F1: Best bits from Virtual Bahrain GP, ft. Lando Norris and Johnny Herbert

An entertaining evening 'under the lights in Bahrain'

By Matt Morlidge

Lando Norris gets nudged and loses fourth on the the line to Jimmy Broadbent.

It started with Sky F1's Johnny Herbert leaping from 16th to 1st by cutting the opening corner, it finished with McLaren ace Lando Norris being taken out by a popular sim-racing streamer.

Formula 1's inaugural virtual Grand Prix, 'in' Bahrain, provided laughs and chaos throughout as a grid lined with stars - from Liam Payne to Ian Poulter - filled the live racing void by battling it out in an Esports spectacular.

Here were the best bits...

Lando the star, even when not on-track, before big crash

In terms of current F1 stars, Norris was the leading light of this grid, with the young Englishman one of two drivers from the 2020 grid competing - along with Williams racer Nicholas Latifi. The only issue was, Lando wasn't there.

Norris, plagued by technical difficulties as he tried to juggle the event and his own Twitch stream, couldn't connect for qualifying, and couldn't start the race. Not something he's used to in F1.

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The 20-year-old comically filled his time as he waited for his game to restart. He prepped for the race by calling Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, along with his McLaren crew, asking for advice, while Norris then cheered on a 'LandoBot' which was competing in his absence.

When he finally joined the action, Norris was on a mission. He moved up to fourth place after a cracking battle with Jimmy Broadbent, a sim-racing and YouTube star - and was then involved in the highlight collision of the race.

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Norris defended the inside into the final corner but Broadbent, determined in his pursuit as he made a move around the outside, nudged into the McLaren and pushed him off the track. Fourth place was his, with Norris dropped to fifth.

"JIMMY! JIMMY!" screamed Norris - thankfully unhurt from the crash.

Johnny provides two memorable moments

Before becoming a much-loved member of the Sky Sports F1 team, Johnny Herbert made his name as a fearless and mega-fast F1 driver, with seven podiums and three race wins over a decade-long career. With that pedigree, it's unsurprising that Johnny impressed in his sim-racing debut with little to no practice.

But that's not to say his evening wasn't filled with its hilarious hiccups!

Our very own Johnny Herbert crashes into the wall destroying his front wing in the process.

It started in qualifying as Johnny, on a quick opening lap, smashed through a trackside advertising barrier after losing control of his Alfa Romeo in the final sector. His virtual pit crew fixed his virtual car damage soon after, and he recovered on his next attempt to grab 16th on the grid.

Nico Hulkenberg crashes into a wall on the opening lap of the Virtual Bahrain GP.

Eager to make amends, Herbert made a storming start to the race, unbelievably securing the lead within a matter of seconds. One problem: He had completely disregarded the first corner to do so.

After a hefty penalty, he would finish the race just outside of the top-10. As Johnny explained later, it was a physical as well as a mental challenge!

He'll be back.

Ant's lonely race

Speaking of Sky F1 pundits, Anthony Davidson had a somewhat quieter evening...

Payne goes for a spin

This wasn't the Direction Liam wanted to be going in during qualifying...

Liam Payne has retired early on in the Virtual Bahrain GP after struggling in qualifying

Hulk vs Gutierrez

Amid the chaos, there were some proper racing battles. Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez, two drivers with plenty of F1 experience, had a gripping fight - filled with dummies and fakes - for 10th, eventually won by Hulkenberg.

Esteban Gutierrez pulls off a great dummy to pass Nico Hulkenberg but can't hold onto the place.

Hulk, who lost his Renault seat last year, had an entertaining evening all-round. He said he was "surprised" by his qualifying performance as he lined up fifth on the grid, before being involved in a huge crash at the start in his Racing Point.

Zhou takes the win

We'd be remiss not to mention the efforts of Guanyu Zhou, the Renault test driver and winner of this race. The 20-year-old qualified 3rd, but after getting past former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne, the Chinese rising star put the pressure on pole-sitter Phillip Eng and eventually took the chequered flag with a 10-second lead.

Guanyu Zhou says no silly moves at the start of the race was the key to his win in the Virtual Bahrain GP.

Vandoorne overtook Eng on the final lap for second place.

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