Albon penalty hands Russell victory on Virtual Grand Prix return
Albon penalty hands Russell victory on Virtual Grand Prix return
George Russell returned to the Formula 1 Virtual Grand Prix series with victory at Silverstone.
The Williams driver finished behind Alex Albon on the road, but a penalty for the Thai-British driver dropped him to second.
Callum Ilott finished third for Ferrari after leading much of the initial proceedings from pole position.
Driving standards were improved from last week's Austrian event, although penalties for track limit infringements still played their part in determining the outcome.
Ilott stormed away in the opening stages of the race on soft tyres, taking advantage of his qualifying position courtesy of the pro driver sprint race used to determine the starting order.
Behind him, Albon got off the line nicely on the medium compound but was soon under attack from Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibault Courtois, who made a stunning overtaking move around the outside of the Red Bull test and reserve driver at Maggotts.
The Alfa Romeo soon tailed off however as the class of the real-world drivers shone through.
Russell and Albon were involved in a tussle for second position as Ilott stretched the lead to three seconds before his early pit-stop.
The Ferrari test drivers tilt at victory unravelled as his rivals stormed past on softer, fresher tyres in the second half of the race.
Whilst Albon was ahead on track, he was one of the drivers to pick up a penalty for failing to keep his car between the white lines, meaning Russell always looked favourite to claim victory.
The result looked to be confirmed with three laps to go when the Williams driver surged past on the Hangar Straight with DRS to boot, but Albon fought back to take the win, on track at least, with an identical move on the final lap.
Ilott himself had a three-second time penalty but had enough of a gap to Pietro Fittipaldi to stay on the podium, whilst the second Haas of Enzo Fittipaldi, last week's winner, rounded out the top five.
Ferrari's Robert Shwartzman rose to sixth ahead of Red Bull's Liam Lawson and Nicholas Latifi, but dropped to eighth with a penalty of his own, with Youtuber Benjamin Daly and Motorcycle racer Luca Salvadori completing the top 10.
Albon at least took a consolation for his lost victory by completing the fastest lap of the race late on.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- 1 hour ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 driver role CONFIRMED for 2025
- 7 minutes ago
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
- 40 minutes ago
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- 2 hours ago
F1 pundit reveals the thing about Wolff that ANNOYS Horner
- 3 hours ago
Newey exit DATE revealed as Red Bull F1 chief set to leave
- Today 08:27
Related news
F1 star hits back at Sky pundit with 'boring old man' jibe
FIA slammed for 'ridiculous' Russell investigation
'Disaster waiting to happen': F1 star demands FIA safety OVERHAUL after terrifying crash
Russell reveals Alonso SNUB after post-crash meeting
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860