Seven FIA Formula 2 drivers and seven FIA F3 drivers from the 2020 season, together with former F2 and multiple race winners Oliver Rowland, Antonio Fuoco and Norman Nato and fresh face Arthur Leclerc, will take part in the inaugural round of Virtual Racing for both championships which will take place this Sunday at 1500 UTC and streamed live on Formula 1’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

Presented by Alex Jacques, this maiden Virtual F2 and F3 event will use the F2 cars on Codemasters’ F1 2019 game, and consist of a 30 minute Feature Race – followed by a five-lap Sprint Race with the top-eight positions reversed. The Bahrain International Circuit has been selected as the opening round, with three more rounds to follow in the coming weeks (Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Baku).

The 2020 F2 drivers confirmed for the event are ART’s Christian Lundgaard who will later take part in the Formula 1 Virtual Grand Prix that same day, Louis Delétraz (also entered in the F1 Esports event) who will race in first in F2 with his 2020 team Charouz Racing System alongside returnee Juan Manuel Correa. UNI-Virtuosi will field their 2020 driver Callum Ilott and their 2019 racer Luca Ghiotto. Finally, MP Motorsport have secured their 2020 line-up with Nobuharu Matsushita to compete alongside Felipe Drugovich, while Jack Aitken will race for his Campos Racing team.

The F3 roster includes Trident’s Olli Caldwell and Lirim Zendeli, Théo Pourchaire (ART), Frederik Vesti (PREMA), and Liam Lawson who will join Campos Racing for this event. Furthermore, Jack Doohan will race for BWT HWA RACELAB whilst DAMS will field Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams.

To keep the racing competitive and accessible, car set-ups are fixed, driver aids are permitted (but optional), and damage is off.

Tune in at 1600 BST/1500 UTC via YouTube or Twitch to catch the virtual Bahrain sunset – and some terrific virtual competition too.

  • F2/F3 Virtual Racing Entry list – Round 1: Sakhir, Bahrain

CARLIN Antonio Fuoco Norman Nato

ART Grand Prix Christian Lundgaard Théo Pourchaire

DAMS Oliver Rowland Calan Williams

UNI-Virtuosi Callum Ilott Luca Ghiotto

PREMA Racing Frederik Vesti Arthur Leclerc

Charouz Racing System Louis Delétraz Juan Manuel Correa

Campos Racing Liam Lawson Jack Aitken

MP Motorsport Nobuharu Matsushita Felipe Drugovich

BWT HWA RACELAB* Jack Doohan

Trident Olli Caldwell Lirim Zendeli

*The team enters only 1 car - #18 - as #19 is reserved to Anthoine Hubert's loving memory