It's double race week in Macau! This weekend, Formula 4 will be on the grid. One week later, Formula 3 cars will finally be back on the Guia Circuit and on November 19, the 70th Macau Grand Prix will take place. In this guide you will find an overview of all the teams, their drivers and the single seater schedule for the two weeks. But first, let's start with a brief look back at the history of the race.
The Macau Grand Prix, originally was a treasure hunt on the streets of the city, transitioned into a professional racing event for local motor enthusiasts in the 1950s. The first event took place back in 1954. In 1966, Mauro Bianchi's victory in an Alpine A220 marked a turning point, drawing more professional racing teams to the event. The first motorcycle race was introduced in 1967, but safety concerns arose after a fatal accident. Teddy Yip played a significant role in making the Macau Grand Prix a renowned motor racing event in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1983, the organizers decided to switch to Formula 3 racing, earning FIA recognition as the F3 World Cup. This change boosted the event's reputation, attracting top young drivers from Europe and Japan. Ayrton Senna won the first F3 race. Over the years, it became a launching pad for drivers into higher-level competitions like Formula 2 and Formula One, with notable past winners like Riccardo Patrese, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Ralph Firman, Takuma Sato, Lucas di Grassi, Edoardo Mortara, António Félix da Costa, Felix Rosenqvist, Dan Ticktum or Richard Verschoor.
The 1990 was a memorable one, when Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen found themselves in a dramatic incident. They were in the first and second positions as they entered the final lap. Right on the main straight, shortly after the Mandarin Oriental Bend, Häkkinen collided with the back of Schumacher's car while attempting to overtake him. As a result, Häkkinen crashed out of the race. Schumacher's car sustained damage to its rear wing but managed to continue and ultimately emerged as the winner.
Another curious race took place in 2017. After Joel Eriksson and Callum Ilott collided in the battle for the lead of the main race, there was a safety car phase. The race restarted on the seventh lap with Sergio Sette Câmara in the lead, followed by Maximilian Günther, Ferdinand Habsburg, Lando Norris and Dan Ticktum. Habsburg managed to pass Günther for second place, and Ticktum overtook Norris and Günther to claim third. On the final turn of the final lap, Habsburg attempted to pass Sette Câmara but both missed the braking point and went off track into the barriers, allowing Ticktum to take the lead and win the race. Norris finished second, and Ralf Aron secured third place. Habsburg, despite a damaged car, came in fourth, with Günther finishing fifth.
In recent years, no Formula 3 races have been held due to the Corona pandemic. From 2020 to 2022, Chinese Formula 4 stepped in as a replacement for the Macau Grand Prix. Local driver Charles Leong won the race in 2020 and 2021, while his compatriot Andy Chang was victorious last year.
For the first time in four years, Formula 3 cars will be racing on the streets of Macau again. The reigning F3 winner of Macau is Richard Verschoor. The Dutchman was able to win the race in 2019 and will be on the grid again this year. With Dan Ticktum there is also another winner of the race on the grid this year. The Briton is trying for his third win in Macau after 2017 and 2018. The driver line-up for the F3 comeback is also extremely interesting in other respects. Besides some F2 drivers like Staněk, Maloney or Hadjar, and mainly F3 drivers, there is also an F4 driver on the grid with Ugo Ugochukwu.
Teams & Drivers
Trident Motorsport
1 / Richard Verschoor
2 / Roman Staněk
3 / Ugo Ugochukwu
Jenzer Motorsport
5 / Max Esterson
6 / Charlie Wurz
7 / Matías Zagazeta
SJM Theodore Prema Racing
8 / Dino Beganovic
9 / Gabriele Minì
10 / Paul Aron
Hitech Pulse-Eight
11 / Luke Browning
12 / Isack Hadjar
14 / Alex Dunne
Campos Racing
15 / Pepe Martí
16 / Sebastián Montoya
17 / Oliver Goethe
Van Amersfoort Racing
18 / Noel León
19 / Sophia Flörsch
20 / Tommy Smith
ART Grand Prix
21 / Laurens van Hoepen
22 / Christian Mansell
23 / Nikola Tsolov
Rodin Carlin
24 / Zane Maloney
25 / Dan Ticktum
26 / TBA
MP Motorsport
27 / Franco Colapinto
28 / Mari Boya
29 / Marcus Armstrong
After Formula 4 races were held in Macau for the first time in the last three years, the race will now also take place at the anniversary edition. This year, however, the new Tatuus F4-T421 cars with the halo will be competing for the first time. In addition, the driver field is more international for the first time. Some drivers we already know from Formula 4 in Europe like Bianca Bustamante, Raphaël Narac, Jaden Pariat, Arvid Lindblad, Kai Daryanani, Freddie Slater, Rashid Al Dhaheri or Jack Beeton. In addition, some drivers from the Chinese and South East Asian Formula 4 will start like Tiago Rodrigues, Kevin Xiao or Ethan Ho. And also the two-time F4 winner of Macau, Charles Leong, will be on the grid again this year. Together with Hadrien David and Miki Koyama, he is probably one of the most experienced drivers in the field. However, all three lack experience in the new F4 car compared to their younger rivals.
Teams & Drivers
R-ace GP
1 / Raphaël Narac
2 / Hadrien David
Asia Racing Team
4 / Marcus Cheong
7 / Tiago Rodrigues
77 / Enzo Yeh
96 / Kevin Xiao
BlackArts Racing
5 / Jaden Pariat
19 / Bianca Bustamante
Super License
8 / Miki Koyama
Theodore Racing
11 / Charles Leong
23 / Arvid Lindblad
27 / Freddie Slater
Prema Racing
14 / Rashid Al Dhaheri
Champ Motorsport by R&B Racing
16 / Chui Ka Kam
28 / Vivian Siu
H-Star Racing
22 / Thomas Leung
53 / Marco Lau
Pinnacle/B-Max
30 / "Dragon"
34 / Martinius Stenshorne
72 / Kaishun Liu
88 / Kai Daryanani
AGI Sport
45 / Jack Beeton
Team KRC
68 / Ethan Ho
This year, the anniversary edition of the 70th Macau Grand Prix will take place over two consecutive weekends. On the first weekend, November 11 to 12, the Macau Formula 4 Race will take place. The main event, the Macau Grand Prix race of the FIA Formula 3, will then take place on the second weekend from November 16 to 19. All sessions will be livestreamed with english commentary on the official website.
Saturday, 11th November
07:45 / Formula 4 - Free Practice
15:45 / Formula 4 - Qualifying
Sunday, 12th November
08:00 / Formula 4 - Qualifying Race
15:40 / Formula 4 - Final Race
Thursday, 16th November
09:00 / Formula 3 - Free Practice 1
15:15 / Formula 3 - Qualifying 1
Friday, 17th November
09:30 / Formula 3 - Free Practice 2
15:05 / Formula 3 - Qualifying 2
Saturday, 18th November
15:05 / Formula 3 - Qualifying Race
Sunday, 19th November
15:30 / Formula 3 - 70th Macau Grand Prix
*local time Macau, -7h = CET, -8h = GMT, -13h = EST, -14h = CST, +1h = JST, +3h = AEST, -6h = SAST
written by Claudio Graf / 6th November, 2023