We take a look back at some recent Macau Grand Prix stars and what they went on to do next…
In just over a week’s time, some of the brightest stars from the world of junior single-seater racing will be making their way to Macau for the 2024 FIA FR World Cup. It is the standout opportunity of the year for these young drivers to showcase their talents around one of the world’s most demanding circuits, as the iconic Macau Grand Prix continues to be one of the prime shop windows for motor sport career progression.
With a fantastic international entry list recently announced containing champions from across the FIA’s junior racing pyramid, they will soon do battle around the 6.12km Guia Circuit to join the incredible list of former winners alongside names such as Senna and Schumacher.
More recent winners of the event have likewise used the platform to springboard into the top flights of international competition. Going back ten years to 2014, we find Felix Rosenqvist on a remarkable run of form in Macau, with back-to-back wins in ‘14 and ‘15 followed by a second place in 2016. This run of success surely helped the Swede make the jump into the all-electric FIA Formula E World Championship the following year, where he went on to become a race-winner before a stateside switch to IndyCar in 2019 where he has been racing ever since with poles, podiums and a victory to his name.
The city streets of Macau have proved to be a good grounding for drivers aiming for the similarly city-based all-electric Formula E category, as a similar path to Rosenqvist was trodden by Macau’s 2016 winner Antonio Felix da Costa, who returned to contest the event having already proven himself with victory back in 2012. In the years following his second triumph, he raced for several different teams in Formula E, gradually working his way up the championship order over subsequent seasons before the switch to DS TECHEETAH for the 2019/20 campaign brought outright World Championship glory for the Portuguese driver.
Next on this recent winner rewind is another double-victor, and the theme of an eventual move to Formula E also continues, albeit after some success in more senior international single-seater racing. Dan Ticktum put in blinding performances in both 2017 and 2018 that must surely have played a part in his become a test and development driver for the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team the following year, and the Williams F1 team for the two years following that. Multiple podiums and race wins in the FIA Formula 2 Championship preceded a move to the FIA Formula E World Championship for the 2021/22 season where the Briton competes to this day.
The most recent winner of the 2023 FIA event at the Macau Grand Prix, Luke Browning, carried forward his success into the FIA Formula 3 Championship for 2024, where he finished third. Browning will be stepping up to FIA Formula 2 for next year with sights firmly set on Formula 1 for the future.
While winning the Macau Grand Prix can bring a huge boost to a budding career, there are of course plenty of plaudits given to everyone competing at the famous race. Indeed, the list of recent drivers who didn’t make it to the top step of the podium is a star-studded one.
From the current Formula 1 grid, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Nico Hülkenberg, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll and Alex Albon have all tried and failed to reach the top step, and even seven-time FIA Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, despite winning the qualification race, didn’t manage to convert his pole position into victory back in 2004.
There’s a similar spread of top-level stars in the FIA World Endurance Championship who have tested their mettle in Macau, including a host of World Champions such as Sebastien Buemi, Mike Conway, Brendon Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi, as well as a plethora of GT racers who will be returning to race in the 2024 FIA GT World Cup that runs alongside the single-seater event as a counterpart crown jewel for that category.
All told, the 2024 FIA FR World Cup will be an important moment for every driver on the grid – providing them with invaluable experience and putting them in the very best motor sport company alongside all the other former competitors who have gone on to greatness.
You can watch all the action unfold live on the FIA’s YouTube channel.
Source : Fia
