Ferrari is ready to field a top class team of four drivers for the Virtual Chinese Grand Prix, the third race in the “We Race On” initiative launched by Formula 1 just over one month ago. Charles Leclerc, David Tonizza and Enzo Bonito have all raced before and this time they are joined by Callum Ilot, the 21 year old British member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. This season he is due to race in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with the UNI-Virtuosi Racing team. “We Race On” is hosting virtual races on the weekends when real Grands Prix were due to take place according to the 2020 calendar, but cannot because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Previous races. The first round took place on 22 March, using the Bahrain track, while the second event, the Virtual Vietnam GP was run using Melbourne’s Albert Park track on 5 April and our own Charles Leclerc was the winner. Once again this Sunday, there will be two races: one for professional sim racers and another for a mix of real racing drivers and personalities from other sports as well as TV and other celebrities.
Programme. Getting things started on Sunday at 18.00 CET will be the Pro Exhibition Race, over 14 laps, with David Tonizza and Enzo Bonito tackling the Shanghai track. Last year on the Chinese circuit, “Tonzilla” won the F1 Esports Series race and this weekend, following on from coming second in the Vietnam event, the reigning World Champion is aiming to go one better. Enzo Bonito was tenth in the Vietnam race and, last year he was twelfth on the Shanghai track, having started from sixth on the grid for the McLaren Shadow team. Flying the flag for the FDA Hublot Esports Team, Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari Formula 1 driver, himself a former FDA student, will line up along with the other celebrities and his team-mate Callum Ilot. For this 28 lap race, to take into account that some participants are new to this game, the cars have identical set-up and performance levels and there is a limit to the damage they can sustain in a crash. The event will be streamed on-line on Formula 1’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels, as well as the Ferrari and FDAFans Facebook channels.