The second event of the 2020 F1 Esports Pro Series on the 4th and 5th November took us to: Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Canadian Grand Prix and finally to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.
After the first three races of this remote Esports Series, Jarno Opmeer tops the Drivers’ Championship with his team Alfa Romeo team also at the top of the Constructors table too.
Zandvoort’s F1 Esports Debut
Frederik Rasmussen guided his Red Bull to a triumphant win as the F1 Esports Pro Series got its first taste of the Zandvoort circuit. It marks the Danes first win since the 2019 United States Grand Prix.
His win wasn’t entirely smooth though, after being overtaken by Opmeer going onto the pit-straight at the start of the second lap. Both drivers pitted on the same lap so there was no opportunity for an undercut. However, Rasmussen fought hard re-overtake Opmeer with the aid of DRS, on the penultimate lap of the race.
Marcel Kiefer finished off the podium with a third place, which also saw a double podium for Red Bull. He was unfortunate not to get Opmeer on the last lap to make it a Red Bull one-two.
Nicolas Longuet made an impressive start, managing to maintain his third place starting spot. However, it looked like the strategy of medium to soft tyres was the wrong choice and ultimately, he was unable to hold on to the position and crossed the line in fifth place.
Joni Tormala managed to hold of Longuet, even though he spent a lot of the race behind him to take fourth.
Finishing off the points was Brendon Leigh in sixth whilst Dani Moreno finished in seventh with Bono Huis in eighth. Alvaro Carreton came home in ninth spot whilst Enzo Bonito grabbed 10th.
Canadian Controversy
Opmeer’s fifth podium of the season so far was a controversial one. He was able to overtake pole sitter David Tonizza going into the first corner and looked comfortable out in front.
A slow pit stop however meant he came out behind Tonizza, who was now running in second with Rasmussen in first.
Battling to regain track position, Opmeer caught up to the back of Tonizza on lap 20 but going into turn five, he squeezed Tonizza into the wall and sent his car flying in the air, ultimately relegating him from the race.
After the incident, Opmeer managed to chase down race-leader Rasmussen with just one lap left and overtake him to reclaim the race lead.
After the race, Opmeer said he hadn’t seen Tonizza on his screen. The incident was investigated by the race stewards, but it was later deemed to be a racing incident.
Kiefer was originally on target for pole going into the race but unfortunately, he had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. He started in sixth but did manage to battle through the field to gain third place – his second of the event.
Fourth place went to Longuet, who had a pretty quiet race.
Moreno was voted Driver of the Day after gaining a double points finish. He had his best result of the season, a fifth place gaining some much-needed points for his McLaren Shadow team.
Manuel Biancolilla fell down the pecking order after qualifying in third place. He crossed the line in sixth whilst Michael Romanidis and Daniel Bereznay came seventh and eighth respectively with the top-10 being rounded off with James Baldwin in ninth and Tormala in 10th.
Bulls At Home
The Red Bull duo of Kiefer and Rasmussen managed to keep the charging Opmeer at bay at the team’s home Grand Prix of the Red Bull Ring.
Carreton started on pole after being the only driver to achieve a sub one minute two second lap-time in qualifying.
Off the line, the two Red Bull’s seemed the strongest cars when Kiefer, who started in third, and Rasmussen, who started in fourth, found themselves overtaking Opmeer on the first lap.
The pair were next on the charge for Carreton and managed to get him with the aid of DRS on lap seven to put themselves in a one-two position.
Opmeer tried to gain on the two Red Bull’s in the latter stages after swapping to soft tyres, but ultimately had to settle for third after battling Simon Weigang, Longuet and Carreton.
Carreton will be disappointed with himself. After a really promising qualifying session, he couldn’t match that speed in the race. Should he have finished on the podium, it would have been his first of the season so far. He eventually crossed the finish-line in fourth.
Weigang had passed Longuet for fifth place but unfortunately his tyres weren’t strong enough in the dying stages and got overtaken again at turn four on the last lap.
Lucas Blakely earned himself Driver of the Day for his seventh-place finish. Finishing off the top ten was Bono Huis in eighth, Daniele Haddad in ninth and Tonizza in 10th.
How The Championship Tables Look
Opmeer stands tall at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 123 points after achieving a podium position in all of the races so far this season.
The Red Bull duo of Kiefer and Rasmussen are the next closest competitors in second and third, with 96 and 89 points each respectively.
Reigning champion Tonizza hasn’t really got his foot of the mark and sits nearly 97 points away from the front runner in a measly eighth.
Only four drivers are yet to gain a point so far, this year: Bardia Boroumand, Salih Saltunc, Matthias Cologon and Shanaka Clay.
After a strong second event, Red Bull are now in the lead of the Constructors Championship with 185 points. Alfa Romeo aren’t too far behind them. They sit in second with 160 points. It looks as if the two teams won’t be too troubled this year either, with third place Renault quite a way behind on 65 points.
