Armstrong posts quick qualifier despite crash at Macau

Robert Shwartzman will start the qualifying race for the 66th Macau Grand Prix from the front row. The 20-year-old Russian handed SJM Prema Theodore Racing a valuable second place in Friday’s qualifying at the Guia Circuit, which defines the line-up of the first race of the weekend.

The session featured early drama for the team as 19-year-old kiwi Marcus Armstrong made contact with the barriers at the Police corner after setting the initial pace. The incident had no physical consequences, but Armstrong had to stop as the car was too damaged to make its way back to the pits.

“Unfortunately I made contact with the barriers early in the session while I was in a really quick lap,” commented Armstrong. “I think the pace was there, and my initial lap was still good enough for P9. We have two races, with plenty of chances for overtaking, so nothing is lost and I look forward to fighting back.”

Even though he missed most of the running, his early flying lap was impressive enough to secure the 9th place overall. With a close pack of cars and plenty of slipstreams available, there will be good chances to fight and recover for him in tomorrow’s qualifying race.

Securing a valuable seventh place was 17-year-old Danish racer Frederik Vesti, who kept progressing in his first endeavour with the challenging 2019-spec Formula 3 racecar. Vesti emerged as a top contender right away and made the most out of his chances ending up less than two tenths of a second away from the top-3 in row 4.

SJM Prema Theodore Racing is now looking forward to the first, 10-lap race of the weekend which will set the final grid for Sunday’s 2019 Grand Prix.

66th Macau Grand Prix, Qualifying 2