Practice for the 70th Macau Grand Prix began today at the Guia circuit. With no driver taking up the third Carlin entry, 26 cars have been entered for the Formula 3 race.
While many of the entrants have arrived from the FIA F3 series, the blue riband race has also attracted several up-and-comings talents from the lower levels. As the Covid-19 pandemic has kept F3 away since 2019, other drivers who missed chances to race at the famed track before graduating to senior series have returned.Among those are former winners Dan Ticktum, who’s spent the last two seasons in Formula E, and and Richard Verschoor. The latter is one of several Formula 2 drivers who have stepped down a rung to race at Macau. Marcus Armstrong, who impressed in his first IndyCar season this year, has also returned to F3 for this classic race.
Here’s a full run-down of all 26 competitors:
2023 Macau Grand Prix entry list
| # | Driver | Team | 2023 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 9th in F2* | The defending FIA F3 World Cup winner also enjoys a prime spot in pit lane which is often vital at Macau |
| 2 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 18th in F2* | An F2 rookie who could do his 2024 budget some good by starring this weekend |
| 3 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Trident | Euro 4 champion | McLaren’s favoured junior right now and an F4 star having come second and third in the Italian F4 and UAE championships respectively |
| 5 | Max Esterson | Jenzer Motorsport | 11th in GB3 | He did two FIA F3 rounds this year to learn the car |
| 6 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer Motorsport | 6th in Euroformula | Wurz started 2023 with the Formula Regional Oceania title but flopped in the European championship. Euroformula provided redemption |
| 7 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer Motorsport | 22nd in FREC | A podium on his Formula Regional Middle East debut was a false dawn as he lacked pace after, but he’s prepared for Macau with private F3 tests |
| 8 | Dino Beganovic | Prema | 6th in FIA F3 | The Ferrari junior won in FRME but failed to make the top step in F3 with its top team. |
| 9 | Gabriele Mini | Prema | 7th in FIA F3 | The Alpine junior, like Charles Leclerc, is managed by Nicolas Todt |
| 10 | Paul Aron | Prema | 3rd in FIA F3 | The Mercedes junior is the highest-placed driver from the FIA F3 championship taking part |
| 11 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 15th in FIA F3 | The year started strongly but got worse for the Williams junior so will be looking to turn that around |
| 12 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 14th in F2* | Red Bull has talked about getting Hadjar into F1 and has given him a practice outing, but has placed him back in F3 this weekend |
| 14 | Alex Dunne | Hitech GP | 2nd in GB3 | The dominant 2022 British F4 champion’s only F3 experience is in post-season testing, when he was fastest in the wet |
| 15 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 5th in FIA F3 | Marti’s 2023 keeps getting better with two wins in FRME following by three in FIA F3 and then being signed by Red Bull |
| 16 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos Racing | 7th in ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am | A single F3 podium was the highlight of 2023 in single-seaters for Juan Pablo’s son, who looks set to lose his Red Bull backing |
| 17 | Oliver Goethe | Campos Racing | 8th in FIA F3 | He became a Red Bull junior on Monday but his form in FIA F3 this year was unpredictable |
| 18 | Noel Leon | Van Amersfoort Racing | Euroformula champion | Small grid sizes mean the Euroformula title has lost value and he’s never raced an FIA F3 car |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | Van Amersfoort Racing | 23rd in FIA F3 | Infamously suffered a gigantic crash at Macau in 2018, but always wants to return and is now an Alpine junior |
| 20 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 27th in FIA F3 | Aiming for his first top 10 finish in a car race since 2022 |
| 21 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 10th in FREC | The Nyck de Vries protege is another F3 debutant who will likely have inexperience punished in Macau |
| 22 | Christian Mansell | ART Grand Prix | 12th in FIA F3 | He has wins in Euroformula and podiums in F3 but his team’s pit lane position could prevent a victory challenge |
| 23 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 22nd in FIA F3 | Alpine’s 2022 Spanish F4 dominator jumped up to F3 this year and struggled, but took poles and podiums when he made a cameo appearance in Formula Regional |
| 24 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Carlin | 10th in F2* | The Red Bull junior is the only driver without a win in the top 10 of the F2 standings. But he pulled off a string of wins in F3 last year |
| 25 | Dan Ticktum | Rodin Carlin | 17th in FE | Already a two-times Macau Grand Prix winner, Ticktum has been busy racing on street circuits over two FE seasons |
| 27 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 8th in F2* | The Red Bull junior and 2021 FIA F3 champion is a late stand-in for the injured Franco Colapinto |
| 28 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 17th in FIA F3 | He took two wins in FRME and was Eurocup-3 runner-up in 2023 but only got one podium in F3 as a rookie |
| 29 | Marcus Armstrong | MP Motorsport | 20th in IndyCar | Eighth in both of his previous Macau outings, he has since won in F2 and was IndyCar’s 2023 rookie of the year |
*season in progress
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Asd
16th November 2023, 15:18
Great info, thanks.
Wurz, Montoya, Mansell – these names make me feel at home :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th November 2023, 16:08
Ha! Mansell’s not a relation, though.
Dex
16th November 2023, 18:35
Which is even better (for those not too much into nepotism). The name sounds “right” in any case.
Shimks (@shimks)
16th November 2023, 16:58
Thank you so much for putting this driver info. together for us, @FormulaScout. Brilliant!
PT (@pt)
16th November 2023, 20:58
Has any research been done on how much stress a motorsport fan endures? I mean, there’s one weekend and a fan has to follow Formula 1 from Las Vegas, Formula 3 and GT racing from the Macau Grand Prix and MotoGP from Qatar in addition to his/her work and family schedules. Clearly the FIA and FIM must come up with some solution. There are just too many races these days, way too many.
AlanD
16th November 2023, 21:40
PT, could be worse, you could be a snooker fan and have to watch it night after night.
AlanD
16th November 2023, 21:43
It is amazing really that Sophia Floersch is driving at all. If you’ve never seen it, google her crash at this circuit in 2019. It still takes my breath away to see it at normal speed, even though I know what is about to happen.