Felix Rosenqvist was forced to retire from the 2013 Formula 3 world finale at Macau (China) after becoming the victim of an opening lap clash while battling for the early lead.
Rosenqvist returned to Macau one year on from having finished second at the challenging street venue in 2012, and once again featured frequently at the top of the timesheets throughout the weekend. The Swede got things off to a promising start by topping Thursday’s opening qualifying session, and later finished second in Saturday’s Qualification Race (in which he also recorded the fastest lap) to set himself up on the front row for Sunday’s finale. Once there, the Mücke Motorsport man was then fighting for the lead when he was hit from beside on the approach to the ultra-fast Mandarin Bend on the first lap, ending up in the barriers and retiring with broken suspension just seconds after the start.
“An incredibly sad ending to this weekend,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I’m obviously massively disappointed right now, but fact is that there was nothing I could have done. I was involved in the battle for the lead when I suddenly got caught up in an incident and was hit from the side – it was a classic Macau thing, and this time around, I was the one to suffer. I came here to win and definitely had the pace to do so, and that’s why this outcome feels even worse – it was a genuine lost opportunity. Still, there is nothing we can do, and I’ll try to bounce back from this as an even stronger driver in the future.”
The race was won by Britain’s Alex Lynn, who had shared the front row of the grid with Rosenqvist. The Swede will now fly straight from Macau to Spain, where he will take part in next week’s official World Series by Renault test as he seeks to overcome Sunday’s disappointment.
“Today might be one of the toughest days I’ve had for a while, but overall this season has been fantastic,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I really want to take this opportunity to thank all the guys at Mücke Motorsport for a couple of great years together. I currently don’t know what next season will bring, but we’re working hard to get something good together and I’m already looking forward to the World Series by Renault test next week. It will help me to take my mind off this weekend – or at least off this very day!”
World Series by Renault is regarded as the final step on the ladder towards Formula 1. The cars produce approximately 530 bhp.