His year
in the FIA Fórmula 3 European Championship may not have brought
entirely what he had hoped for, but Felix Rosenqvist (Kashbet.com by
Mücke Motorsport) still concluded the season in style by winning the
61th running of the prestigious Suncity Group Fórmula 3 Macau Grand
Prix. In a 15-lap race that was interrupted following a pile-up on
the opening lap, Rosenqvist made most of his pole position, steered
clear of any problems and led all the way from lights to flag. With
victory in his fifth attempt in Macau, he became only the second
Swede to win the classic race on the challenging Guia street circuit
after Rickard Rydell in 1992. After a thrilling battle in the closing
stages of the race, Rosenqvist’s Austrian team-mate Lucas Auer
(kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) managed to overtake New Zealand’s
Nick Cassidy (ThreeBond with T-Sport) and thus completed the 1-2 for
Mücke Motorsport. Cassidy came home third from Spanish F3 returnee
Roberto Merhi (W66.com Double R Racing) and Canadian Nicholas Latifi
(SJM Theodore Racing by Prema).
Only one
week after his 23rd birthday, November 7, Felix Rosenqvist gave
himself probably the best present with an excellent performance in
the Macau Grand Prix. His weekend of racing on the streets in the
former Portuguese colony was almost perfect: he topped the time
sheets in second free practice and in the combined qualifying result,
he won the qualifying race on Saturday and finally took the spoils in
the main event on Sunday. For the Swede, it was his second win of the
year in a Fórmula 3 classic after his success in the Pau Grand Prix
last May. “This is the most important one of them, the Fórmula 3
race with the longest history and the most international
recognition,” the buoyant winner commented. “I have been on the
podium here, I have led the race here, but I had never won so far.
Now, I finally managed and that is a great feeling! To be honest, for
the first time in my life, I am lost for words. For me, this season
was the most difficult since I started in motor racing, but I have
managed to end it on a high!” Rosenqvist’s victory also marked
the maiden success in Macau for his team Mücke Motorsport and the
sixth win for the Mercedes-Benz Fórmula 3 engine in the classic
Fórmula 3 race.
In
typical Macau style, the race had plenty of action. It already stared
as FIA Fórmula 3 European Champion Esteban Ocon (SJM Theodore by
Prema) and Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) tangled while
battling for the lead in the first part of the opening lap, which
eventually triggered a multi-car pile-up that also caught out Martin
Cao (Fortec Motorsports), Yu Kanamaru (Carlin) and Richard Goddard
(ThreeBond with T-Sport). The cars of some other drivers were also
damaged, but could be repaired during the interruption that followed
after the race was red-flagged immediately after the incident. At the
re-start after one lap behind the safety car, Mücke Motorsport duo
Felix Rosenqvist and Lucas Auer ran in first and second place
respectively, but Auer missed his braking point into Lisboa and
dropped back to third behind Cassidy. While Rosenqvist gradually
built up a comfortable advantage of over four seconds, Auer and
Cassidy were battling for second place. On lap 13, Cassidy clipped a
wall with the left rear tyre of his car, which allowed Auer to get
through. Two laps later, Rosenqvist took the chequered flag as the
winner, with Auer completing the 1-2 for Mücke Motorsport. “I had
noticed that Nick was going a bit slower and then he hit the wall,
which allowed me to get past. Of course, I would have loved to win
here, but at the end of the day, I am also happy with second place,”
Auer commented.
On his
Macau debut, Nick Cassidy was classified third as the best-placed
rookie in the field. “Being on the podium here first time out is a
pretty cool feeling,” the New Zealander said. “Of course, the aim
always is to win, but a podium finish is quite good, too. I am also
well pleased with the performance of our NBE-engine.” After a nice
late-race battle, Roberto Merhi beat Nicholas Latifi to fourth place
while another returnee, Stefano Coletti (Eurointernational) finished
sixth. Seventh place went to Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing),
who also managed to set the fastest lap time in the race. The
Dutchman, who emerged as the best-placed driver to use a Volkswagen
engine in his car, made good progress after starting from the back of
the grid following his crash in yesterday’s qualifying race.
American Santino Ferrucci (Fortec Motorsport), Japanese Kenta
Yamashita (TOM’s) and American Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort
Racing) rounded out the top ten.
Photos: FIA F3 Euro Series/CGPM
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