The start of the 2021 Formula 1 season is still a few months away, but the Virtual GPs are back to fill the winter gap.
Last week's season-opener in Austria was a nail-biting affair and we couldn't wait to see what Round 2 would bring.
Round 2 is also the penultimate round of this short season and took place at Silverstone in Great Britain. Could Enzo Fittipaldi repeat his amazing win, or would a returning George Russell win his home race?
Here's all the highlights from Round 2 in the UK!
Sprint Race
The 5-lap Sprint Race decides the order in which the drivers will line-up for the feature race. Last week saw Ferrari's David Tonizza best Dani Moreno, but who would come out on top in the UK?
Marcel Kiefer led from pole as Floris Wijers spun out of Village. Brendon Leigh was hot on the tale of Kiefer, but passing in Silverstone isn't easy, as the top five were all running nose to tail.
Leigh had DRS down the Hangar Straight on Lap 3 but wasn't quite able to challenge. The following lap though, we had a change in the lead as Leigh pounced down the inside into Brooklands.
Despite Kiefer's best efforts, he couldn't retake the lead and that meant that Callum Ilott would start on pole for the Feature Race.
Virtual British GP Highlights
Callum Ilott got off to the perfect start as Alex Albon fended off Thibaut Courtois for P2. The Real Madrid goalkeeper did manage to get ahead of Albon going into Maggots too!
Albon was desperately trying to get back past, but the Thai driver couldn't manage it and allowed George Russell onto the podium. Enzo Fittipaldi had an incredible start too and was up to P7 from P16 by the end of the second lap.
Russell hung it around the outside of Courtois at Luffield on Lap 3 of 26 to get into P2 and was the lead driver on the alternate strategy. Albon followed through into P3 before the Fittipaldi's rose to P4 and 5.
The gap to Ilott in the lead was three seconds and growing, the Ferrari test driver was in inspired form. Pietro Fittipaldi tried an audacious move on Albon for P3 on Lap 8 but couldn't make it stick.
On Lap 10, Albon sent it down the inside of Russell into Stowe and took over the race lead after Ilott pitted for new tyres. After the pit-stops, the top five remained in the same order, but they were all close.
On Lap 16, Albon was all over Ilott for the lead. A three-second penalty for Albon would mean he'd have to pull away from the Ferrari to win. The Red Bull man got past Ilott on Lap 17 into Village, as Russell closed on Ilott.
Russell would get by into P2 and the net race lead on Lap 18 after a lot of pressurising Ilott. Ilott was pushing as hard as he could to keep up with the leading pair but picked up a three-second penalty on Lap 21.
Russell was challenging Albon for the on-track lead and even though the Brit didn't need to make a move to win, he sling-shotted past Albon down the Hangar Straight with two laps to go.
Albon didn't take that lying down though, passing Russell back on the final lap. After penalties were applied though, it was Russell that stood on the top step of the podium.
Final classification
So, it was George Russell in P1, followed onto the podium by Albon and Ilott, but where did everyone else finish?
Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Williams | 25 |
2 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | 19 |
3 | Callum Ilott | Ferrari | 15 |
4 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | 12 |
5 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Haas | 10 |
6 | Robert Shwartzman | Ferrari | 8 |
7 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | 6 |
8 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 4 |
9 | Ben Daly | McLaren | 2 |
10 | Luca Salvadori | AlphaTauri | 1 |
Standings
Enzo Fittipaldi still leads the standings, but Albon, Russell and Pietro are all still within a shot of the title.
Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Haas | 35 |
2 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | 31 |
3 | George Russell | Williams | 25 |
4 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | 22 |
5 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes | 18 |
6 | Arthur Leclerc | Ferrari | 15 |
Callum Ilott | Ferrari | 15 | |
8 | Marcus Armstrong | Ferrari | 8 |
Robert Shwartzman | Ferrari | 8 | |
10 | Oscar Piastri | Alpine | 6 |
Social Media Reaction
Brendon Leigh couldn't have been happier with his Sunday drive but Alex Albon was frustrated at being passed by a footballer:
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 Brazilian GP at Interlagos, a circuit that produced an incredible Virtual race last year!
Keep your eyes peeled on our site for all of the driver announcements ahead of the final race of the season!