Esports F1: Russell makes it a hat trick in Baku!

George Russell secured his third successive win in F1's Virtual Grand Prix series, the Williams driver putting in a flawless performance in Baku City.

Russell built his win from pole, edging Red Bull's Alex Albon in qualifying and throughout the 26-lap online event.

The two drivers diverged on tyre strategies, with Albon opting for an earlier stop and a swap to the hard compound while Russell chose the medium rubber.

But the Williams charger expressed worries of degradation in the latter part of the race although they were mitigated by Albon's fuel consumption and then by a late time penalty handed to the British-Thai driver for exceeding track limits.

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However, Albon's runner-up spot was out of reach for third-place man Esteban Gutierrez, while McLaren's Lando Norris enjoyed his best performance to date in the virtual series, finishing fourth and edging impressive Renault rookie Oscar Piastri.

Usual front-runner Charles Leclerc struggled in qualifying, the Ferrari driver lining up P10 on the grid only the fall back even further after at the start when he was involved in a multi-car crash.

But that wasn't the end of it for the Monegasque who was later collected by his Scuderia teammate Enzo Fittipaldi when the Brazilian hit the inside wall at the tight Castle section.

Time penalties for track limit violations pushed the two-time Grand Prix winner to a lowly 14th at the end of a nightmare race.

AlphaTauri Pierre Gasly and Racing Point's Sergio Perez also endured a challenging time in Baku for their series debut, finishing respectively 12th and 15th respectively.

Formula 1's Virtual Grand Prix championship will conclude next week with a final online battle around Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

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