Thibaut Courtois showed safe hands behind the steering wheel as he got the better of Sergio Aguero in Formula One's Virtual Spanish Grand Prix.

Victory at a simulated Circuit de Catalunya went to Britain's George Russell, racing for the Williams team, who fended off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a gripping finish.

The battle of the footballers went the way of Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois though, with the Belgian's Alfa Romeo placing 12th after the 33-lap contest.

Manchester City striker Aguero marked his debut in the eSport with a solid 14th place, having been battling with golf's Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter at one stage, and the Argentinian said his debut was "not bad".

Poulter ended up 18th for Renault, one place better off than Barcelona midfielder Arthur Melo, whose Haas finished last of the cars that completed the race.

McLaren's Lando Norris pulled out midway through.

Russell started on pole and wound up in a battle over the closing laps with Leclerc, when it became clear they were the class cars in the field.

Victory looked set to go to Leclerc when Russell picked up a three-second penalty, but Monte Carlo driver Leclerc collected the same punishment himself on the penultimate lap, the pair both penalized for cutting corners.

That let 22-year-old Russell cruise to the finish line, celebrating what he said was a first motor racing win for him since 2018, when he was competing in Formula Two.

"I am feeling ecstatic. I'm not used to this winning thing," Russell told Sky Sports. "I've not done it for a long, long time."

He said he was "almost wetting my pants" when news came through of Leclerc's penalty late in the race, having been "angry" about his earlier sanction.

Leclerc felt "very disappointed" to have a likely victory taken away but praised Russell's performance, describing the Englishman, who fell from pole to fifth place in the early stages, as "extremely quick" when it mattered most.

“When he showed his real pace towards the end he was just too quick for me,” Leclerc said.