Rosenqvist leads the race
Felix Rosenqvist has become the second man to win the Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in consecutive years, repeating Edoardo Mortara’s feat with a dominant performance yesterday.
Having started from pole position, Rosenqvist got away to a good start, but front-row starter Charles Leclerc managed to drift past him on the run to Lisboa, pulling off a breathtaking move around the outside to grab the lead.
“It feels even better to win it the second time.” – Felix Rosenqvist
Rosenqvist was back in the lead at the start of lap two though, when Leclerc lost momentum after making a mistake at the final corner. Leclerc then repeated his earlier move to get around Rosenqvist once again coming into Lisboa and set about trying to build a lead.
The race was red-flagged at that point after a huge crash involving Gustavo Menezes, Yu Kanamara, Mitsunori Takaboshi and Ryan Tveter left debris all over the track at Fishermen’s Bend.
Leclerc led the way after the safety car restart, but the Van Amersfoort driver was swallowed up by both Rosenqvist and the third-placed Sam MacLeod on the run into Lisboa.
That moment gave Rosenqvist some breathing space at the front and he was able to edge himself clear over the next few laps. By the time Leclerc managed to overtake MacLeod, with another brilliant pass around the outside into Lisboa on lap seven, Rosenqvist was 2.5 seconds up the road.
Leclerc was able to cut Rosenqvist’s advantage, but it wasn’t quickly enough and the pair crossed the finish line 1.1 seconds apart.
“It feels even better to win it the second time,” said a delighted Rosenqvist. “In the beginning of the race, I felt confident with the car, so even though Charles got ahead of me on the first lap, I was sure I could get him back.”
‘I’m always disappointed when I’m not first. But it is still a good result.’, Charles Leclerc
Despite being a rookie on the challenging Guia Circuit, Charles Leclerc finished second, showing a lot of potential. “I’m always disappointed when I’m not first. But it is still a good result,” said the 18-year-old driver from Monaco, who was named the rookie of the year in the 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship. “We were quite fast at the beginning, but Felix looked a bit faster and then the safety entered and I couldn’t do anything,” he said, admitting that the winner, Rosenqvist, was “really fast” during yesterday’s race.
MacLeod’s hopes of a podium finish were dashed on lap eight when he brushed the wall at Police, which allowed Alexander Sims to grab a top-three place. “To start on the second row, you probably hope that you will get a chance to win. The race went well today. (…) I’m really happy to get on the podium today,” Sims said.
Antonio Giovinazzi made a brilliant recovery from his tenth-place start to finish fourth, with Markus Pommer fifth, ahead of Santino Ferrucci and Alessio Lorandi.
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