News

• 12th place for Keyvan Andres, 17th place for Jake Hughes, DNF for Sophia Flörsch
• Fastest lap record for Jake Hughes
• Jake Hughes: “It's a shame that we were not able to deliver the level of performance we are capable of.”
• Keyvan Andres: “Once you're out of the DRS window, you're a sitting duck.”
• Sophia Flörsch: “From the start, I viewed this as preparation for next year.”
• Thomas Strick: “The whole team mastered this enormous challenge with flying colours.”
  

Macau, 17th November 2019 – The Macau Grand Prix started promisingly for HWA RACELAB. Jake Hughes recorded the best time in Friday's first qualifying session to stir hopes of reaching a top spot in the FIA Formula 3 World Cup race.

However, an incident on the first lap of the qualification race on Saturday put paid to these aspirations. Through no fault of his own, Jake was involved in a collision, damaging his car so severely that he was unable to continue the race. This meant that he had to start the main race from 28th place.

The winning driver from Spielberg quickly started to work his way up through the field, battling his way into the top twenty with a faultless performance. Jake recorded the fastest lap time of 2:06.419 during this chase, the best time ever posted with a Formula 3 car in Macau. He rounded off his third appearance at the Macau Grand Prix by finishing in 17th place.

Keyvan Andres began the race in eleventh position. He enjoyed a great start, moving up to eighth within a few laps before a safety car phase took the wind out of his sails. After the restart with eight laps to go, Keyvan was unable to find that rhythm again and lost touch with the cars ahead of him. His rivals were able to make use of the DRS system to get past the youngster as he bravely battled on. Keyvan slipped out of the top 10 to finish the race in twelfth place.

Sophia Flörsch had started from 21st place but fell back to 25th during a hectic starting phase. Once the race had calmed down a little, she got into more of a routine and was able to consolidate 24th position. However, she was forced to retire six laps from the end, as problems with the electronics saw her car come to a standstill on the straight near the Mandarin turn.

Keyvan Andres (19, Iran, #17, 12th place)
“The race started well, I got through the start with no problems and moved up to eighth place. But then I started to struggle with understeer from the car and lost touch with the cars ahead of me. And once you're out of the DRS window, you're a sitting duck for the drivers behind you. But the team did a good job here. Thanks to HWA RACELAB for all the hard work throughout the season.”

Jake Hughes (25, Great Britain, #16, 17th place)
“That is not the result we had hoped for. Macau hit me hard with that early retirement on Saturday. It's a shame that we were not able to deliver the level of performance we are capable of. The fastest lap time and the race lap record show what the car is capable of. Apart from the collision yesterday, which I had no chance of avoiding, that was a near-perfect performance. Thanks to everyone for all the hard work. Maybe we’ll have better luck when we come back next year.”

Sophia Flörsch (18, Germany, #18, DNF)
“This is the second time that I have not been able to finish in Macau. Maybe I can record a top 5 finish next year! But all joking aside: from the start, I viewed this as preparation for next year. Driving a new car here, on one of the world’s most demanding circuits, was a great challenge for me. I have learned a lot over the past few days. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed driving for HWA RACELAB, a truly excellent team. Now I am looking forward to next season. Let's see how that goes.”

Thomas Strick, HWA RACELAB Team Principal
“We had hoped to record a better result, especially after making such a good start with the best time in the first qualifying session. However, you always need a bit of luck in Macau. Jake did record the fastest lap time to show just what potential we have, and that makes us proud. You have to take into account that this was our first appearance at the Macau Grand Prix with HWA RACELAB, which was an enormous challenge. The whole team mastered this challenge with flying colours, as they have done throughout the season. We learned a lot here and we will benefit from this experience next year.”

Result of Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix
1st R. Verschoor MP Motorsport 38.10.330
12th Keyvan Andres HWA RACELAB 38:28.995
17th Jake Hughes HWA RACELAB 38:36.624
DNF Sophia Flörsch HWA RACELAB DNF