The first-ever Macau Formula 4 race – FIA F4 World Cup delivered another chaotic morning at the Guia Circuit, ending under the safety car after a mix of early crashes, bold moves and a late twist that reshaped the podium.
Jules Roussel started alongside Emanuele Olivieri on the front row, with Rayan Caretti promoted to third after Rintaro Sato’s post-qualifying penalty dropped him to 11th. The French pair of Roussel and Olivieri made clean launches, but the race fell into disarray almost immediately.
[See more: Olivieri survives wild opening lap to win chaotic Macau F4 qualification race]
Two cars of Zhang Shimo and Itsuki Sato collided at Mandarin Bend, putting both out of the race before the field even reached Lisboa. Seconds later, Kyuho Lee went straight into the barriers at Lisboa Bend, adding to the list of early retirements. With three cars down on the opening lap, the safety car was deployed.
Olivieri, who had held the lead into Turn 1, slipped to third during the early shuffle. Behind the safety car, Kean Nakamura-Berta pitted with a technical issue, ending his hopes of recovering from yesterday’s crash.
Racing resumed with eight laps left, though the first green-flag stretch was short. French F4 champion Alexandre Munoz stopped at Turn 4, triggering a local yellow before marshals moved his car aside.
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Once clear, the race settled briefly. Caretti — who had climbed from 15th in qualifying and started today’s race from fourth — made a strong move at Lisboa to take the lead from Roussel. Olivieri maintained third while holding off Aryaman Bansal and a charging Rintaro Sato.
The battle between Roussel and Caretti became the centrepiece of the race, with the pair trading the lead and pushing hard. But the duel ended abruptly when Caretti oversteered and hit the barriers, taking him out after what had been an impressive run.
Roussel moved back to the front, Olivieri returned to second, and Sato rose into third as the field bunched up again. A final incident brought the safety car back out, and with no time left to restart, the race ran to the flag under caution.
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Jules Roussel took the historic win in the debut FIA F4 World Cup, with Olivieri second and Sato completing the podium. Among the local drivers, Marcus Cheong delivered a solid drive to finish ninth, while Tiago Rodrigues brought his car home in 11th.
The inaugural Macau Formula 4 race – FIA F4 World Cup ended much like the weekend as a whole — unpredictable, incident-filled and showcasing plenty of young talent preparing for the next steps in their careers.
