As there are no cricketing events these days due to the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, several cricketers are heading towards social media to interact with their fans but England’s 2019 World Cup-winning all-rounder Ben Stokes decided to try his hands at motor racing.
The English all-rounder will be participating in the F1 Esports Grand Prix this weekend after being reportedly signed up by the Aston Martin F1 to race against five F1 drivers in F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Stokes will team up with Thai racer Alexander Albon in the Red Bull lineup for his first esports competition against five Formula One drivers, including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Read Also: IPL 2020: "Read articles, not headlines," Ben Stokes slams ignorant a Twitter user
Stoke will be competing alongside McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Williams pairing of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi as well as the retired British Grand Prix winner and TV pundit Johnny Herbert.
Taking to Twitter on April 2, Stokes said: “3 days of practice so now going to do my first custom GP with 5 races in Australia...this is incredibly hard btw so need a little assistance.”
While the F1 season has already been affected by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the virtual race is the second round in a new series organized by Formula One on the scheduled race weekend, in which the gamers, celebrities, and F1 drivers are taking part in Melbourne, to provide some light entertainment in the absence of any real-life action due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Noteworthy, this weekend’s Grand Prix will take place on the Albert Park track in Melbourne, which is traditionally used for the Australian Grand Prix, and was originally scheduled for Hanoi’s inaugural Street Circuit race in Vietnam – which is currently not available.
Read Also: Morgan open to England fielding two teams on the same day under cramped schedule
On the other hand, the drivers will join the race remotely with a host broadcast live from the Gfinity Esports Arena from 8 pm (BST) on Sunday (00.30 IST, Monday), while the broadcast will be available on the official Formula 1 YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels.
The broadcast of the game is expected to run for 1 hour 30 minutes with a qualifying period where grid positions will be determined based on the drivers’ fastest lap time, followed by a 28-lap race.
(With Sportstar Inputs)
