by Alex Johnston
MACAU IS BACK! The 70th edition of the Macau Grand Prix will be run in November and will be the 38th event for Formula 3 cars and the fifth under the 'FIA F3 World Cup' title.
The provisional entry list has been announced, minus three drivers who are yet to be confirmed(one each for Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport and Hitech Pulse-Eight) for the event in the Chinese regional city. Let's have a little look at the city, the circuit and the drivers involved in the event!
📸 2019 Macau winner Richard Verschoor was one of the first to announce his plan to race and defend his title at Macau, he'll be with Trident Racing.
The city
Macau officially, is a 'special administrative region' of China on the southern coast. The city has strong Chinese and Portuguese cultures. It's often referred to as 'the Las Vegas of the East', although it has a gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas!
📸 The Macau skyline with the circuit i the foreground.
The circuit
The Guia Circuit or Circuito da Guia has 24 corners and is just over 3.8 miles long(around 6.120km) and is street circuit with a combination of fast straights, tight corners and is recognised as one of the most challenging circuits in the world. It's been previously described as 'Monaco on steroids' or likened to racing the Nordschleife if it was surrounded by walls.
📸 The Guia Circuit, 'Monaco on steroids'.
The circuit consists of six main areas; The Mandarin Oriental bend, Lisboa Corner, Maternity Bend(and Hospital Bridge), Melco Hairpin, Fisherman's Bend and the 'R' Bend.
📸 The Melco Hairpin.
The two most notable of these are the Lisboa Corner, which comes as the first real braking point on the lap, and is where Sophia Floersch had a famously scary crash in the 2018 race. The second is the Melco Hairpin, which is the narrowest point on the circuit at 7 metres wide. It's black and yellow Armco barriers make it immediately identifiable.
Current Formula 3 lap record:
Juri Vips, Dallara F3 2019, 2019 - 2:06.317.
📸 Vips at Macau.
The drivers
This year's entry list features two former winners in the form of current Formula E driver Dan Ticktum, a 2 time winner and Richard Verschoor, who won the last time F3 went to Macau in 2019.
📸 Dan Ticktum divides opinion with fans but there's no doubt the two time Macau winner is supremely talented.
Current F2 drivers Isack Hadjar, Zane Maloney and Roman Stanek feature as do a number of the 2023 F3 grid including Gabriele Mini, Pepe Marti, Dino Beganovic and Franco Colapinto.
Notably, Sophia Floersch is also involved with Van Amersfoort Racing, and will be one of the most experienced in track as she competes for a third time.
📸 Sophia Floersch, the first woman to score points in FIA F3, will take to the street of Macau for a third time.
Three other drivers are yet to be announced.
The race will be run from 16th to the 19th of November with the schedule as follows in UK times:
Thursday 16th - Free Practice 1 - 2am to 2:40am
Qualifying 1 - 10:15am to 10:55am
Friday 17th - Free Practice 2 - 2:30am to 3:10am
Qualifying - 10:05am to 10:45am
Saturday 18th - 10 lap race - 10:50am to 11:50am
Sunday 19th - 15 laps - 10:30am to 11:30am
Set those alarms!
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Richard Verschoor, ABB FIA Formula E, Sophia Floersch, FIA.
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