The veteran English all-rounder, Ben Stokes finished last in his first virtual Formula 1 race, competing for the Vietnam Grand Prix, which was won by another debutant Charles Leclerc. Driving for Red Bull for Sunday’s race, Stokes had managed to qualify in the 16th position. He though spun on the fourth lap of the 29-lap race and finished 18th, a rung behind former F1 driver Johnny Herbert.
Although, to his credit, Stokes had a promising start in the beginning before being lapped by Stoffel Vandoorne who was in a Mercedes. Sunday (April 5) was the original date for the inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix before it became one of the eight races to either have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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20 drivers took part in the virtual version of the Grand Prix from their respective homes including several current F1 drivers like George Russell (Williams), Alex Albon (Red Bull), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, who finished 11th.
Stokes later tweeted, “It’s the taking part that counts….it’s what I always tell my kids.”
https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1246894749014986752
Stokes’ England teammates Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan were there to support him.
https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1246895222598127616
https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1246918820926808075
Talking about the same, Leclerc said, “It was unbelievably hard. We are sitting on a chair, so there is not even the G-force we have in a real car, but I am sweating like crazy. The muscles are not hurting but the concentration and everything, I’ve been sweating a lot.”
The next official virtual race is the Chinese Grand Prix on April 19. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus positive patients in India went past 4000 with 109 people losing their lives on Thursday, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
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The entire world is slowly moving towards a lockdown due to the scare of the ever-escalating situation concerning the World Health Organisation-recognized pandemic that is the Coronavirus. Everything- schools, colleges, airports, railway stations, gyms, sporting events, movies, offices- have been put under lockdown as the world continues to self-isolate in order to control the pandemic.
