Macau GP: Rosenqvist fastest, Habsburg shunts in first practice

The Theodore Racing/Prema driver was near the top of the timesheets for much of what became an extended session before delivering his best laps right at the end.

He moved to the head of the timesheets on the penultimate lap, before improving his best effort to a 2m13.099s on his final lap as he took the chequered flag.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Callum Ilot ended the session second fastest, 0.412 seconds down on Rosenqvist after setting his best lap in the final minutes as everyone began to build up speed.

Japanese F3 champion Kenta Yamashita was third fastest, having been the pace-setter early on for his Three Bond with T-Sport Racing team.

Former winner Daniel Juncadella was fourth quickest, ahead of impressive rookie Lando Norris – who had briefly been quickest with 10 minutes of the session remaining before falling down the order.

The session had to be extended by five minutes following a lengthy red flag delay caused by Ferdinand Habsburg crashing head first in to the barriers at Fishermen’s Bend after 15 minutes of running.

It took several minutes for rescue crews to retrieve his Fortec Motorsport car with a crane and then repair the barriers, but the session was eventually able to resume.

The only other notable incident was caused by Tadasuke Makino, who tried to carry too much speed in to Lisboa Bend with eight minutes remaining and swiped the barriers on the exit. He damaged the front left corner of his car.