Macau, China, 19 Nov – German driver Marco Wittmann won the qualification race for the Macau Grand Prix on Saturday with a controlled drive at the head of the field, as the event finished under the safety car.
The driver’s job from pole position was made easier when front row starter Portuguese Antonio da Costa stalled when the lights went out.
Wittmann held on to the lead all the way down to Lisboa, and from there he pulled out a 1.5 second gap over Brazilian Felipe Nasr, which he maintained throughout the 10-lap race.
Nasr’s main concern was fighting off the advances of Spanish Roberto Merhi, who had a brilliant opening lap to move up to fourth from his eighth place on the grid.
Merhi overtook Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas third on the run down to Lisboa on the second lap and then pushed Nasr as hard as he could.
But despite a few looks down the inside at Lisboa, Merhi could not find a way past – and his challenge was over when the safety car was called out on lap nine after driver Jimmy Eriksson had a big crash.
Wittmann completed the final two laps ahead of Nasr and Merhi.
Bottas finished ahead of Carlos Huertas from Colombia and Spanish Daniel Juncadella.
Marco Wittman, Felipe Nasr and Roberto Merhi will start Sunday’s 15 laps Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in the pole position.(MacauNews/Sports)
