Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will compete for McLaren at this weekend’s Virtual Monaco Grand Prix.
Formula 1 is holding half-distance virtual races on its official F1 2019 video game in place of events that have been postponed or cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The championship was due to visit Monaco this weekend but that event has been cancelled altogether.
On Wednesday McLaren confirmed that Aubameyang, 30, will team up with regular Formula 1 racer Lando Norris for this Sunday’s round around the streets of Monaco.
Aubameyang made 19 appearances for AS Monaco in the 2010/11 season but established his credentials as a top-level striker with a prolific period at German side Borussia Dortmund, before joining Arsenal in 2018.
He follows in the footsteps of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, Real Madrid’s Thibault Courtois and FC Barcelona’s Arthur Melo in swapping the football pitch for the virtual racing world.
“I’ve been trying but it’s really hard,” said Aubameyang in a video one-to-one with Norris.
“Of course you choose me for Monaco… so it’s a bit hard! But I try to train every day. Some turns are really hard!”
Aubameyang visited last year’s Italian Grand Prix and was a guest of McLaren.
