Giovinazzi takes out Russell and Latifi in Virtual GP

Finley Crebolder
Antonio Giovinazzi 'less stressed, more ready'

Antonio Giovinazzi 'less stressed, more ready'

Antonio Giovinazzi certainly had his elbows out in the latest Virtual Grand Prix, with the Italian running both Williams drivers off the road. 

The Alfa Romeo man enjoyed a solid qualifying session to start the race in P7 and found himself up in P3 after Turn 1. George Russell meanwhile had started in P2 but had to slot in behind Giovinazzi following a collision with pole-sitter Stoffel Vandoorne.

It quickly became clear that the Brit had more pace than the Italian and, with Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon already running away out in front, he had to get past him quickly.

An opportunity quickly presented itself on Lap 2. Heading into the second DRS zone, Russell used the system and slipstreaming to get alongside Giovinazzi and looked set to easily pass him. Gio had other ideas.

The Italian turned towards him as hard as he could, sending Russell into the barriers. Had it been real-life racing, the Williams man would have been out and Giovinazzi probably would have been disqualified.

Despite dropping down to P6 as a result, Russell recovered and got himself back into the final podium position, after a brief outburst. Giovinazzi meanwhile turned his attention to poor old Latifi.

Having prevailed in a battle with the Mercedes drivers of Vandoorne and Esteban Gutierrez, the Canadian was all over Giovinazzi by Lap 11 and managed to briefly pass him. Once again though, Gio wasn’t having it.


Instead of backing off and getting himself into an optimal position for the DRS zone, the Italian dived down the inside and savagely turned back to the right to claim his second Williams victim of the race.

Immediately after the incident, he dropped out of the race. Damage was off, so he either lost connection, simply gave up or quit out of sheer shame for what he had done. On the bright side, Latifi managed to get back on track and finish in P9.

Giovinazzi’s antics may be frustrating to those avid Williams Esports fans, if they exist, but, to us at least, they make for great entertainment. Alfa Romeo will just be hoping he doesn’t carry them into the real season. If so, he may quickly rack up the penalty points on his license…

Follow us on Twitter @Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.