António Félix da Costa wins in Macau for the second time in his careerNine triumphs: Volkswagen most successful engine supplier at classic racePodium: Carlin driver Câmara claims second podium finish for Volkswagen
He does it again – young Volkswagen driver António Félix da Costa (P, Carlin) repeated his 2012 performance to win the prestigious Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau for the second time in his career. Edoardo Mortara (I) also won in 2009 and 2010, meaning that the Portuguese racer is just the second Volkswagen driver to be represented twice on the list of winners in the inofficial Formula 3 world championship. Engine supplier Volkswagen has now recorded nine wins - no other manufacturer has enjoyed more success in the 63 editions of the road race in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau. The second-best Volkswagen driver was Félix da Costa’s team-mate Sérgio Sette Câmara (BRA, Carlin), who finished the race in third place.
“The Macau Grand Prix is a real highlight for our young drivers at this early stage in their career,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. “António Félix Da Costa has made history today. You need to show real driving skill to win on the street circuit in Macau. So it’s even more impressive for a driver to win there twice. He and Edoardo Mortara are the only Volkswagen drivers to have managed this. I salute them and I’m proud that the nine wins mean that Volkswagen remains the most successful engine supplier.”
Comeback win: Félix da Costa recovers from a bad start to battle back to the top
Things were not looking good for Félix da Costa at the start of the race, which had just been granted official World Cup status by the world governing body of motor sport, the FIA. The Portuguese driver had started from pole position but fluffed his start and was passed by his team-mate Câmara. He then pulled away from the rest of the field before the first of three safety car phases put paid to Câmara’s ambitions. After an unsuccessful restart on lap seven of 15, the two Carlin drivers swapped positions: the champion-to-be took the lead, while his team-mate was occupied by the challenge of Felix Rosenqvist (S, Dallara Mercedes). One lap before the end, he took second place from Câmara, but there was insufficient race time remaining for him to chalk up a Swedish victory. Rosenqvist, also a two-time Macau winner, had to leave the top of the podium to Félix da Costa, who is the first driver to have reclaimed the Macau title after taking a break from the series. This also meant that Rosenqvist missed out on his third consecutive Macau triumph.
Convincing performance in Macau from wide range of drivers “powered by Volkswagen”
In addition to Félix da Costa and Câmara, eight other drivers competed with Volkswagen power in Macau. Two other Carlin drivers from Great Britain provided a surprise. Jake Hughes started the race in tenth place and crossed the line in sixth. His compatriot Lando Norris just missed out on the top ten, finishing in eleventh position. Aged just 17 years and 7 days, Norris was the youngest Volkswagen driver in Sunday’s race and won a total of three Formula championships in the season just finished. The reigning rookie champion in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, Joel Eriksson (S, Team Motopark), had to be content with 23rd position.
FIA Formula 3 World Cup in Macau, Quotes
António Félix da Costa (P, Carlin) Dallara Volkswagen #29“Maybe winning for the second time feels even better than the first one. I was not meant to drive an F3 car this year. It was a super-late call, I did only two days of testing. I came here with a car that doesn’t have a single sponsor. Trevor (Carlin) said that he would try to find a sponsor for me, but I told him: ‘You know what, I love this race, I’ll come and do it anyway’. I was really thrilled. Today was the only time of the month when I put pressure on myself, but I had a feeling that I could pull it off. I have been through a rough season, attracting bad things all year, but the last three months have been really good: I was on pole in DTM, Formula E was good and to win here now is just amazing!”
Sérgio Sette Câmara (BR, Carlin), Dallara Volkswagen #27“For me, it is a great feeling to lead a race like this. Since yesterday night, I was thinking that I could maybe win Macau. We found something in the car after yesterday’s race and I thought that I may be on it. It was looking really good for me. António was really on it, and so was Felix. It was really nice to watch the battle between them, especially from inside the car. I am very happy. I hoped for a good result at Macau. I was eleventh in the FIA F3 European Championship this year, but that doesn’t reflect my potential, as I had a lot of technical problems. Third place in a race like this should help my chances for next year and I should finalise my plans within the next few days.”
FIA Formula 3 World Cup in Macau, Result
1. António Félix da Costa (P), Dallara Volkswagen 15 Rd.2. Felix Rosenqvist (S), Dallara Mercedes + 1.603s3. Sérgio Sette Câmara (BR), Dallara Volkswagen + 3.194s4. Kenta Yamashita (J), Dallara Mercedes + 3.862s5. Callum Ilott (GB), Dallara Mercedes + 4.348s6. Jake Hughes (GB), Dallara Volkswagen + 6.191s…11. Lando Norris (GB), Dallara Volkswagen + 13.040s15. Guan Yu Zhou (CHN), Dallara Volkswagen + 17.913s20. Jann Mardenborough (GB), Dallara Volkswagen + 22.895s21. Arjun Maini (IND), Dallara Volkswagen + 48.349s22. Daiki Sasaki (J), Dallara Volkswagen - 2 Rd.23. Joel Eriksson (S), Dallara Volkswagen - 4 Rd.Ye Hongli (CHN), Dallara Volkswagen DNS
The Volkswagen victories in Macau
1984 John Nielsen (DK), Ralt RT3 Volkswagen1985 Maurício Gugelmin (BR), Ralt RT30 Volkswagen1986 Andy Wallace (GB), Reynard 863 Volkswagen1989 David Brabham (AUS), Ralt RT33 Volkswagen1990 Michael Schumacher (D), Reynard 903 Volkswagen2009 Edoardo Mortara (I), Dallara F308 Volkswagen2010 Edoardo Mortara (I), Dallara F308 Volkswagen2012 António Félix da Costa (P), Dallara F312 Volkswagen2016 António Félix da Costa (P), Dallara F312 Volkswagen
The most successful engine manufacturers in Macau
Volkswagen, 9 wins; Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, both 7; Opel, 4; Mugen-Honda, 3; Renault, 2; Alfa-Romeo and Fiat, both 1.
