Kiwi driver Marcus Armstrong finished eighth on debut at the 65th Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix as his SJM Theodore Racing by PREMA recorded a double top six result, with all five drivers reaching the chequered flag in a hugely competitive race.
Red Bull Junior Dan Ticktum took victory for the second successive year after a crash-marred race. The F3 driver led from start to finish in a race that was red-flagged for a lengthy period following a shocking accident for Sophia Florsch and Sho Tsuboi. Florsch went over the barriers, through a safety fence and into a marshals’ and photographers’ area. Both drivers plus two photographers and one marshall were taken to hospital.
For the Prema team, Mick Schumacher led the team’s charge to claim a fifth-place finish, ahead of Ralf Aron in sixth position, Marcus Armstrong in eighth and Robert Shwartzman in ninth. Guanyu Zhou finished a fine 11th having started at the back of the grid in 28th.
At the lights, Schumacher held his sixth-place starting position during the early stages of the race, although trying his best efforts to pass Illot after an intense wheel to wheel battle with the Brit. Behind, a great getaway by Aron allowed the Estonian to ascend from ninth to seventh, ahead of fellow SJM Theodore Racing by PREMA drivers Armstrong and Shwartzman.
However, the race was called to a halt on lap four following a horrific accident involving another driver at the Lisboa corner, leading to a lengthy hiatus whilst injured parties were tended to by emergency crews.
With the race resuming under safety car conditions, Schumacher timed his restart to perfection to execute a brilliant pass into fifth place round-the-outside of Lisboa, before Aron followed through a lap later to move into sixth place himself. From here the pair would consolidate their positions over the remaining laps to take the chequered flag inside the top six.
Close behind, Armstrong and Shwartzman tallied up impressive top ten results on their Macau Grand Prix debut in eighth and ninth positions respectively, the Ferrari Driver Academy proteges finishing as the top two rookies.
“The race was ok, but I was just struggling on the straights,” commented Armstrong. “I couldn’t compete with Juri who drove past me straight away. Not an ideal situation for sure, but I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere of the Macau Grand Prix.”
Starting from the back of the grid in 28th after an incident in the Qualifying Race, Zhou produced a fine effort to progress to 11th position at the chequered flag. With the Chinese racer making up more positions than any other driver, it ensured all five SJM Theodore Racing by PREMA drivers reached the finish inside the top eleven.
Race results
1 Dan Ticktum
2 Joel Eriksson
3 Sacha Fenestraz
4 Jake Hughes
5 Mick Schumacher
6 Ralf Aron
7 Callum Ilott
8 Marcus Armstrong
9 Robert Shwartzman
10 Ferdinand Habsburg
11 Guan Yu Zhou
12 Jehan Daruvala
13 Ritomo Miyata
14 Yuhi Sekiguchi
15 Frederik Vesti
16 Toshiki Oyu
17 Yoshiaki Katayama
18 Sena Sakaguchi
19 Juri Vips
20 Dragon
– Enaam Ahmed
– Sho Tsuboi
– Sophia Florsch
– Ukyo Sasahara
– Keyvan Andres
– Marino Sato
– Charles Leong
– Alex Palou
Comments