The F1 series has been forced to postpone many races due to the new coronavirus. Charles Leclerc won the Australian round of the "F1 eSports Virtual GP", which was held as an alternative event.
"F1 2019" is the official game of Formula 1, and the Hanoi Circuit, where the second round of the F1 GP was to take place at the Vietnam GP, was not included in the game. Therefore, the race was held at the Albert Park Circuit, the site of the cancelled opening round of the season, the Australian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc won his first race and his first win!
The fastest lap in qualifying was set by Christian Lunger, a Renault-trained driver currently competing in F2. However, after receiving a 5-grid demotion penalty due to contact during qualifying, it was Leclerc who took pole position.
He made the most of this opportunity, taking the lead on the opening lap. He kept the momentum going and took the checkered flag on lap 29 to complete the pole-to-win.
Leclerc: "It was an incredibly hard race"
After the race, Leclerc said, "It was an incredibly hard race."
It was an incredibly hard race. I bought the game eight days ago and practiced at least five hours every day. It was a great race.
Elsewhere, Lunger finished second by 14 seconds. Russell was running second right at the start of the race, but had a spin in the fifth week and finished third. Jenson Button, the 2009 F1 Series champion, finished 11th.
Watch the race on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.
The next virtual GP will be held on April 19 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The live race will be streamed on the official F1GP accounts (Twitch - Formula 1,YouTube - FORMULA 1,Facebook - F1).
![Codemasters - F1 2019 [PS4].](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/codemasters-f1-2019-thum-300x300.jpg "Codemasters - F1 2019 [PS4].")