Liam Lawson has confirmed his spot on the grid in the inaugural virtual Formula 2/3 Grand Prix this weekend.
Lawson, who has already competed for Formula 1 outfit AlphaTauri in the F1 Virtual GP series, will join seven FIA F2 and six fellow FIA F3 drivers from the 2020 season in a four-round online competition.
The grid will also play host to with former F2 and multiple race winners Oliver Rowland, Antonio Fuoco and Norman Nato and fresh face Arthur Leclerc.
The first five rounds of the real-life F2/F3 season have been postponed amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with plans afoot to have the junior categories join the F1 circus at a season-opening round in Austria in early July.
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 a further three more rounds to be contested at Barcelona, Monaco and Baku.
To keep the racing competitive and accessible, car set-ups are fixed, driver aids are permitted (but optional), and damage is off.
The opening race will get underway from 3 am NZT on Monday May 4 and will be livestreamed via the official F1 YouTube channel.
| Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Carlin | Antonio Fuoco | Norman Nato |
| ART GP | Christian Lungaard | Theo Pourchaire |
| DAMS | Oliver Rowland | Calan Williams |
| UNI-Virtuosi | Callum Illot | Luca Ghiotto |
| Prema | Frederik Vesti | Arthur Leclerc |
| Charouz | Louis Deletraz | Juan Manuel Correa |
| Campos | Liam Lawson | Jack Aitken |
| MP | Nobuharu Matsushita | Felipe Drugovich |
| HWA* | Jack Doohan | |
| Trident | Lirim Zendeli | Olli Caldwell |
*The team enters only 1 car – #18 – as #19 is reserved to Anthoine Hubert’s loving memory