What happens when a group of racing drivers try and arrange an online tournament? Glitches, mistakes, cutting remarks and uncertainty over the rules.
That didn’t matter as the first round of the three-event #RACEFORTHEWORLD tournament raised over $35,000 in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
With motorsport on hiatus until at least June several drivers and championships have turned to the online world in order to get their fix of racing.
Formula 1, IndyCar and NASCAR have all formed their own virtual championships but a group of drivers went further, creating a mini-series to try and raise funds for the World Health Organisation.
Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi were the Formula 1 representatives in #RACEFORTHEWORLD, the first round of which took place on Saturday evening, using the official F1 2019 game.
After a chaotic event in Abu Dhabi – in which there were multiple arguments and discussions over the rules – the group chose Silverstone for the first round proper.
Arthur Leclerc, younger brother of Charles, claimed the victory in a 13-lap encounter, ahead of Renault junior Christian Lundgaard and Albon’s sibling Luca.
By the end of the two-hour event – which was streamed via various Twitch channels – $33,000 had been raised, with the total since rising to $35,000.
A target of $100,000 has been set.
Other drivers to take part in the event included Haas testers Louis Deletraz and Pietro Fittipaldi, Ferrari juniors Callum Ilott and Giuliano Alesi, as well as Formula E front-runner Antonio Felix da Costa and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibault Courtois.
The remaining two events will take place on Tuesday and Friday evening respectively.
