Two races into the Asian segment of the season, know as 'the beginning of the end,' meaning the beginning of the end of the season for this years thrilling F1 season action, so what a better time to take you through the rundown of the 3rd F1 season of ERL, from the initial stage of the season, 18 weeks ago in Australia, Melbourne, to 5 weeks ahead, in Abu Dhabi, the venue of which the 3rd F1 champion will be uncovered, and see the likely - hood and what has to be done for the two drivers in contention for the Drivers World Champion for this season to win.

The first 5 races of the season - finding your feet:

After season 1 and 2 of ERL being hosted on F1 2016, and season 3 being played on the new game of F1 2017, it was unclear which drivers that were quick on 2016, may have lost pace for the new game, and which drivers that were perhaps slower last game, may have got quicker or gained time for the new game. From the get - go, it was evident that reigning champion from season 2, the Hungarian of pzalanHUN (who ran assists on F1 2016 and was converting to no assists for the new game) had lost a lot of pace and knew himself that he wasn't really in the championship fight for season 3, however the runner - up from season 2 and the owner of the league, the Greek of ESR_Michael was well and truly on the pace and if not stronger than ever. You may be thinking by now that it was going to be Michael's season to lose, however 3rd place in the championship from last season - the British driver of ERL_Falcon proved to be Michael's main competitor for the upcoming season. So, on to race 1 - Australia, and Michael qualified 2nd and Falcon qualified 3rd, after a race long dual between three drivers, it was Falcon who wrapped up the first race with a win, with Michael hot on his back in P2, and ultimately Falcon leading the championship for (up until Japan) the first and only time. The second race is hosted in China, Shanghai, and with pre - race practice done, the two rivals were almost identical on pace, however with ERL_Falcon having a very poor race, being involved in a couple of incidents finishing down in P6, with the reigning champion of pzalan down in P7, whereas Michael had a better time of it, winning the race, and taking the lead of championship. The 3rd race took place in the desert of Bahrain, under the flood lights, and Falcon had to make sure he didn't let himself slip. Luckily for him, he didn't, bringing home his 2nd race win out of 3, with Michael again just behind him, in P2, but with an incident on the final lap, battling for P2 with another driver, the two tangled, yet Michael came out the best out of the two, in a race that saw a 4 - way battle for the victory in the desert. On to round 4 in Russia, Sochi, and unlike the first 3 races, Michael certainly looked far more comfortable compared to Falcon, with Falcon saying himself "it is one of my most hated track on the calendar," it certainly proved he was uncomfortable, as when he was following Michael, he got a wave of dirty air, and therefore a lot of understeer, consequently ploughing into the wall and losing a wheel - retiring, whilst his championship rival Michael sailed home for a comfortable win, extending the lead points gap to Falcon to 28 points heading in to Spain. Catalunya was the venue for the 5th round of the season, and the race proved to be a cracker, with the two rivals having a race - long nail - biting battle, at times side - by - side for a whole sector, however again, it was Michael who came home for his 3rd race win of the season, further extending his points gap at the top of the championship.

Rounds 6 -7 (Monaco & Canada) - Falcon's resurgence:

With round 6 being hosted at the glamorous (and tax - free) Monte Carlo, most commonly known as Monaco, it was regarded as a very strong track for the season 1 champion - Michael, heading into the race, his championship rival (Falcon) was considering the race to be damage limitation for himself, and after qualifying it was looking evident why; starting on the grid on the second row, in position 4, it wasn't looking great for him, especially after messing up two out of three qualifying runs, meanwhile his rival, in the Ferrari was looking on form, qualifying in pole position around a track notorious for it being near on impossible to overtake around, 50% of the work was done for the championship leader at the time. Off the start Falcon went clean around the outside of position 3, and was on the charge. In the early stage of the race, position 2 made multiple errors, causing a lack of front wing, consequently he had to pit, releasing Falcon into position 2, directly behind Michael. With their pace being very similar, Falcon (Max) tried the undercut, Michael (knowing he had to respond) dived into the pit one lap on, and Max only gained a couple of tenths, however crucially Michael rejoined marginally behind a driver who hadn't pit, and being Monaco, he couldn't get past, at this point Falcon was on a mission, a mission to make a great race, a historic race, he caught right up and went for a ballsy move around the outside of Massenet on a formidable driver, one that many wouldn't think of making a move like this, and did it successfully, but now had the issue that Michael had, however on the very next lap he did a near identical move on the driver who hadn't pitted, getting a car between him and the Prancing Horse, but only for one corner, as the next corner in Mirabeau, Michael sent it down the inside and into P2, later on that race Michael, Max and P3 all came together and with Michael coming out worse, with front wing damage, finishing P3, with Falcon coming home for P1, after starting P4, a stellar drive around the streets of Monaco, ultimately closing the gap in the championship. Montreal, Canada was the venue for the for the 7th round of the Canada, and with an absence from Michael, Falcon was looking to gain 25 points (a race win) on his championship rival, however it wasn't looking so easy for him, as in qualifying he didn't take pole position, however in the race, in turn 1 on lap 1, he swept cleanly around the outside and from then on led pretty much every lap until the end, taking home the victory in Canada, his 2nd race win in a row, closing the points gap at the lead of the championship to mere points. Falcon had thrown down the gauntlet for Michael when he returned.