I always look forward to racing in Macau. The racing and atmosphere is always great. Macau GP is like a World Final event for Formula 3. It is by invitation and most of the top teams and drivers from European, British, German and Japanese F3 championship come and race. The drivers who have taken part (some who have won or been on the podium) at this event have then gone on to make a name for themselves in motor racing such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Takuma Sato, Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil, and Sebastian Vettel - and the list goes on.
This track requires a lot of patience, precision and loads of confidence, especially driving a Formula 3 car, with the amount of downforce it has and produces; it is a very fast circuit. A lap to lap build up is key and keeping the car in one piece in each session is very important (and that’s not easy either, with the barriers always so close and so little room for error). Traffic and lap management is also key as the event runs with a full grid. This year there were 32 cars so planning your laps ahead determines a good lap time.
The first time I did this event in Formula 3 was last year and it was such an incredible experience. Doing it for a second time was, in many respects, even more exciting, as I knew exactly what to expect and could savour it without the fear of the unknown. It was a really good weekend and I was really happy to get a top ten finish.
Macau – one of my all-time favourite tracks
Macau as a race circuit is incredible. It has a mix of tight twisty bends, high speed corners such as Mandarin and Fisherman’s Bend and hard braking ones like the first gear Melco Hairpin. Some of the others have a blind and bumpy approach which makes it very challenging.
I always look forward to racing in Macau. The racing and atmosphere is always great. Macau GP is like a World Final event for Formula 3. It is by invitation and most of the top teams and drivers from European, British, German and Japanese F3 championship come and race. The drivers who have taken part (some who have won or been on the podium) at this event have then gone on to make a name for themselves in motor racing such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Takuma Sato, Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil, and Sebastian Vettel - and the list goes on.
This track requires a lot of patience, precision and loads of confidence, especially driving a Formula 3 car, with the amount of downforce it has and produces; it is a very fast circuit. A lap to lap build up is key and keeping the car in one piece in each session is very important (and that’s not easy either, with the barriers always so close and so little room for error). Traffic and lap management is also key as the event runs with a full grid. This year there were 32 cars so planning your laps ahead determines a good lap time.
The first time I did this event in Formula 3 was last year and it was such an incredible experience. Doing it for a second time was, in many respects, even more exciting, as I knew exactly what to expect and could savour it without the fear of the unknown. It was a really good weekend and I was really happy to get a top ten finish.
