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The world of esports came to the rescue in the
absence of a race in Melbourne or indeed of any single-seater
series with the Formula E and IndyCar calendars also ravaged by
the fast-spreading virus.
Red Bull's Verstappen finished 11th in an 'All-star Esports
battle' with a cast of other real racing drivers and
professional gamers.
McLaren's Norris finished sixth in another virtual race, the
'Not the Aus GP' organised by Veloce Esports and shown live on
Twitch.TV and YouTube.
The 12 lap all-star race, organised by Torque Esports and The
Race, featured a virtual version of the Nuerburgring -- a German
track no longer on the F1 calendar -- and was won by Slovenian
Jernej Simoncic.
McLaren Shadow's Kevin Siggy was second with Rudy Van Buren,
winner of the inaugural 2017 World's Fastest Gamer competition
and the prize of a simulator role with McLaren, finishing in
third place.
Torque had stumped up a total prize pot of $10,000 with $4,000
for the winner.
"More people watched today’s ‘The Race All-Star Esports Battle'
online than watch a Formula One race on Sky TV in the UK. That
is an incredible statistic," commented Torque CEO Darren Cox.
"During the race we were the biggest gaming or esport stream in
the world. Bigger than Fortnite."
Swedish IndyCar drivers Felix Rosenqvist and American Colton
Herta were the highest-ranked real world drivers in seventh and
10th places respectively.
Verstappen won one of three qualifying heats from pole position
but qualified ninth for the final using rFactor's Formula ISI
2012 package.
The Dutch 22-year-old spun at the first corner, dropping to
18th, but then showed his familiar overtaking skills and
aggression to carve his way back up despite another spin.
Others who took part in the heats included Indianapolis 500
winner Simon Pagenaud and former F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya
and Rubens Barrichello, as well as their respective sons, and
double Formula One esports champion Brendon Leigh.
"Shame we didn’t make the final. Got tangled in someone else’s
shunt. Need to work on it as well. Was an amazing event. Can’t
wait for the next one," commented Montoya on Twitter.
Veloce reported 180,000 live viewers across all channels for
their event that also featured Real Madrid goalkeeper and avid
gamer Thibaut Courtois, as well as former McLaren F1 driver
Stoffel Vandoorne.
"This is a huge opportunity for esports because for people who
may have been watching the real sport and want to have something
to watch and give them that fix, this may be able to provide a
bit of that," Veloce's Jamie McLaurin told the BBC.
Formula One has said it expects to start the season in Europe at
the end of May, subject to review, while Formula E is
temporarily suspended and hopes to race again in June.
U.S.-based IndyCar has canceled all events through March and
April.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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