Five current F1 drivers, and World Cup winner, join Virtual Vietnam GP

Five current Formula 1 drivers, and a World Cup winner, have signed up to participate in this weekend’s Virtual Vietnam Grand Prix.

The Formula 1 season is on hiatus until at least mid-June due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Formula 1 has organised virtual grands prix in order to replace postponed events, using the official F1 2019 video game, with drivers joining remotely.

Only McLaren’s Lando Norris and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi participated in the Virtual Bahrain Grand Prix but they will be joined by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Red Bull’s Alexander Albon and Williams’ George Russell for Sunday’s event.

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Other confirmed names include Haas reserve drivers Pietro Fittipaldi and Louis Delétraz, Renault junior Christian Lundgaard and Sky Sports pundits Johnny Herbert and Anthony Davidson.

Leclerc is expected to be joined at Ferrari by his younger brother Arthur, who is a member of the team’s young driver academy.

At Red Bull Albon will be joined by England Cricket World Cup winner Ben Stokes.

Stokes, who is sponsored by Red Bull, participated in the extraordinary Super Over in last year’s World Cup final and also put in one of the greatest innings of all time at the Headingley Ashes test a few weeks later.

As the new-for-2020 Hanoi Circuit is not available on last year’s game the event will take place at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit.

A qualifying session and 28-lap race is planned and will be broadcast on a host of platforms, including Youtube, Facebook, Twitch and Sky Sports.

The event will feature equal car performance with fixed setups, reduced vehicle damage, and optional anti-lock brakes and traction control.

The event will begin at 19:00 GMT (20:00 BST/21:00 CET) on Sunday.