Formula 1 launches Virtual Grand Prix series with official F1 drivers

Published on 20 Mar 2020 11:33

By: Fergal Walsh

Formula 1 has announced the formation of the Virtual Grand Prix series, a solution for fans to enjoy racing amid the coronavirus pandemic that has seen teh opening seven races of the 2020 season postponed or cancelled.

The races will be held in place of the affected races on the calendar and will feature a number of current F1 drivers alongside other global stars.

The F1 2019 video game from Codemasters will be the home of the grands prix, and the first race takes place this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit at 8 PM GMT.

The races will be 50% in length and will be streamed on the official Formula 1 YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels.

Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports said: “We are very pleased to be able to bring some light relief in the form of the F1 Esports Virtual GP, in these unpredictable times, as we hope to entertain fans missing the regular sporting action.

“With every major sports league in the world unable to compete, it is a great time to highlight the benefits of esports and the incredible skill that’s on show.”

F1 asserted that should the race postponements go beyond the end of May, the virtual races will continue to be held.

No championship points are awarded as part of the series, as it is being held for entertainment purposes only.

All cars will run on equal performance with the reduced damage setting enabled, as well as optional anti-lock brakes and traction control.

During weekends that no F1 grand prix was scheduled to take place, there will be online exhibition races, where fans worldwide will be provided with the opportunity to battle against real-life F1 drivers.

“We are very pleased to be able to bring some light relief in the form of the F1 Esports Virtual GP, in these unpredictable times, as we hope to entertain fans missing the regular sporting action,” said Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports said.

“With every major sports league in the world unable to compete, it is a great time to highlight the benefits of esports and the incredible skill that’s on show.”

F1 News

{"siteId":"1","siteLang":"en","publishDateMin":"2024-12-18 14:15:00","publishDateMax":"2025-12-18 14:15:00","racingSeries":"f1","min_date":"2003-01-06 00:01:00","date_diff":"7890","max_comments":"79409","max_views":"582733","articleId":254717}

Total queries: 5
Total time: 0.064885139465332
time	sincestart	caller	annotate	bt	desc
	0.000606				instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00066400s)	""
	0.001276				boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00011206s)	""
	0.001390				translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00098896s)	""
0.00028181	0.002086	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id	{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/254717\/formula-1-launches-virtual-grand-prix-series-with-official-f1-drivers"}
	0.002381				controller::news/f1/254717/formula-1-launches-virtual-grand-prix-series-with-official-f1-drivers (3Q - total module time: 0.05411887s)	""
0.00034595	0.003014	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2025-12-18 14:15:00","articleId":254717,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.02547812	0.003381	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2025-12-18 14:15:00","articleId":254717,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.00061202	0.055491	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/UrlBuilders.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/NativeQuery.php:73(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:478(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/UrlBuilders.php:922(findRelatedArticles) {"function":"F1T\\Services\\ViewRenderer\\TwigExtensions\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Services\\ViewRenderer\\TwigExtensions\\UrlBuilders","object":{},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/UrlBuilders.php:926(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:259(relatedArticles) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles., 2 ( DATEDIFF( Articles.PublishDate, :min_date ) / :date_diff ) + ( Articles.ViewCount / :max_views ) + ( Articles.CommentCount / :max_comments ) AS points ,"F1 News" as relatedArticleTag FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId AND (RacingSeries.SiteId = :siteId) INNER JOIN RacingSeriesTranslations ON RacingSeries.RacingSerieId = RacingSeriesTranslations.RacingSerieId AND (RacingSeriesTranslations.LanguageCode = :siteLang) WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate > :publishDateMin AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDateMax AND Articles.ArticleType IN ('Nieuws', 'LiveRaceReport', 'Liveblog') AND RacingSeries.RewriteUrl = :racingSeries AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.ArticleId != :articleId ORDER BY points DESC, Articles.PublishDate DESC LIMIT 2	{"siteId":"1","siteLang":"en","publishDateMin":"2024-12-18 14:15:00","publishDateMax":"2025-12-18 14:15:00","racingSeries":"f1","min_date":"2003-01-06 00:01:00","date_diff":"7890","max_comments":"79409","max_views":"582733","articleId":254717}
	0.056505		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00014615s)	""
	0.056653		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00008416s)	""
	0.056740		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00009894s)	""
	0.056842		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 0.00480795s)	""
0.00019288	0.057232	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput) {"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?	[254717,"216.73.216.116"]
	0.061653		cacheAble: no		module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00030994s)	""
	0.061965				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001001s)	""
	0.061976				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.061979		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00013995s)	""
	0.062121				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000381s)	""
	0.062125		cacheAble: yes		module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00010514s)	""
	0.062232				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.062235		cacheAble: yes		module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00009704s)	""
	0.062333				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.062338				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.062340				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.062343		cacheAble: yes		module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00006104s)	""
	0.062406				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.062411				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.062413				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000119s)	""
	0.062415		cacheAble: no		module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00162482s)	""
	0.064042				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.064048				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.064050				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.064052		cacheAble: yes		module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00012589s)	""
	0.064181				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.064185		cacheAble: no		module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00001884s)	""
	0.064205				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)	""
	0.064208		cacheAble: no		module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00001001s)	""
	0.064219				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.064221				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.064223		cacheAble: no		module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00028110s)	""
	0.064506		cacheAble: yes		module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00009394s)	""
	0.064602		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00027895s)	""
	0.064883				done	""

Formula 1 launches Virtual Grand Prix series with official F1 drivers

Trending news

Replies (0)

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Race / Startgrid

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

World Championship standings 2023

Test calendar

Related news

test 2

Can Racing Go Mainstream In The US?

LIVE Updates: Follow the third day of the F1 Pre-season test in Bahrain

LIVE Updates: Follow the second day of the F1 Pre-season test in Bahrain

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024