Felix Rosenqvist takes provisional pole for 62nd Macau Grand Prix

F3 cars in action Thursday

Felix Rosenqvist grabbed provisional pole position for the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix on Thursday, after dominating the first qualifying session.

The SJM Theodore Racing by Prema driver moved to the top of the timesheets early on and, despite strong challenges from Carlin duo Callum Ilott and Antonio Giovinazzi, he was able to keep his spot at the top throughout to end the session 0.822 seconds clear of his nearest rival.

After Rosenqvist ended the first runs just 0.088 seconds clear of Giovinazzi, he pitted to make some set-up changes but elected not to use new tires as many of his rivals switched to fresh rubber for the second half of the session.

Rosenqvist showed his confidence, however, by extending his advantage – before Ilott (who also did not use new tires) showed a morning crash had not affected his confidence to grab second place.

The Carlin driver pipped Giovinazzi, who stopped a few minutes from the end of the session after feeling his brake pedal was getting long, late on to briefly get within 0.084 seconds of Rosenqvist.

But on his final flying lap of the session, with the track clearly at its best, Rosenqvist went quickest again to end the day with a best lap of 2m11.841 seconds.

"I''m pretty happy with that," said Rosenqvist, who won Macau last year. "I think I''ve made a step forward in my driving this year and I think I''ve found the key to a good lap around here. The pace is looking good."

Ilott was delighted with his performance too, having lost track-running time in the morning session after crashing.

Driver quote
Felix Rosenqvist: "I was still learning how the Prema car is around Macau every lap and then I reached a point where I found a step in my driving of the car. That''s what I was really looking for, and now I feel more confident and we''re looking good. It''s a good start to the weekend and I didn''t use any new tires, so we''re good on strategy too. On my quick lap I was pushing, but not risking a crash – it was a good lap."

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