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Australia
Race report

Rosenqvist clinches second Macau win after Leclerc battle

Felix Rosenqvist secured his second consecutive victory in the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix with a dominant performance on Sunday.

Podium: winner Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz

Podium: winner Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz

Macau GP

Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz
Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz
Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz
Start action: Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz leads
Charles Leclerc, Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara Volkswagen
Charles Leclerc, Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara Volkswagen
Alexander Sims, Double R Racing Dallara Mercedes
Antonio Giovinazzi, Carlin Dallara Volkswagen
Charles Leclerc, Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara Volkswagen
Sam Macleod,  Team West-Tec F3 Dallara Mercedes-Benz
Podium: winner Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam
Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes-Benz
Podium: winner Felix Rosenqvist, Prema Powerteam, second place Charles Leclerc, Van Amersfoort Racing, third place Alexander Sims, Double R Racing

Rosenqvist got away well from pole position, but front row starter Charles Leclerc managed to draft past him on the run to Lisboa – and pulled off a breathtaking move into the tight right-hander to grab the lead.

But a slightly tardy exit from the final corner at the end of the lap allowed Rosenqvist to close in and dive past him at the first left-hand kink.

Leclerc was unperturbed though and slotted into Rosenqvist's slipstream – and repeated his earlier move to take the lead around the outside at Lisboa.

But the race was red-flagged at that point after a huge crash involving Carlin trio Gustavo Menezes, Yu Kanamaru and Ryan Tveter, as well as Mitsunori Takaboshi, the wrecked cars leaving debris all over the track at Fishermen's Bend.

Leclerc led away at the safety car restart, but the van Amersfoort driver was swallowed up by both Rosenqvist and the third-placed Sam MacLeod on the run into Lisboa.

That move gave Rosenqvist clear breathing space at the front and he was able to edge himself clear over the next few laps.

By the time Leclerc had got past MacLeod, with a brilliant pass around the outside into Lisboa on lap seven, Rosenqvist was 2.5 seconds up the road.

Leclerc was able to cut into Rosenqvist's advantage but not at a quick enough rate – and the pair crossed the finish line 1.1 seconds apart.

Speaking after his win, Rosenqvist said: "It feels even better to win it the second time. In the beginning of the race I felt confident with the car, so even though Charles got ahead of me on the first lap I was sure I could get him back."

Leclerc concurred that Rosenqvist was probably too quick to be beaten this weekend, despite his best efforts.

"We were quite fast in the beginning," he said. "But then after the safety car restart I could not really do anything.

"I didn't have any slipstream in front of me, so I got overtaken by Felix and Sam. Then I struggled quite a lot to pass Sam and lost loads of time to Felix.

"But he was still really fast. At the end of the race I managed to catch up a little bit, but it wasn't enough. So I am a bit disappointed but really happy still to be second."

MacLeod's hopes of a podium were dashed on lap eight when he brushed the wall at Police, which meant Alexander Sims grabbed a top-three spot.

Antonio Giovinazzi made a brilliant recovery from his 10th-place start to finish fourth – although would have been left wondering what might have been had he not incurred a penalty in Saturday's race.

Markus Pommer was fifth, ahead of Santino Ferrucci and Alessio Lorandi, while Lance Stroll, Jake Dennis and Arjun Maini completed the top 10.

Race results:

Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap
 Felix Rosenqvist Theodore by Prema 48'56.347
 Charles Leclerc Van Amersfoort 1.168
 Alexander Sims Double R 5.075
 Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin 5.948
 Markus Pommer Motopark 11.703
 Santino Ferrucci Mucke 16.863
 Alessio Lorandi Van Amersfoort 18.775
 Lance Stroll Theodore by Prema 22.546
 Jake Dennis Theodore by Prema 24.355
10   Arjun Maini T-Sport 24.863
11   Dorian Boccolacci Signature 28.259
12   Nick Cassidy TOM'S 28.871
13   Alexander Albon Signature 30.255
14   Andy Chang Fortec 32.791
15   Kenta Yamashita TOM'S 33.546
16   Yuhi Sekiguchi B-Max Engineering 34.154
17   Martin Cao Fortec 47.075
18   Matt Solomon Double R 47.369
19   Mikkel Jensen Mucke 49.240
20   Sam MacLeod West-Tec 57.064
21   Zhi Cong Li Jo Zeller Racing 1'16.973
22   Sergio Sette Camara Motopark 2'00.679
Ret  Callum Ilott Carlin  
Ret  Yu Kanamaru Carlin  
Ret  Gustavo Menezes Carlin  
Ret  Ryan Tveter West-Tec  
Ret  Mitsunori Takaboshi B-Max Engineering  

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