Alex Albon says his intense scrap for victory against Charles Leclerc in Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix left him “shaking” with adrena🧸lin and🅠 “more scared” than real-life racing.

Albon and Leclerc engaged in a thrilling scrap throughout Sunday’s 36-lap virtual encounter, which served as a replacement for the postponed Dutch Grand Prix with the 2020 F1 season currently suspen🌼ded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The race, which took place at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit following a fan vote - with Zandvoort not featured on the F1 2019 video game - served up an exhilarating showdown between Albon and♉ Leclerc, who traded positions for the lead almost ever𒐪y lap.

The Red Bull driver🍒 ultimately prevailed after running longer than Ferrari’s Leclerc in the ওopening stint and opting for Medium tyres over Hards when he finally pitted. 

"I was shaking afterwards, I h🦩ad so much adrenalin in my body,” Albon said following the race. 

“I feel more scared driving the simulator than𓃲 I do the real thing. The pressure was unbelievable. 

“On pace, Charles was very quick but I was quite surprised b𓃲ecause I thought most of us would 𝔉go on soft/mediums – Charles decided to pit earlier than us and I definitely had the better strategy.

“Hꦅe ke༺pt overtaking me and I was getting nervous about George coming as well, it was all going on.”

Leclerc - who was denied a hat-trick of Virtual GP wins - conceded his strategy was a mistake ൲but said he “really enꦉjoyed” the overtaking bonanza and race-long duel with Albon. 

“I stopped way too early, I had not tried the strategy and Alex went for more laps,” he explained. “I was on hards and🔜 struggling quite a lot, but with the DRS it made quite a fun race.

“Unfortunately, we took the penalty, which made things a bit less interesting – I should ha🦋ve tried at least one race꧅ simulation.

"I knew I had the penalty but after that it was also about hav🔴ing fun, so I kept overtaking Alex. I really enjoyed this race."