FIA F3 World Cup – Advantage António Félix da Costa

Traditionally marked by clashes, the departure from Macau was no exception to the rule this year. Delayed for a while due to the presence of water on the track, the entry into action of the single-seaters will be marked by contacts with the rail of Maximilian Günther (SJM Theodore Racing by Prema) and Lando Norris (Carlin), both made mistakes on the outside of the Mandarin corner on the first lap.

A chain reaction will occur at the rear of the peloton with the car n°7 of Ye Hong Li (B-Max Racing Team) who will climb the n°6 of his teammate Daiki Sasaki, before stopping on the track. The safety car is logically deployed in front of the leader Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing) who took advantage of the first round to get the best of António Felix da Costa and Sérgio Sette Câmara (Carlin).

Pole sitter George Russell (Hitech GP) fell to fourth position ahead of Kenta Yamashita (ThreeBond with T-Sport) and Felix Rosenqvist (SJM Theordore Racing by Prema). The care of the damaged single-seaters lasts until the end of the 4th lap before the Safety Car frees the protagonists of this 63rd edition.

Callum Ilott then leads the peloton but is quickly overtaken by António Félix da Costa just before braking at the Lisboa corner. The Portuguese then tries to escape, but remains under threat from Ilott, who, however, will not be able to match the leader. da Costa won ahead of the Briton and Sette Câmara, third, more than five seconds behind at the checkered flag.

Further on, the fight for fourth place allowed Yamashita to get the better of Russell on the 9th lap. Double title holder in Macau, Felix Rosenqvist concluded this qualifying round in sixth position ahead of Daniel Juncadella (Hitech GP), Daniel Ticktum (Double R Racing).

The top 10 is completed by Alexander Sims (Double R Racing) and Jake Hughes (Carlin). Anthoine Hubert (Van Amersfoort Racing) was forced to retire at the very start of the event. The main race will start tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.

Qualifying race results