Charles Leclerc came in a super respectable runner up in the Virtual Spanish Grand Prix held on Sunday after a thrilling race pitting him against Williams’ George Russell.

Sunday’s Virtual Spanish Grand Prix saw Williams pilot George Russell take pole position, but quickly lose the lead as Esteban Gutierrez from Team Mercedes crept up from behind followed by a masterful move on the outside from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc then took over as leader and by the fourth lap, Leclerc’s rival from the Virtual Interlagos track, Alex Albon, was hot on his trail. It looked like it may be another Leclerc/Albon race, until Albon took a pit stop for a tyre change, part of a strategy that misfired in the end. 

Leclerc seemed to have the race in the bag, until lap 20 when Russell snuck up during the fastest lap of the race and closed in on the Monegasque hotshot. Five laps later, Russell overtook Leclerc. He had racked up a three second penalty for track infractions earlier, though, so Leclerc still had a shot at the top spot if he just kept his head.

In the final lap of the race, Leclerc himself was slapped with a three second penalty, giving Russell the tiny edge he needed to win the race.

“I am feeling ecstatic, I’m not used to this winning thing. I’ve not done it for a long, long time. I’ve dearly missed it,” Russell said after the race.
“When I got past Charles and I knew I had that three second penalty I was pretty furious but when that radio message came in at the end and I heard he had the three second penalty I was almost wetting my pants,” he added.