Alex Albon says his intense scrap for victory against Charles Leclerc in Formula 1’s Virtual Grand Prix left him “shaking” with ꧅adrenalin a🎉nd “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 th📖e 2020 F1 season currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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

The Red Bull driver ultimately prevai🥀led after running longer tha๊n Ferrari’s Leclerc in the opening stint and opting for Medium tyres over Hards when he finally pitted. 

"I was shaking afterwards, I had so much adrenalin in my ﷽body,” Albon said fol🌄lowing the race. 

“I feel more scared driving the simulator than I do the real thing. The pressure was un♏believable. 

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

“He kept overtak𒉰ing me and I was gettin♒g 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 but said he “really enjoyed” the overtaking bonanza ꦿand race-long du✤el with Albon. 

“I stopped way too early, I had not tried the strategy and Alex went for more laps,” he ex𓃲plained. “I was on hard🌼s 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 sho💯uld have tried at least one race𒀰 simulation.

"I knew I had the penalty but after that it was also about having fun🐭, so I kept overt🅠aking Alex. I really enjoyed this race."