Macau: Rosenqvist wins qualifying race

Felix Rosenqvist

Felix Rosenqvist was handed victory in the Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Qualification Race, after on the road winner Antonio Giovinazzi was penalized for a collision with Daniel Juncadella.

Pole position man Rosenqvist had got his SJM Theodore Racing by Prema car away cleanly at the start, as Juncadella slotted in behind him on the run down to Lisboa.

But through that corner, Giovinazzi managed to muscle himself inside Juncadella – and, as they battled side-by-side on the run to San Francisco Bend, contact was made.

Juncadella was spun in to the barriers before being collected by several of his rivals, which forced the Safety Car to be called out.

At the restart on lap three, Giovinazzi capitalized on the slip stream to slot past Rosenqvist and grab the lead before Lisboa. The Carlin driver then pulled clear, with Charles Leclerc staying in touch in third place.

Behind the leading trio, Alexander Sims took Sam MacLeod for fourth on the run to Lisboa on lap four and then set about on closing the gap ahead of him.

At the front, the gap between Giovinazzi and Rosenqvist stayed just above one second before a final lap push brought them closer together. With one last effort, Rosenqvist was close enough to get in to Giovinazzi's slipstream on the run to Lisboa but could not quite find a way past.

Then a mistake by Rosenqvist at the Melco hairpin, where he locked up, left Giovinazzi clear at the front to win by 1.9 seconds.

However, he was dropped to 10th in the results after the stewards deemed him responsible for the clash with Juncadella – meaning Rosenqvist won.

"If Antonio deserved the penalty or not I don't know, but he did a really good job," said Rosenqvist. "It is maybe not the best way to win, but it is good for tomorrow."

Leclerc got within 0.5 seconds of Rosenqvist after the Melco incident to claim second, with Sims in the final podium slot, ahead of MacLeod and Markus Pommer.

Felix Rosenqvist: I had a very good start, but when the safety car came I knew it would be difficult to keep Antonio behind, and he got me quite easily. I was having a lot of sliding from the car early on, so I was just waiting to see if I had a different tire strategy to the others, and when it improved I picked up the pace. Taking the win after finishing second is not the most exciting way to do it, but it's good for tomorrow.

Qualification race result

1 – Felix Rosenqvist – (Dallara-Mercedes) – Prema – 10 laps 24’52"619
2 – Charles Leclerc (Dallara-VW) – Van Amersfoort – 0"503
3 – Alexander Sims (Dallara-Mercedes) – Double R –2"701
4 – Sam McLeod (Dallara-Mercedes) – West Tec – 8"399
5 – Markus Pommer (Dallara-VW) – Motopark – 9"412
6 – Sergio Camara (Dallara-VW) – Motopark – 13"993
7 – Santino Ferrucci (Dallara-Mercedes) – Mucke – 15"538
8 – Alessio Lorandi (Dallara-VW) – Van Amersfoort – 16"627
9 – Arjun Maini (Dallara-Tomei) – T-Sport – 17"360
10 – Antonio Giovinazzi (Dallara-VW) – Carlin – 17"871
11 – Jake Dennis (Dallara-Mercedes) – Prema – 18"131
12 – Dorian Boccolacci (Dallara-VW) – Signature – 20"682
13 – Lance Stroll (Dallara-Mercedes) – Prema – 21"872
14 – Martin Cao (Dallara-Mercedes) – Fortec – 25"606
15 – Kenta Yamashita (Dallara-Toyota) – Tom’s – 26"323
16 – Yuhi Sekiguchi (Dallara-Toyota) – Bmax – 29"468
17 – Nick Cassidy (Dallara-Toyota) – Tom’s – 29"931
18 – Chang Chung (Dallara-Mercedes) – Fortec – 36"386
19 – Gustavo Menezes (Dallara-VW) – Carlin – 41"342
20 – Yu Kanamaru (Dallara-VW) – Carlin – 1’31"509
21 – Matthew Solomon (Dallara-Mercedes) – Double R – 1’41"666
22 – Mikkel Jensen (Dallara-Mercedes) – Mucke – 2’00"925

Fastest lap: Felix Rosenqvist in 2’10"330

Retired

Lap 1 – Callum Ilott
Lap 1 – Ryan Tvter
Lap 1 – Alexander Albon
Lap 1 – Daniel Juncadella
Lap 3 – Li Zhi Cong
Lap 6 – Mitsunori Takaboshi