It was a successful weekend for Portugal at this year’s Macau Grand Prix, with two Portuguese drivers taking the top honours in their respective races: Tiago Monteiro in the Suncity Group Macau Guia Race, and António Félix da Costa in the Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix – FIA F3 World Cup.
This was Félix da Costa’s second F3 victory in Macau after he took the top spot in 2012. He is the only Portuguese national to have won Macau’s F3 race.
Speaking to the press after the race about his second Macau victory, he said: “Maybe it feels better I think. I was not supposed to come, I am not meant to be here, I am not meant to race an F3 car – so none of this makes sense! I know I have said all week that to come away with a top five would be great and it would have been. But today, I had to do it. I am so happy that I did it, and I have to thank my team – because they gave me the car to do it. I am just a happy boy.”
For the past two years, Félix da Costa has been competing in the German DTM touring car championship as well as driving Formula E (electric) cars when the opportunity allowed. Therefore his dominance in Macau this year as he returned to Formula 3 came as somewhat of a surprise.
“We came here with a car that had not a single sponsor, but it doesn’t matter. I love this race, I love this car and this track,” Antonio added.
The 25-year-old driver admitted that he had been quite relaxed throughout the meet until the day of the main race, when his compatriot, Tiago Monteiro won his even in the morning.
“Tiago made my life super hard because he won. My dad called me last night and said ‘oh if the two of you win it would be historical’, and then he won!” laughed Antonio.
After winning the qualification race on Saturday, Félix da Costa found himself in pole position for Sunday’s event, but the Carlin driver initially lost the lead to teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara. With a Safety Car restart on lap seven he managed to retake the top spot and then hold on for victory 1.6 seconds ahead of 2014/2015 winner Felix Rosenqvist racing for Theodore Racing Team, and three seconds ahead of Câmara.
Earlier in the day, fellow countryman, Tiago Monteiro took victory in the Suncity Group Macau Guia Race on Sunday. Monteiro has been a regular competitor in Macau over the years, and this was his first ever victory around the Guia street circuit. The Portuguese driver had started the main event from third on the grid, but made a brilliant getaway to surge into the lead past front row starters Stefano Comini and Jean Karl Vernay.
A red flag was brought out on lap three after a crashed at Police. After a lengthy delay to clear the track, the race was eventually restarted behind a safety car for what would be a two-lap shoot-out. Monteiro got away cleanly again though, and finished the race 0.926 seconds ahead of Vernay.
“It is fantastic, really fantastic,” said the WestCoast Racing driver. “I have been here many times in F3 and WTCC – and I was close to winning a few times. Two years ago there were just three corners missing and my power steering broke. I lost everything then – so I needed revenge here in Macau. I knew we could do it and when this opportunity came up I accepted it right away.”