Driving for SJM Prema Theodore Racing, Marcus Armstrong qualified provisional fourth for the 66th edition of the Macau Grand Prix. The 19-year-old New Zealander navigated his way through heavy traffic in a session impacted by several disruptions.
“Free practice was good and we were just quick and I didn’t push too hard or do anything special,” commented Armstrong. “Qualifying 1 was very much like a traffic jam and I couldn’t complete a single lap without catching traffic but the potential was there. Now we will make some adjustments on the car and focus on tomorrow!”
After dominating the opening session, Armstrong showed great potential and is now set to fight for the pole position on Friday. As practice kicked off earlier in the morning, the Guia Track proved once again to be in a league of its own in terms of challenges for the drivers, especially with the high power and speeds delivered by the brand-new Formula 3 machinery.
Come Friday, Armstrong will surely find plenty of contenders starting from his teammates. After finishing fourth in practice, 20-year-old Russian Robert Shwartzman posted the ninth fastest lap of qualifying 1 as he faced the worst luck in terms of traffic and mishaps, also escaping damage in a late spin at Lisboa.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t improve early laptime from the beginning because I couldn’t finish my lap without either traffic or a red flag or something going on,” Shwartzman said. “If I look at my sectors I feel that technically I could have been in the top-3 without any problem. The car felt very good throughout the whole session with great balance. We have just been unlucky this time but hopefully tomorrow it will go better.”
Making his debut with the FIA Formula 3 Championship car, Frederik Vesti showed impressive pace. The 17-year-old Dane quickly improved his chemistry, running trouble-free and making gains, step by step, even in the most challenging situations.
“It was a good day for me, we started with almost no expectations,” Vesti said. “We had to get used to everything and get the car and tires to work. After a few laps, I started getting more and more comfortable with the car. In FP1 we finished P7, and we made good improvements during the run. In Q1 we then finished P8. It could have been much better but a red flag compromised the lap. I’m not stressed or rushed though. I’m here to learn so we take everything step by step.”
SJM Prema Theodore Racing will come back on track tomorrow morning for Practice 2, with the second qualifying session scheduled for the afternoon at 15:10 local time, GMT+8.
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