PIASTRI TO RACE IN VIRTUAL AUSTRIAN GP

Oscar Piastri to race in virtual Austrian Grand Prix – Photo: Supplied

Australian Oscar Piastri will take part in the first round of the virtual Formula 1 Eseries.

By DAN McCARTHY

The reigning FIA Formula 3 champion will be racing for the newly renamed Alpine squad alongside fellow F2 Alpine academy driver Christian Lundgaard.

The grid for the Austrian round is yet to be officially finalised but as always contains a mixture of current F1 talent, former F1 stars and global celebrities.

At this point Williams Grand Prix Engineering drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi will be competing. It appears that other F1 drivers will join them from the second round onwards.

The virtual grand prix series returns after debuting during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

It returns this year with a difference, rather than trying to entertain bored isolating and socially distanced race fans, competitors will be competing to give money to charity.

For three weeks starting with the virtual Austrian Grand Prix on Monday morning drivers will fight it out for a share of a charity prize pot that they will donate to a cause of their choosing.

Russell returns as the defending Virtual Grand Prix series winner but will not have things his own way.

As well as Latifi, Russell will have to compete against two-time podium finisher and Red Bull Racing reserve driver Alex Albon. Albon’s Red Bull teammate will be Red Bull KTM Factory rider and MXGP World Champion Jeffrey Herling,

Former F1 drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Vitantonio Liuzzi will represent Mercedes and AlphaTauri respectively.

Haas will field a pair of Fittipaldi’s, Pietro Fittipaldi who subbed in for the injured Romain Grosjean in the final two races of the 2020 F1 season will be joined by his brother Enzo.

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois returns this year driving for Alfa Romeo.

The remaining drivers will be announced in the lead up to Monday mornings race, with the following two races taking place virtually at Silverstone on February 7 and Interlagos in Brazil on February 14.

Each team will nominate a charity and regardless of whether the squad finishes first or last in the standings each charity will receive a significant donation from the overall prize fund.

The Virtual Austrian Grand Prix will be broadcast live on the official Formula 1 YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels in the early hours of Monday morning.

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