RIAN TRIUMPHS IN CHAOTIC SEASON 19 OPENER AT CANADA

Season 19 of A1881 kicked off in thrilling fashion at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as Rian claimed a commanding victory for Williams in the first-ever official race held on the new F1 25 game. He was joined on the podium by AA_Mejg in the Aston Martin and Alpine’s Jordan, as the championship immediately delivered drama, strategy gambles, and a dramatic late safety car that reshuffled the deck...



After a bumpy qualifying session that saw Rian start from P5 due to a miscommunication on the qualifying format, he quickly recovered with a strong launch, moving up to fourth before settling into a tense DRS train. Early contender NaeDangerDavid in the Ferrari had to serve a DT due to a jump start, turning the lead fight into a three-way battle among Jordan, Justin (reserving for Endru in the Williams), and Rian. A Virtual Safety Car on lap 33 was the race’s turning point. The top three pitted together, but Justin fell back after serving a 10-second penalty, leaving Rian and Jordan in contention.

Bhavish in the Mercedes briefly emerged as a threat, having stayed out longer, but a mistake on worn hards gave Rian the lead and caused Jordan to pick up wing damage in the process. That allowed Rian to build a sizeable 18-second gap, eyeing a late pit stop for fastest lap glory. Unfortunately for him, a safety car scuppered those plans—but it turned into a blessing. Lapped cars separated him from Jordan at the restart, and with fresh softs underfoot, Rian was untouchable to the flag.

“Haha yea it feels great to be on a new game and to be back on the top step.
Qualifying didn’t go great, I thought it was full qualifying so I only did 2 runs... fortunately I was still able to get p5.
I was eventually able to get into the DRS, a VSC came out on lap 33 and the top 3 all pit...
I was able to get ahead of Jordan and Bhavish was a few seconds up ahead on old hards and I was able to pass simply.
I planned to push for a 20-second gap and pit for softs to get FL, but a safety car came out. Fortunately for me, there were 4-5 lapped cars between me and Jordan... I was able to get a good restart and build a nice gap while chaos was happening behind. I also ended up getting the fastest lap in the end and just brought the car home.”

Rounding out the top five were Justin in the other Williams and Bhavish, who will be slightly frustrated after having featured prominently in the top positions. Rollie drove steadily to P6 for Alpine, only to finish 0.02 short of Bhavish after decution of penalties, with Javinwain taking P7 for Red Bull in a quiet but solid drive.

TarkanGino brought the Ferrari home in P8, ahead of Dunce in the sister Aston Martin. Bards19 made his full-time A1881 debut and delivered a composed performance to finish P10 for Haas. Quartiux came home just outside the top 10 in the second Mercedes, while fellow debutant TSCRacing (McLaren) managed to avoid chaos and complete his first full-time race in P13.

Further back, Kast1908 (McLaren) had a scrappy race but still made it to the flag, finishing 12th. Crunchypancake and Sir_Ibbo, both in difficult midfield fights, crossed in P14 and P15 for Haas and VisaRB, respectively.

It was a tough race for Selecta, Inginne, and NaeDangerDavid, all of whom DNFed in varying incidents. For David in particular, who had started from the front row, it was a frustrating end after showing strong early pace.

In terms of Constructors’, Williams leads the table with a mighty 65-point haul from Rian’s win and Justin’s fourth. Alpine and Aston Martin follow closely. Mercedes and Red Bull round out the upper half of the table in what already looks like a tightly contested season ahead.

Season 19 welcomed TSCRacing and Bards19 to the grid as full-time drivers, both of whom showed promising signs of consistency and pace. With the transition to F1 25 complete and the season underway, all eyes now turn to Round 2 to be run on Zandvoort.

Special thanks to Ironghost for returning to commentary after recent health issues—great to hear your voice healthy and back in action! You can find his stream in the below link: 

https://www.youtube.com/live/6xx6mVTI_nY?si=O9i_27qWwCP4idLD&t=2137

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