Photo: Prema
Arvid Lindblad won both Formula 4 races on the streets of Macau last weekend, and is “gutted” he cannot join this week’s Formula 3 races there.
The non-championship F4 South East Asia round marked his first time on a street circuit, and he took pole by 0.549 seconds then claimed lights-to-flag wins in the qualification and main race for the Prema-run Theodore Racing team.
“There’s nothing like it. It’s been probably the most, one of if not the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had in driving,” was Lindblad’s reaction after his main race victory.
“The track’s just incredible, I love driving it. It was my first street circuit, and I think it was the best place to have that experience. So close to the walls everywhere, especially in the mountain section, in the high-speed where each milimetre is laptime and it was just so fun, so incredible. It’s just pure, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
He added: “It was difficult to properly get into the rythm with all the safety cars and all the disruptions we had. But I tried my best, I managed to stay calm. The restarts were a bit difficult, I don’t think I managed them perfectly but I tried my best, and managed to just hold onto the lead on them. Super happy with the result.”
His team-mate Freddie Slater “definitely did make my life a bit difficult in the beginning” before an electrical issue sent him down the order.
“It was an intense fight all the way through to the exit of T9. It was really close and putting the pressure. I was surprised, didn’t know what happened, when I saw him drop back. Initially I had a bit of relief that it gave me that margin, but it would have been great to continue to have that fight.”
Slater himself saw the positives as he recovered from 18th to ninth once his car returned to full functionality.
“Awesome week here in Macau, what a race. I can’t wait to come back here hopefully next year, and more years after that,” he said. “An unfortunate issue in the final race, but that’s motorsport at the end of the day but we showed everybody what pace we had.”
Linblad “definitely” wants a 2024 return too to exerience Macau in a F3 car.
“I’m honestly a bit gutted at the moment that I’m not able to race next week. That would be great fun,” he sighed. “But obviously I hope to come back next year with Prema. We’ll see what happens, but that’s hopefully the plan. I’ve loved this weekend, and can’t wait to drive this track in F3.”
Although he missed out on a spot in Prema’s Macau Grand Prix line-up, which awards the FIA F3 World Cup to the winner, Lindblad is already confirmed to be racing for the team in next year’s FIA F3 championship.
There has been a report in Macau that he could be in trouble for underage consumption of alcohol on the Macau podium.