Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Macau Grand Prix: Jake Hughes takes provisional pole on HWA's debut

Jake Hughes took provisional pole for the Macau Grand Prix with the event's fastest ever Formula 3 qualifying lap, in a dramatic session plagued by red-flag stoppages

Hughes set a lap of 2m06.793s in the HWA squad's first ever visit to Macau, although a second qualifying on Friday is likely to shake up the order when the track is rubbered in.

The new FIA F3 car had already produced scintillating times before qualifying. In the first timed session of the weekend, Ferrari Formula 1 protege Marcus Armstrong set the pace in practice one as the top six all lapped quicker than last year's pole time.

Red Bull Formula 1 junior Juri Vips was the first driver to dip under the 2m07s barrier, setting a 2m06.943s with 19 minutes to go.

But just two minutes later Macau veteran Hughes jumped to the top of the order for his event newcomer team.

Vips's lap was enough to take third for Hitech Grand Prix, after he was jumped in the closing stages by David Beckman. The German driver looks to have rekindled his GP3 race-winning form with Trident, rejoining the team after an unsuccessful spell with ART Grand Prix this season in FIA F3.

Armstrong was the top Prema Racing driver in fourth, as his team-mates both suffered from myriad traffic issues despite showing flashes of pace.

On two occasions Armstrong's team-mate and fellow Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman had laps ruined by red or yellow flags, meaning the 2019 FIA F3 champion currently lies ninth. The team's third driver Fredrik Vesti, is one spot ahead in eighth.

Rounding out the top five behind Armstrong was American driver Logan Sargeant, buoyed by Carlin's improved pace in Macau so far compared with its season of FIA F3 this year.

Sargeant's double Macau GP winning team-mate Dan Ticktum proved Carlin's pace is genuine, lying one spot behind in sixth.

Ticktum's fellow Brit Callum Ilott rounded out a phenomenal day in seventh.

The Ferrari junior had not even driven the FIA F3 car in a simulator before the event.

But he used his experience of four previous Macau GP attempts to immediately get on the pace despite being new to the car, and was sixth in practice before backing it up in Q1.

Behind Vesti and Shwartzman, Renault junior Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top 10 as the first ART Grand Prix driver in the order.

Red Bull and Honda junior Yuki Tsunoda - switching from Jenzer Motorsport to Hitech for this event - had to watch from the sidelines after his car incurred damage in the morning practice session when he crashed at Hospital Bend.

He eventually joined the qualifying session but then crashed again at Maternity, ending the session early and halting Shwartzman's bid to improve for the last time.

Earlier on, Enaam Ahmed of Campos had brought out a red flag with a spin, while Hitech's Max Fewtrell saw red for hitting the wall at Lisboa and Olli Caldwell stopped on the straight after the Fisherman's Bend with an apparent mechanical issue.

Qualifying one times

Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 2m06.793s -
2 David Beckmann Trident Motorsport 2m06.844s 0.051s
3 Juri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 2m06.943s 0.150s
4 Marcus Armstrong SJM Theodore Racing by Prema 2m07.285s 0.492s
5 Logan Sargeant Carlin Buzz Racing 2m07.412s 0.619s
6 Dan Ticktum Carlin Buzz Racing 2m07.600s 0.807s
7 Callum Ilott Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 2m07.781s 0.988s
8 Frederik Vesti SJM Theodore Racing by Prema 2m07.903s 1.110s
9 Robert Shwartzman SJM Theodore Racing by Prema 2m08.083s 1.290s
10 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 2m08.250s 1.457s
11 Leonardo Pulcini Campos Racing 2m08.287s 1.494s
12 Alessio Lorandi Trident Motorsport 2m08.357s 1.564s
13 Felipe Drugovich Carlin Buzz Racing 2m08.487s 1.694s
14 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 2m08.578s 1.785s
15 Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport 2m08.644s 1.851s
16 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix 2m09.052s 2.259s
17 Enaam Ahmed Campos Racing 2m09.211s 2.418s
18 Liam Lawson MP Motorsport 2m09.296s 2.503s
19 Ferdinand Habsburg ART Grand Prix 2m09.490s 2.697s
20 Keyvan Andres HWA Racelab 2m09.660s 2.867s
21 Charles Leong Jenzer Motorsport 2m09.918s 3.125s
22 David Schumacher Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 2m10.381s 3.588s
23 Sophia Florsch HWA Racelab 2m10.889s 4.096s
24 Enzo Fittipaldi Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 2m10.894s 4.101s
25 Andreas Estner Jenzer Motorsport 2m11.006s 4.213s
26 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport 2m11.129s 4.336s
27 Olli Caldwell Trident Motorsport 2m12.105s 5.312s
28 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 2m12.991s 6.198s
- Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix 2m16.536s 9.743s
- Yuki Tsunoda Hitech Grand Prix - -


Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Macau reveals changes to Florsch crash corner for 2019 event
Next article Sophia Florsch: Macau circuit changes are "the right thing"

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe