Macau GP : Race Preview

The FF1M season concludes with the sophomore running of the Macau Grand Prix, a classic event for support series but has recently been awarded with top tier racing. The circuit is a set-up nightmare for teams with half the circuit requiring pure power from a willing engine, and the other half requiring grip from a dependable chassis in the narrow infield, which includes a hairpin even tighter than Loews. The long run from the start-finish straight to Lisboa, around 2km long, also makes the first lap and overtaking extremely risky. Last season’s inaugural running saw FJR’s last win to date as Kevin Magnussen used a two-stop strategy to gain track position over the three-stopping Lewis Hamilton and eventually finish that season runner-up.

Kimminen does more than enough to secure the Drivers Championship

The Brazilian Grand Prix saw the Drivers Championship finally decided in favour of young Finn Vaino Kimminen, who emulated Nico Rosberg by winning the championship in his first full season having put in a mature drive from 11th on the grid to finish 4th. All he needed was one point, but the Tornado car was working well once again and teammate Romain Grosjean couldn’t do anything about it despite a podium finish. What properly scuppered Grosjean was the resurgence of Pedersen, who utterly dominated the meeting with 1-2 in qualifying and 1-2 in the race. This has seemingly come out of nowhere with the team toiling at the back for most of the season. As it transpired, the car’s aerodynamics had been steadily worked on throughout the season and once team boss Michael Pedersen had taken another look at his programme, he was able to focus his car and crush the opposition with the returning Sebastian Vettel leading teammate Carlos Sainz, a great tonic for both after difficult seasons.

Elsewhere, the driver merry-go-round saw three drivers make their debuts with FF2M champion Chuck Bucknum highest of all in 11th, followed by Mario Da Silva in 14th, and Mason Taylor in 15th. Da Silva’s debut in front of his home crowd didn’t go to plan after suffering a mid-race mechanical issue that necessitated an extra pitstop. Both Gojira drivers ended up making four stops as Alessandro Farina’s chances of a podium finish were scuppered with his own gremlin late in the race. Another Mugen runner to suffer an issue was Hamilton, whose first pitstop was brought forward to reset the throttle mapping. Mugen will therefore be hoping for better reliability for the final race.

Paddock News

Despite the season coming to a close, driver swaps are still occurring with FF2M frontrunner Daisuke Sekiya getting his chance at Willows Racing, while Nico Hulkenberg returns for a one-off drive with Andrew Racing before he moves to Monolith Racing System for 2018. For Sekiya, his debut will be heavily scrutinised by team boss Joseph Willows, who will be in the commentary box alongside James Brickles to see how he gets on.

Can Pedersen leave FF1M on a high?

With Pedersen taking a sabbatical at the end of this season, their sudden return to form has been a welcome surprise with a possibility of finishing 7th in the championship if things go to plan for them on the narrow streets of Macau. Their nearest competitors should once again be Tornado, who have multiple records belonging to Shake ‘n’ Bake to chase after. They are six points behind the Yorkshire team’s points record of 230 and are also tied on their number of wins (11) and podiums (22) record. A win would break all three very nicely for them.

Support Races

It’s a bumper weekend at Macau with two support series on the bill including the opening meeting of the 2017/18 FFeM season, where reigning champion Lucas Di Grassi must surely be favourite having topped both test days at the Lausitzring quite comfortably, but some teams could be running extra power for one or both races, so Albean Racing need to be wary of this.

The final meeting of the 2017 FF3M season will also be taking place with the championship battle having built up nicely into a four-way showdown. Although Joo-Young Park leads the way, Jay Follmer’s form has been blistering with four pole positions, four wins, and five fastest laps, and had it not been for a rare engine failure at Interlagos Race 1, he would’ve been leading the championship. Both Yokikawa Sato and Jorge Diaz are considered outsiders with them needing a bit of luck to win the championship.

Coverage Details

Catch Full coverage of the FFeM races this weekend with Race 1 premiering at 16:00 GMT on Saturday, whilst Race 2 will premiere at 12:00 GMT on Sunday.

Meanwhile FF1M highlights will be available at 16:00 GMT on Sunday.

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