MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor passed three cars to win the 2019 Macau GP ahead of Hitech GP’s Juri Vips and Carlin’s Logan Sargeant.
It was a solid start from Hitech GP and pole-sitter Juri Vips as he led the way in Macau GP from fast-starter MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor and ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard. The Dutch racer made up two places to be second in the opening few corners.
He made the most of the minor touch between Lundgaard and front-row starter Prema’s Robert Shwartzman, who couldn’t complete even half a lap. Going in the right-hander, the Dane made a slight touch which was enough to put the Russian into retirement.
As Vips led Verschoor and Lundgaard at the front in Macau GP, Trident’s Alessio Lorandi made his way up to fourth with Carlin’s Logan Sargeant in fifth, ART’s Ferdinand Habsburg sixth and Campos Racing’s Leonardo Pulcini seventh.
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz’s Callum Ilott lost the most places to be eighth after being caught out by Shwartzman as Trident’s David Beckmann and HWA Racelab’s Keyvan Andres rounded out the Top 10. The race, then, settled in until a safety car period.
There was double trouble as Campos’ Pulcini went off at Lisboa on his own, while at the same time, ART’s Habsburg had a big off as he lost whole of his rear section in a double wall hit. There was fire as well for a brief moment when he hit the wall.
Once his car was cleared, the race got going as Vershoor made the move on Vips to take the lead of the Macau GP going into Lisboa. Behind, Sargeant was on the move as he cleared both Lorandi and Lundgaard to be third in the order.
In the lower half of the Top 10, MP Motorsport’s Liam Lawson made his way into the Top 10 to be eighth as Prema’s Marcus Armstrong followed him in ninth with Andres remaining 10th. The race was neutralised again with a Virtual Safety Car period.
HWA Racelab’s Sophia Floersch stopped on the old start/finish line which had to be retrieved by a recovery truck. While the drivers at the front maintained their positions, Lawson and Armstrong were seventh and eighth as both cleared Beckmann.
Prema’s Frederick Vesti moved to 10th as well after overtaking Andres. At the front, it was all over for Vips as Verschoor positioned himself well to eventually take the win in FIA F3 World Cup for the first time in his career by 0.792s over the Estonian.
The former Red Bull junior and a Macau GP rookie managed to beat the current junior after a crucial pass after re-start. The podium position was then rounded out by another rookie Sargeant in the Carlin after his early move on Renault junior Lundgaard in the ART.
The Top 5 was rounded out by Trident’s Lorandi as he fended off Sauber’s Ilott, with MP Motorsport’s Lawson holding off Prema’s Armstrong for seventh. The Top 10 was then rounded out by Trident’s Beckmann and Prema’s Vesti.
Just outside was Red Bull junior and the other Hitech GP entrant Yuki Tsunoda in 11th with Andres 12th ahead of last year’s Macau GP winner Daniel Ticktum in the Carlin as Dunner and ART’s Sebastian Fernandez completed the Top 15 positions.
After the Qualifying Race troubles, HWA Racelab’s Jake Hughes could only manage 17th with Hitech GP’s Max Fewtrell 18th, Campos’ Enaam Ahmed 22nd, Jenzer Motorsport’s Arjun Maini 23rd and Carlin’s Felipe Drugovich 24th.
Position 16-25: Enzo Fittipaldi, Hughes, Fewtrell, Charles Leong, Andreas Estner, David Schumacher, Ahmed, Maini, Drugovich, Alessio Deledda. DNF: Floersch, Habsburg, Pulcini, Oliver Caldwell, Shwartzman.