PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG will race in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix for McLaren – but only on a computer game.
F1’s season has not started due to the coronavirus pandemic but they are running virtual GPs.
Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been gearing up for the virtual grand prix
The Gunners skipper seemed to be enjoying his training and coaching ahead of Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix online
British F1 driver Lando Norris has been putting Aubameyang through his paces and coaching him around the notoriously difficult virtual track
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This week they should be racing around Monte Carlo but have to settle for an online version where the Arsenal striker will partner British racer, Lando Norris.
He said: “I’ve been practicing but it’s really hard! I’ve tried to train every day – hopefully Lando will help me because some of the turns are really, really hard.
“I said to my team before that I love challenges, and this one is a big one for me, so I’m happy to do it with Lando.”
The 30-year-old Premier League ace has been receiving coaching from Norris, 20, to help him get round the notoriously difficult circuit.
McLaren tweeted out a video of the pair preparing and it even featured a good luck message from Norris’ Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz who is set to join Ferrari next season to replace Sebastian Vettel.
Aubameyang is gearing up to take Sainz’s seat – for one race only – alongside Norris and will aim to give it his best shot round the track.
But he is not the first sportsman to dabble in virtual motorsport since Covid-19 sent the world into lockdown.
Real Madrid and former Chelsea stopper Thibaut Courtois and England cricketers Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad – who is spending lockdown with stunning pop star girlfriend Mollie King – have chanced their arm on the track.
Aubameyang has been subject to a great deal of transfer speculation and his stint behind the wheel could be a welcome distraction for the Gabon international.
Arsenal accept Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is entering final year of deal as Man Utd, Barcelona and PSG circle
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
