FIA lengthens gap between GT World Cup and F3 Macau races for 2017

More time had been allowed on the schedule between the World Cup final and the headline Formula 3 Grand Prix on the Sunday of the Macau meeting on November 16-19 to ensure the GT3 race can run its full 18-lap duration.

Pos	Total	2017	AU	CN	BH	RU	ES	MC	CA	AZ	AT	GB	HU	BE	IT	SG	MY	JP	US	MX	BR	AD	Points
1	1469	Lewis Hamilton	75	100	75	48	100	24	100	38	48	100	48	100	100	100	75	100	100	15	48	75	363
2	1286	Sebastian Vettel	100	75	100	75	75	100	48	48	75	24	100	75	60	-	48	-	75	48	100	60	317
3	1230	Valtteri Bottas	60	30	60	100	-	48	75	75	100	75	60	38	75	60	38	48	38	75	75	100	305
4	818	Kimi Räikkönen	48	38	48	60	-	75	24	-	38	60	75	48	38	-	-	38	60	60	60	48	205
5	797	Daniel Ricciardo	-	48	38	-	60	60	60	100	60	38	-	60	48	75	60	60	-	-	30	-	200
6	671	Max Verstappen	38	60	-	38	-	38	-	-	-	48	38	-	12	-	100	75	48	100	38	38	168
7	434	Sergio Pérez	24	15	24	30	48	8	38	-	24	15	19	-	15	38	30	24	19	24	15	24	100
8	406	Esteban Ocon	12	12	12	24	38	9	30	30	19	19	15	15	30	12	12	30	30	38	-	19	87
9	268	Felipe Massa	30	7	30	15	8	15	-	-	15	12	-	19	19	10	15	12	15	10	24	12	43
10	253	Carlos Sainz	19	24	-	12	24	30	-	19	-	-	24	12	7	48	-	-	24	-	10	-	54
11	234	Lance Stroll	-	-	-	10	5	-	15	60	12	5	7	10	24	19	19	-	10	30	5	3	40
12	225	Nico Hülkenberg	10	9	15	19	30	-	19	-	8	30	-	30	8	-	5	-	-	-	12	30	43
13	215	Romain Grosjean	-	10	19	-	12	19	12	8	30	8	-	24	6	15	8	15	7	6	6	10	28
14	172	Kevin Magnussen	-	19	-	8	7	12	9	24	-	9	8	6	10	-	9	19	5	19	-	8	19
15	151	Stoffel Vandoorne	8	-	-	7	-	-	7	9	9	10	12	7	-	24	24	7	9	9	-	9	13
16	120	Fernando Alonso	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	15	-	-	30	-	-	-	10	10	-	12	19	15	17
17	114	Jolyon Palmer	-	8	8	-	6	10	10	-	10	-	9	8	-	30	6	9	-	-	-	-	8
18	114	Pascal Wehrlein	-	-	10	5	19	-	6	12	7	4	6	-	5	9	4	6	-	7	7	7	5
19	99	Daniil Kvyat	15	-	9	9	15	-	-	-	5	6	10	9	9	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	5
20	84	Marcus Ericsson	-	6	-	6	10	-	8	10	6	7	5	5	-	-	3	-	6	-	8	4	0
21	37	Pierre Gasly	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	8	-	8	9	5	0
22	14	Brendon Hartley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	6	0

The move follows the failure to restart last year's final after a second red flag as a result of timetable constraints, which meant that WRT Audi driver Laurens Vanthoor was declared the winner despite ending up on his roof after crashing at Mandarin corner.

This has been made possible by moving one of the races for the World Touring Car Championship, which is replacing TCR International on the Macau bill, from Sunday morning to Saturday afternoon.

It will be the first time since the creation of the current WTCC for the 2005 season that two races have been run on separate days.

Stephane Ratel, whose eponymous organisation is again co-ordinating the World Cup, told Autosport: "We want the race to run the full number of laps and having one less event on Sunday will give us more flexibility in the timetable."

The 18-lap final has now been given a 75-minute time slot and will start at 1210 rather than 1255, with the main F3 race starting as usual at 1530.

The World Cup will also be open only only professional drivers with a platinum or gold rating.

This goes hand in hand with the FIA's announcement earlier this year for a second GT World Cup for amateur drivers, which is likely to begin in 2018.

"It is logical that if we have a world cup for amateurs and customer teams that we make Macau all-pro and for manufacturers," said Ratel.

"This is part of a natural growth of the event at Macau and will help simplify it.

"It will make it a challenge assembling a grid because this race started [before it was given World Cup status in 2015] for amateurs, but we are confident because the new format will make it more attractive for the manufacturers."

All manufacturers represented on the grid will now be able to win the World Cup titles and will not have to pay a registration fee.

Other changes for Macau this year include new kerbs at the Reservoir and Mandarin corners to improve safety in the GT races.