Alex Albon has won the latest round of the Formula 1 virtual Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver putting an end to Charles Leclerc’s recent dominance in the series.

 

Taking place at the fan voted Interlagos in Brazil, as opposed to the Dutch Zandvoort due to track not yet being available in the game, the race ended up being one of the most entertaining of the series, with Albon and Leclerc battling throughout.

 

Starting in fifth place, it didn’t take long for Albon to take the lead as pole sitter Stoffel Vandoorne ended up sideways immediately after lights out, causing a multi car pile-up.

 

Albon avoided the drama, as did Leclerc, and both drivers continued swapping the lead for the remainder of the race with the British-Thai driver eventually crossing the line first.

 

Despite Leclerc coming second, a three-second penalty to the Ferrari star saw him relegated one place, while Williams’ George Russell, who had been in third for a majority of the race, was promoted to runner-up.

 

Following his horror start, which caused chaos amongst the field, Vandoorne eventually recovered to secure fourth place ahead of Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez, who rounded out the top five.

 

It was a tough outing for the remaining Formula 1 stars as Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams' Nicholas Latifi collided in the early stages of the race after battling it out for fourth place.

 

While Giovinazzi’s race was done after the collision, Latifi found himself back in the midfield where he managed to climb the standings to finish ninth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

 

For Norris, a tenth place finish was all he could salvage after a horror outing after missing qualifying due to ongoing technical issues, before being given a drive-through penalty for a jump-start and further penalties for corner-cutting.

 

The Formula 1 Virtual series returns in one week in Barcelona with the Spanish Grand Prix to take place on 10 May.