The Ferrari Driver Academy Hublot Esports Team is all set for the second round of the F1 Esports Series that takes place tomorrow and the day after, with three races, at Zandvoort, Montreal and Spielberg. David Tonizza and Enzo Bonito are more determined than ever to do well after the disappointment of the first round when, through no fault of their own, they could only give it their best in one of the three races, when Tonizza won, with a typically classy performance.
Round 1. Reigning champion Tonizza is currently sixth after Round 1 on 25 points. Or should we say “Tonzilla”, the nickname that stuck after the first race last year, when the official commentator got his name wrong. As for Bonito, he is 11th on six points with Jarno Opmeer leading. Both of them did well in the second race, run against the backdrop of Vietnam’s Hanoi track, while technical problems with the platform used to play the official game affected them in the first and third races. In Bahrain, the first race of 2020, David and Enzo failed to make the cut to Q3 because of platform connection problems. They had to start in the mid-field and were both involved in accidents that kept them out of the points. The Shanghai race was even worse with the FDA Hublot Esports Team drivers knocked out on the second lap, unable to get going again.
Round 2. In the teams’ battle, the Italian squad is fourth, with Alfa Romeo currently in the lead. Just as in the first round, these next two days also feature a new track that should have been on the F1 calendar but was a victim of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. Zandvoort last hosted the Dutch Grand Prix 35 years ago. The second race will run on Canada’s Montreal track, another cancelled event this year, while the final race of the second round takes place at Spielberg, which hosted two real races this year, the Austrian and Styrian Grands Prix at the start of the actual season. Tonizza and Bonito know they are in with a good chance in Canada and Austria, while Zandvoort will be new for everyone.
How to watch the action. The two Wednesday races and the one on Thursday can be seen on the Ferrari Driver Academy Facebook page, or on the Formula 1 Twitch and YouTube pages. It all gets underway on both days at 20.30 CET.