The V1 Malta Series is an esports championship organized by Velocity Esports Racing for the official F1 game. It is also a widely known championship consisting of 10 equal teams of 2 drivers on each team, resulting in a total of 20 designated drivers competing to claim bragging rights and call themselves the Elite of Maltese F1 Sim-Racing.
This year 2 championships will be held, the current season has been going on for the past 5 weeks hosting 1 race every Monday at 21:00 which you can keep up with on the Velocity Esports Racing Facebook page. With 5 races down it’s time for a quick recap at what has been going on so far and where do our drivers stand on the podium as of right now.
Round 1- Belgium-Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps
In the first race of the season we see Jake Sammut (McLaren) winning from pole position after a risky decision ended up with him driving with soft tyres through light rain which eventually cleared just 3 laps from the finish. He was clashing with Mark Grech (reserved) until the finish line, Brandon Bonello (Mercedes) and Matthias Farrugia (Alpha Tauri),whom both drivers were driving on Intermediate tyres. Anthony Calabrese (McLaren) came through and managed to get the fastest lap after needing to pit and change front win after an incident between Michael Pace (Ferrari) and Matthew Cassar (Aston Martin). Despite a difficult start to his race, Brandon Bonello (Mercedes) makes the most of a hectic race to go from dead last to finishing on the podium.
Round 2 – BAHRAIN – SAKHIR INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
Once again Jake Sammut (McLaren) wins from pole position after battling with Brandon Bonello (Mercedes) for the whole race. Michael Pace (Ferrari) completed the podium after keeping up with both from a distance. In the midfield a lot of clashes for positions occurred with both Christian Caruana (Red Bull) and Anthony Calabrese (McLaren) fighting for 6th place and Daryl Pace (Williams) against Keith Muscat (Alpine). Matthias Farrugia (Alpha Tauri) was awarded Pepsi Malta Driver of the Day for driving consistently which ultimately rewarded him 3 positions.
Round 3 – AUSTRIA – SPIELBERG RED BULL RING
Jake Sammut (McLaren) won First Sprint Race Qualifying of the season meanwhile Matthias Farrugia (Alpha Tauri) won the Main race after unfortunate events saw race leader, Mark Grech (Reserve) on an empty fuel tank on the Final lap. Farrugia also got awarded The Pepsi Malta Driver of the Day award after an excellent performance on only his third appearance. Jake Sammut (McLaren) and Adrian Manduca (Haas) finished on podium position. Michael Pace (Ferrari) also had an incredible race by securing 5th after starting from 17th.
Round 4 – MONACO – CIRCUIT DE MONACO
Adrian Manduca (Haas) showed amazing work earning him a hat-trick in Monaco. He got Pole position, won the race whilst also achieving the Motors Inc. Fastest Lap award. After a chaotic start we could see traffic forming in the streets of Monaco as a result of the difficult overtaking maneuvers.7 laps shy of the finish line rain started to fall, Jake Sammut (McLaren) and Brandon Bonello (Mercedes) were the only two that pitted for Softs and not Intermediates. This cost them a lot of time as they had to re-pit to swap them, however, luckily they still secured a podium finish. Jamie Zahra (Alfa Romeo) The Pepsi Malta Driver of the Day showed an amazing performance after calmly making his way up from P13 all the way up to P4.
Round 5 – AZEIRBAIJAN – BAKU CITY CIRCUIT
As if Jake Sammut (McLaren) had not dominated the season already, won his third race this season after a race. Sammut, who had a bad start ended up promoting Mark Grech (Reserve) to P1. In a matter of laps, Sammut returned to leading the race and getting the Motors Inc. Fastest Lap award. A few laps shy of the end, an Alpine reserve driver, had an unfortunate event that led to a safety car. The track went back to green in the last two laps and gave the audience an amazing finish. For the second consecutive time in a row, Jamie Zahra (Alfa Romeo) was awarded The Pepsi Malta Driver of the Day after the last-gasp overtake on Matthias Farrugia (Alpha Tauri) on the last lap of the race to land a spot on the podium.
This event is live-streamed on Velocity Esports Racing Facebook page and also on ONE.com.mt.
Tune in by following ONE.com.mt on Facebook to get notified when this goes live!
