Photo: Macau Grand Prix
Oliver Goethe and Noel Leon plan to return to the Macau Grand Prix after making the podium this year.
For the first time, the grand prix ran for fourth-tier Formula Regional machinery and this attracted a mix of drivers already racing in the category through various championships across the globe as well as debutants stepping up from Formula 4 and others who stepped down from Formula 3.
The appeal of the race was amplified by Goethe’s presence, since the Red Bull junior is currently racing in Formula 2. He competed in FRegional back in 2021 and early ’22, scoring four points from 33 races, but across three years in single-seaters’ third tier he then won two races in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and was Euroformula champion.
Similarly, Leon only scored three points from his 20 FRegional races in 2022, then stepped up to the next level and won the 2023 Euroformula title before picking up four FIA F3 podiums in 2024. He will stay there for 2025, joining Prema’s line-up.
Goethe made the most of being first out of the pits to top the first practice and qualifying sessions in Macau last weekend, then Leon topped FP2. In Q2 they were second and third, beaten to pole position by Ugo Ugochukwu, and held their positions behind him in the qualification race and the FIA FRegional World Cup-awarding main race.
“We didn’t get many dry laps in general in the weekend. So it was tricky to find a perfect set-up and to get in the perfect rhythm, driving-wise. I was struggling on the restarts to stay very close,” said Goethe, who was driving for MP Motorsport.
“When the race went on, I feel like once I got into a rhythm I was starting to catch him a bit, but then there was so many safety cars and on the last restart I was quite close, but… not close enough to make a move. Yeah, of course I would love to win, but there’s always a next time.”
KCMG by Pinnacle Motorsport’s Leon sealed third after forcing the chasing Prema’s Freddie Slater into a mistake at Lisboa late on.
“Obviously it’s quite tricky; you are in the last spot of the podium. So the guy for sure is going to send it,” he explained.
“I knew it, if I leave a car of space [he would go for it], but it was damp inside. So as soon as he went for it, he locked up and he went straight. So, yeah, quite a smart move from me, from my side.”
Leon was “really happy to finish on the podium” after “a really tricky weekend” where “we had all types of weather conditions”, but added “we’ll try next time” to win.
FRegional cars will be used again in the 2025 edition of the Macau GP, and there are already two drivers from single-seaters’ higher levels wanting to be on the grid.