- Dutch teenager seizes his ‘only chance’ to get past Estonian who had raced a ‘perfect weekend’
- Formula 3 champion Robert Schwartzman was the first driver to leave the famous street circuit after first lap puncture
Rookie Richard Verschoor won a dramatic Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix despite the best efforts and DRS of favourite Juri Vips.
The Estonian was in pole for the street circuit's showpiece event after finishing top of both qualifiers and the qualification race but his dreams of making it four in a row were shattered by the Dutchman, who had started in fourth.
Former Red Bull junior Verschoor got past current Red Bull junior Vips after the intervention of a safety car.
"I prepped really well," the Dutch teenager said. "I knew it was my only chance to get the lead."
He took it and the 18-year-old fended off Vips for the rest of the race.
"I still really can't believe it. It was a really tough race. Juri was very fast behind me. I think everything I could have done I did.
"I touched a wall a bit before the end so the last four or five laps were with a bent steering wheel and it was a bit exciting."
He cannot wait to come back to Macau when it stages its 67th Grand Prix in 2020.
"It's the best ever. It's definitely my favourite track by a mile and I can't wait to come back next year."
FUTURE SUPERSTARSA classic #FIAF3WorldCup We have our top trio in Macau!VerschoorVipsSargeantRe-live it all here https://t.co/ltus7oCXsF#MacauGP #RoadToF1 pic.twitter.com/2iXSKTFSmK
" Formula 1 (@F1) November 17, 2019
Victory marked a successful first year for MP Motorsport and the first year of a new era of Formula 3 at Macau.
Vips, understandably, was disappointed in the extreme.
"Now, I'm just feeling disappointed because I think I did the perfect weekend minus the safety car restart," Vips said. He pointed to troubles with tyres ahead of the restart and DRS failure.
LAP 8/15We're back to racing… and VERSCHOOR LEADS!He sweeps past Vips into Lisboa#F3 #MacauGP #FIAF3WorldCup pic.twitter.com/7avOxvvNnX
" Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) November 17, 2019
"The DRS was supposed to work but it didn't," he said. "I don't know how I managed to keep Richard under pressure in the middle sector because my tyres were finished.
"Extremely disappointing because I think I've done a perfect weekend.
The Estonian was not the only driver to be disappointed on Sunday.
What a move @R_Verschoor1!#MacauGP #F3WorldCup @F1FeederSeries1 pic.twitter.com/zMooRgNV4C
" OverSpeed Racing (@overspeed_r) November 17, 2019
Formula 3 champion Robert Schwartzman was out of the race on the first lap after getting a puncture on the Mandarin corner.
Christiaan Lungard clipped the Russian's wing with his tyre and the debris flew into Schwartzman's tyre puncturing it. Verschoor then went past both of them.
Ferdinand Habsburg then went into the wall on lap four of 15, which brought out the safety car and turned the race.
US driver Logan Sargeant finished third after making his way from sixth place on the grid. The Carlin driver was buoyant post-race.
"We had a decent enough start, nothing special, I got a good run down to Mandarin and I picked up a couple of positions and then it was a case of picking them off one by one."
"We'll definitely be back next year trying to win."
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
