Macau GP: Tom Blomqvist fastest in first Formula 3 qualifying
Tom Blomqvist claimed provisional pole position for the Macau Grand Prix as he headed Antonio Giovinazzi in a Jagonya Ayam with Carlin one-two
Blomqvist was at the top of the times for most of the session, with he and Giovinazzi moving further clear of the opposition with four minutes remaining.
Although Giovinazzi trimmed the gap again on his last hot lap, Blomqvist got the verdict by 0.115 seconds.
Blomqvist was on a faster lap right towards the end when he made a mistake at Fisherman's Bend, bringing his Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen into the pits.
"I've got a quick team-mate in Antonio so we've got good references to work from," said Blomqvist.
"The car's good but I think we can improve. I was finding time towards the end also - there's no point taking too many risks."
Blomqvist's childhood cadet karting buddy Nick Cassidy provided the surprise of the day by going third fastest in his T-Sport Dallara-NBE.
While the top two runners stayed on their tyres from free practice throughout, New Zealander Cassidy had two new Yokohamas bolted on mid-session and leapt to third, meaning he was the best-placed Macau debutant.
It was a good catch-up from earlier in the day, when he lost the first 10 minutes of free practice with a misfire that was solved by fitting a new coil.
Free practice pacesetter Lucas Auer ran Blomqvist close early on but fell to fourth in the times in his Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes.
Jordan King promoted himself to fifth on the final lap, the Carlin man benefiting from a tow from Esteban Ocon but conversely losing time to Max Verstappen in the final sector.
Ocon and Verstappen get grid penalties
Verstappen was fastest over the early laps, but faded to sixth in his Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-VW, despite taking two new tyres mid-session.
Nicholas Latifi was another last-lap improver, the Canadian ending up as the best of the Prema Powerteam trio in seventh, while Will Buller (Signature Dallara-VW), Mucke driver Felix Rosenqvist and the disappointed Ocon (who used two new tyres at the start) completed the top 10.
The session ran its complete 40 minutes with no red flags, although there were crashes for Martin Cao after 10 minutes at Fisherman's Bend and for Tatiana Calderon after 25 minutes at Police.
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Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Blomqvist | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.922s | - |
2 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.037s | 0.115s |
3 | Nick Cassidy | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 2m12.546s | 0.624s |
4 | Lucas Auer | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.621s | 0.699s |
5 | Jordan King | GR Asia with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.742s | 0.820s |
6 | Max Verstappen | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.811s | 0.889s |
7 | Nicholas Latifi | SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.839s | 0.917s |
8 | William Buller | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.871s | 0.949s |
9 | Felix Rosenqvist | Kashbet.com by Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.931s | 1.009s |
10 | Esteban Ocon | SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.028s | 1.106s |
11 | Stefano Coletti | EuroInternational | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.066s | 1.144s |
12 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.173s | 1.251s |
13 | Antonio Fuoco | SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.867s | 1.945s |
14 | Santino Ferrucci | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.944s | 2.022s |
15 | Felix Serralles | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m14.000s | 2.078s |
16 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m14.018s | 2.096s |
17 | Alex Palou | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m14.411s | 2.489s |
18 | Yu Kanamaru | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m14.468s | 2.546s |
19 | Roberto Merhi | W66.com Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m14.615s | 2.693s |
20 | Gustavo Menezes | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m14.801s | 2.879s |
21 | Kenta Yamashita | TOM'S | Dallara/Toyota | 2m15.144s | 3.222s |
22 | Richard Goddard | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 2m15.672s | 3.750s |
23 | Dan Wells | Toda Racing | Dallara/Toda | 2m16.569s | 4.647s |
24 | Martin Cao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m16.919s | 4.997s |
25 | Tatiana Calderon | JZR/ Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m16.975s | 5.053s |
26 | Sam MacLeod | TOM'S | Dallara/Toyota | 2m17.516s | 5.594s |
27 | Andy Chang | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m17.597s | 5.675s |
28 | Mitsunori Takaboshi | B-MAX Racing Team | Dallara/Toyota | 2m19.157s | 7.235s |
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