Macau GP | Circuit might need changes ahead of 2019

Macau might have to make changes to the Guia Circuit in order to host the new International Formula 3 race starting in 2019, magazine Autosport claims.

In an article published last week, Autosport says that the power-to-weight ratios for the competing vehicles may force the city to alter its circuit.

Currently the track meets FIA Grade 3 standards, allowing it to accommodate cars with a power-to-weight ratio of 2-3kg per 1bhp.

FIA safety director Laurent Mekies, who is responsible for this aspect of the competition, said: “If the car comes with a power-to-weight ratio that doesn’t limit it to Grade 3, we are not going to add kilos onto it to make it still a Grade 3 – that would be silly from our side. […] The car will come with the lowest weight possible, and we will then run simulations to do what it takes to make Macau suitable to that car and to that power-to-weight ratio.”

“If it means going to Grade 2, that’s what we will do – we are currently doing these simulations and seeing where it takes us; it’s a lot more precise and refined than just looking at the weight and the power,” Laurent Mekies told Autosport.

Pun Weng Kun, president of the Macau Sports Bureau, said that the organizing committee would be prepared to “evaluate” changes and have their feasibility assessed.

“Until any potential changes have been identified and studied, it is too early to say whether or not it would be possible to implement them, and therefore to change the current circuit homologation,” he told Autosport.

He said that, moving forward, the organizing committee would remain in contact with the FIA on matters concerning the Grand Prix.