With a time of 2:10.474 minutes, the Swede, defending Macau champion, set the fastest time of the weekend so far around the 6.120 kilometres long Guia street circuit in Macau. That was more than enough to secure pole position for tomorrow’s qualification race, covering a distance of ten laps. Second fastest qualifier was another former Macau Grand Prix winner, Spaniard Daniel Juncadella (Fortec, 2:10.687 minutes). The best-placed Macau rookie in qualifying was Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing, 2:10.796 minutes), who ended up third.

Free practice: Pommer comes out on top

On Friday morning, Formula 3 drivers got another 40 minutes of free practice to work on the set-up of their cars for qualifying and the races at the Guia circuit. Having been fastest in Thursday’s first qualifying session, Felix Rosenqvist again ranked at the top of the time sheets throughout the first half of free practice, but with 14 minutes remaining, German Markus Pommer (Motopark) came to the fore, building on his strong performance from the previous day. The German first set a time of 2:11.688 minutes, then improved to 2:11.339 and concluded the session with a time of 2:11.102 minutes after a last-gasp attack. 

Like most drivers, Felix Rosenqvist also posted his fastest lap time at the end of the session, with times improving along with better grip conditions. The Swede ended up second with a time of 2:11.423 minutes, toppling Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing, 2:11.614 minutes). Pace-setter in yesterday’s free practice session, Antonio Giovinazzi (Carlin with LC8.com, 2:11.924 minutes) now was fourth-fastest from Lance Stroll (SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Powerteam, 2:12.248 minutes), the best-placed Macau rookie in fifth place. Stroll was one of the drivers to incur some damage on his car, destroying the front wing by hitting the tyre stacks after going straight at the tight Melco hairpin. Other drivers to hit trouble were Martin Cao (Fortec Motorsport, 2:14.548 minutes) and Dorian Bocolacci (Signature, 2:13.812 minutes). The Frenchman hit the barriers with the left-hand side of his car at Moorish hill, after which the red flags came out and the session was interrupted for a little under five minutes. With almost ten minutes remaining, action resumed and, as said, most of the drivers set their fastest times in the closing stages. 

Qualifying: Rosenqvist turns provisional pole into a real one

With Felix Rosenqvist’s first flying lap already resulting into a time that was faster than the time that put him on provisional pole position in yesterday’s first qualifying, it was clear that the times of today’s second qualifying session would be decisive for the starting grid positions for the qualification race. Unlike yesterday’s qualifying that could be completed without any interruption, today’s session turned out to be a rather difficult affair for some of the drivers. Only four minutes into the session, Callum Ilott brought the red flags out for the first time following a crash at the exit of San Francisco. That left him as the only driver who didn’t manage to post a faster lap time than on the day before.

After the restart, there was a traffic jam with a dozen of cars at the Melco hairpin after Gustavo Menezes (Carlin) has missed his turning point in the tight corner. The track was blocked temporarily, but quick work from the marshals allowed action to continue without the need for a red flag. At that time, Felix Rosenqvist topped the time sheets from Leclerc and Giovinazzi. On his next lap, Leclerc went faster than the Swede and took over first place, but nine minutes later, Rosenqvist restored the order with the first lap time of the weekend under 2:10 minutes. Later on in the session, Juncadella did it likewise and came within five hundredths of a second from Rosenqvist’s time, but then Rosenqvist mounted another challenge that saw him end up with a time of 2:10.474 minutes. 

The red flags flew again after a crash by Antonio Giovinazzi with 3:40 minutes remaining. This time, the session wasn’t restarted, so the grid positions were set, with Rosenqvist on pole from Juncadella and Leclerc. In spite of his crash, Giovinazzi still ended up fourth ahead of Pommer, MacLeod, Sette Câmara, Maini, Lorandi and Stroll, who rounded out the top ten. Afterwards, Pommer was given a two places’ grid penalty for impeding another driver during qualifying. As a result, the German will be starting seventh place while MacLeod and Sette Câmara move up to fifth and sixth respectively. The ten-lap qualification race will get underway tomorrow, Saturday, November 21, at 13.45 hrs local time in Macau. 

Quotes of the three fastest drivers after first qualifying:

Felix Rosenqvist: “These two guys gave me a lot of pressure today. The plan was to save my tyres and not to put any new tyres on. When the team informed me on the radio about Juncadella’s time, I knew that I had to put in another gear. I had probably already reached the peak of the tyres, but it was enough to improve my time and secure pole position. I have a lot of experience at this track, which surely is helpful. I am happy with the car, we have shown that we are very competitive. That is making me confident for the race.”

Daniel Juncadella: “I couldn’t be any happier. I didn’t expect to be able to claim second place here. Prior to the session, we said that a top five position would already be good, given the fact that I was very cautious here. Fortunately, I found a free lap and although I didn’t have a slipstream, I could make good use of it. I couldn’t have done any better, I am happy with this result.”

Charles Leclerc: “I am also happy to be third, especially because I made some little mistakes on my fastest lap. Felix was simply too fast for me to catch, there was no way I could have done that. I have to thank my team for the amazing car they gave me. Having two former Macau winners in front of me on the grid, I am happy with my grid position and I am confident for the race. I will push 100 percent.”