Esports

Tough battles and close margins in F1 Esports Event Three

As F1 Esports took one last stop in Europe before heading across the pond to Mexico and Circuit of the Americas, the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports team battled hard for points. 

Simon Weigang pushed through the pack to almost secure two top-ten finishes, while Manuel Biancolilla and John Evans had unlucky races with technical faults.

Race Seven: Monza

A tricky qualifying at a tough track meant a challenge for most drivers, with John invalidating his final run in Q1, leaving him eliminated. Simon pushed into Q2 and eventually placed 13th.  

The first chicane caused collisions out on the track, but our drivers escaped unharmed and charged on around the Temple of Speed. Simon pitted first on lap nine, with John joining the lap after, and both emerged in 16th and 19th respectively on the Medium tyre. 

John battled for 18th, taking on two-time world champion Jarno Opmeer from Mercedes. Simon climbed to 13th once all pitstops had been completed, and after an incident by Brendon Leigh from Ferrari on lap 21, he moved up to finish just outside the points in 11th place. 

Continuing to make moves until the end of lap 22, Simon overtook Sebastian Job from Haas to move up to 10th place with five laps to go. Nursing home his tyres, Simon crossed the line inside the points. However, a post-race penalty pushed him down to 14th, with John finishing in 18th. 

Race Eight: Mexico

Close margins meant John failed to advance from Q1 and qualified 16th. Simon improved on his final lap in Q2 but finished 14th in a tightly contested round, less than 200ths-of-a-second away from 10th place.  

During the race, Simon had a strong start, moving up from 14th to 11th in the opening lap. Overtaking Shanaka Clay from Williams on the second lap, he moved into the points and held 10th position until the drivers ahead started to pit. 

John suffered wing damage on lap four and dropped down the field to 19th. Pitting early to replace the front wing, he switched to the Hard tyres on lap five.

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Simon pit on lap 12, but unfortunately picked up a penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He emerged on the Hard tyres and pushed to stay in the points. 

 Simon pit again on lap 34 after being pushed off track and picking up damage, eventually crossing the line in 18th. John picked up positions as other teams made late pitstops, finishing in 14th once post-race penalties had been applied.

Race Nine: Circuit of the Americas

After failing to improve on his lap time, Manuel wasn't able to advance from Q1 and started the race in 19th. Simon finished 14th after struggling to find pace in Q2.

Rain started to fall just before lights out, causing the drivers having to adapt their strategies. On the opening lap, both Simon and Manuel moved up two positions, to 11th and 17th place respectively.

Pitting for the Intermediate tyres on lap 14, Simon emerged in 14th and pushed to get into the points. Manuel stayed out longer and pitted a lap later, also for the Intermediates. 

With ten laps to go, Simon was in 11th position, with Manuel behind in 17th. As the rain dried up, Simon pitted for Softs and pushed to climb into the points. Manuel switched to Soft tyres and stayed in 16th until he crossed the line.

Once post-race penalties had been applied, Manuel finished in 13th whilst Simon finished in 14th.

Simon Weigang, Driver, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports Team: "Event three was the most frustrating event yet. Racing wise, I was always fighting in and around the top ten, but unfortunately in the races I picked up penalties that caused me to slip down out the points."

Manuel Biancolilla, Driver, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports Team: "My qualifying wasn't great as I struggled to handle the pressure. The race was enjoyable, but my set-up wasn't ideal for the changing conditions. Overall, though, it was a good comeback from 20th to 13th."