to almost the back of the field. The Monegasque would climb to P14 by the finish, missing out on vital points.
Amongst the jokers were Russell's race engineer, who put his concerns to bed.
What's the next round?
The next round of the Virtual GP season will take place in a week's time. This time it will be the Canadian GP at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a real fan-favourite!
Keep your eyes peeled on our site for all of the driver announcements ahead of the race!