Marco Wittmann secures Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix pole with late effort

The German, who had been quickest in the morning practice session, was locked in a major battle with Robert Merhi throughout the 30-minute fight for grid positions.

Merhi appeared to have stolen the top spot in the closing stages, but Wittmann saved his best for last to steal pole position by just 0.064 seconds.

Antonio Felix da Costa bounced back from an accident in the morning's practice session to grab third place - but he will start on the front row because Merhi will be moved back seven places for having caused a crash in first qualifying.

Valtteri Bottas proved that his late arrival into Macau, following his Formula 1 test for Williams this week, had not affected him as he secured fourth overall on the timesheets and will start third.

Alexander Sims also recovered from a crash in the morning practice to deliver the fifth quickest time - ahead of Felipe Nasr, who had been fighting right at the front of the field for much of the session but crashed late on.

The session passed without a red flag, although Daniel Abt ran wide into the barriers at Police before being hit from behind by Richard Bradley.

Pos  Driver                  Team/Car                   Time       Gap
 1.  Marco Wittmann          Signature Dallara-VW       2m12.790
 2.  Roberto Merhi           Prema Dallara-Merc         2m12.854   + 0.064s
 3.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Hitech Dallara-VW          2m13.115   + 0.325s
 4.  Valtteri Bottas         Double R Dallara-Merc      2m13.192   + 0.402s
 5.  Alexander Sims          TOM'S Dallara-Toyota       2m13.407   + 0.617s
 6.  Felipe Nasr             Carlin Dallara-VW          2m13.429   + 0.639s
 7.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin Dallara-VW          2m13.518   + 0.728s
 8.  Felix Rosenqvist        Mucke Dallara-Merc         2m13.528   + 0.738s
 9.  Carlos Huertas          Carlin Dallara-VW          2m13.704   + 0.914s
10.  Yuhi Sekiguchi          Mucke Dallara-Merc         2m13.850   + 1.060s
11.  Laurens Vanthoor        Signature Dallara-VW       2m13.973   + 1.183s
12.  Marko Asmer             Double R Dallara-Merc      2m14.011   + 1.221s
13.  Carlos Munoz            Signature Dallara-VW       2m14.020   + 1.230s
14.  Daniel Juncadella       Prema Dallara-Merc         2m14.064   + 1.274s
15.  Kimiya Sato             Motopark Dallara-VW        2m14.246   + 1.456s
16.  Pietro Fantin           Hitech Dallara-VW          2m14.415   + 1.625s
17.  Jazeman Jaafar          Carlin Dallara-VW          2m14.477   + 1.687s
18.  Carlos Sainz Jr         Signature Dallara-VW       2m14.511   + 1.721s
19.  Daniel Abt              Signature Dallara-VW       2m14.513   + 1.723s
20.  Hannes van Asseldonk    Hitech Dallara-VW          2m14.591   + 1.801s
21.  Richie Stanaway         Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW  2m14.625   + 1.835s
22.  William Buller          Fortec Dallara-Merc        2m14.649   + 1.859s
23.  Hideki Yamauchi         Toda Dallara-Honda         2m14.863   + 2.073s
24.  Hywel Lloyd             Sino Vision Dallara-Merc   2m15.022   + 2.232s
25.  Lucas Foresti           Fortec Dallara-Merc        2m15.061   + 2.271s
26.  Richard Bradley         TOM'S Dallara-Toyota       2m15.855   + 3.065s
27.  Adderly Fong            Sino Vision Dallara-Merc   2m16.666   + 3.876s
28.  Hironobu Yasuda         Three Bond Dallara-Nissan  2m22.302   + 9.512s
29.  Jimmy Eriksson          Motopark Dallara-VW        2m55.360s  + 42.570s
30.  Mitch Evans             Double R Dallara-Merc