Preview | Young stars seeking a brighter light on Guia Circuit

With the return of the “Queen” of Macau races, and to a format closer to the former Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup held at Guia Circuit until 2015, this year’s edition of the FIA F3 World Cup will gather the best drivers of the year from the FIA Formula 3 championships of Europe and Japan.

Topping the entry list are names like Mick Schumacher, son of the seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, who on his second attempt in the F3 European Championship won the title.

In fact, the Macau Grand Prix grid for this year features a total of 16 FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers.

The race will pit them against each other, such as last year’s winner Daniel Ticktum and this year’s Formula 3 European Vice-Champion, Mick Schumacher.

Paring with Ticktum on the Motopark Academy team is a great set of drivers and well- known names from the Guia Circuit.

Joel Eriksson, Ferdinand Habsburg and Marino Sato will all be racing with Dallara-Volkswagen of Motorpark. The team also includes rookie Juri Vips, a first-timer in Macau who has already showed his talent this year, winning a street-circuit at Norisring.

Daniel Tickum

Ticktum aside, Schumacher will also be well-supported in the field by the SJM Theodore Racing – Prema team. The team’s Dallara-Mercedes cars will be in the hands of names like Guan Yu Zhou Ralf Aron, Marcus Armstrong and Robert Schwartzman.

And if you think the list of highlighted contenders ends here, you could not be more wrong, as Carlin’s four-car field is sending an army composed of Jehan Daruvala, Callum Ilott, Sacha Fenestraz and Japan’s Yoshiaki Katayama.

With only a two-car field, TOM’s brings All-Japan Formula 3 Championship title winner Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata to drive their Dallara-Toyota.

Mick Schumacher

Although Schumacher and Ticktum are considered “natural” candidates for the title, there are many names that could easily interfere with their “tango” through the streets of Macau, as the 28-car field is laden with young talent.

But this is nothing more than theory. The real deal gets underway with free practice and qualifying on November 15 and 16, followed by the Qualification Race on Saturday which sets the grid for the race, to be held on November 17. Sunday is reserved for the Grand Prix, when the final will be held and Ticktum’s successor to the Macau title will be decided.

On a last note, we could not refrain from noting two facts: the first being a rare female participant in these open-wheel championships in Macau – this time Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing has assigned one of its cars to German driver Sophia Florsch. She will be the only female on track. Secondly, the rare participation of a local racer in this category. Macau’s Charles Leong will assume one of the cars from Hitech GP, with the participation of Jake Hughes.

Leong managed to win both the Chinese Formula 4 and Asian Formula Renault championship titles last year, and he has been strong this year in his first ever F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA.
Leong will be paired with Hughes, another driver that has been achieving results in F3 Asian Championship and known to be capable of a little surprise, if the chance arises.