FIA F3 World Cup entry list confirmed for Macao street fight
The FIA has confirmed the final entry list for the inaugural FIA Formula 3 World Cup, to be held from November 17-20, at the 63rd Macau Grand Prix
29 drivers from 14 countries, representing 12 teams, will compete for Formula 3’s highest single-event honour on the Guia street circuit.
New confirmations include Antonio Felix da Costa, Sérgio Sette Câmara, Dan Ticktum and Arjun Maini.
2012 Macau Grand Prix winner, former FIA F3 European Championship winner, and current Formula E and DTM driver Felix da Costa will race as part of a four-car Carlin entry. The Portuguese returns to Macao for the first time since his win in 2012.
Joining Felix da Costa at Carlin, Brazilian Sérgio Sette Câmara will replace Peter Zhi Cong Li. The Guia circuit lap record holder (2:10.186 recorded in 2015), Sette Câmara takes the seat as Chinese native Li continues to recover from a season ending incident at the Red Bull Ring in May. Red Bull junior driver Sette Câmara took podiums at Pau and the Norisring in this year’s FIA F3 European Championship.
Also at Carlin, 2014 CIK-FIA World Junior Champion and 2015 British F4 Champion Lando Norris will make his highly anticipated Macau Grand Prix debut.
For Motopark, Indian FIA F3 European Championship entrant Arjun Maini will replace Fin Niko Kari in a three-car entry.
Maini is joined by the winner of Masters of Formula 3, 2016 FIA European F3 Rookie Champion and fifth outright, Swede Joel Eriksson.
Both 16 years old, FIA F3 European Championship podium-getter David Beckmann and Euro Formula Open Championship competitor, US-based German native Keyvan Andres Soori will drive for Kfzteile24 Muecke Motorsport.
BMW Factory GT Driver and third in last year’s Macau Grand Prix, Briton Alexander Sims makes a return to single-seater racing in Macau, joining F3 rookie and countryman Daniel Ticktum at Double R Racing.
Winner of the 2014 and 2015 Macau Grand Prix, 24 year-old F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist will drive for SJM Theodore Racing by Prema. Rosenqvist returns to fight for an unprecedented third consecutive win in Macao.
Joining Rosenqvist are Prema Powerteam 2016 FIA F3 European Championship team mates, Maximillian Gunther and Nick Cassidy, both finishing at the top end of the FIA F3 European Drivers’ Championship. Second in the FIA European F3 Championship, 19 year-old German Gunther has seven pole positions, four race wins and 13 podiums to his name.
Off the back of a 2015 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship, New Zealand native Cassidy placed fourth in the European series, with one pole position, one race win and eight podiums. Cassidy will look to improve on third place at the 2014 Macau Grand Prix.
Recently crowned All-Japan F3 Champion Kenta Yamashita will race for ThreeBond with T-Sport, driving a Dallara Tomei. The Japanese driver swept all three-races in the final round of the Championship to hold off rival Jann Mardenborough, who will race for B-Max Racing in Macao.
2011 Macau Grand Prix winner, 2012 FIA Formula 3 European Champion and DTM driver Daniel Juncadella, will also return to the Guia circuit. The Spaniard will look to improve on a disappointing 2015 DNF from a race-ending clash on the exit of the Lisboa corner.
Hitech GP will field FIA F3 European Championship third place-getter George Russell. With seven podiums in the series, Russell will make his Macau Grand Prix debut after a last minute driver change in 2015 saw the 18-year-old miss his first run at the circuit.
Van Amersfoort Racing will continue with 2016 FIA F3 European Championship race winners Callum Ilott and Anthoine Hubert, along with team mate Pedro Piquet.
FIA Director of Circuit Competition Frederic Bertrand said the grid represented the best of the sport.
“This field offers a fantastic mix of experience and raw talent. I expect that there are many household names of the future heading to Macao. It is such a diverse grid, with so many stories to be told. I don’t know if I have ever seen an entry list with so much potential right throughout the grid.”