Photo: Joe Skibinski
IndyCar racer Marcus Armstrong is to make a surprise return to Formula 3 and the Macau Grand Prix later this month.
Armstrong has been added to the official entry list for the event and will join MP Motorsport alongside two of its regular F3 racers of 2023, Franco Colapinto and Mari Boya.
This will be his third appearance in Macau, having first raced there in 2018 after contesting the final season of the FIA European F3 Championship, before also taking part in 2019 in the debut of the current FIA F3 cars that will be used again this year.
After finishing eighth on his first outing in 2018, he was a contender for pole position second time around until crashing, and he finished the race in eighth again.
Following three seasons in Formula 2, Armstrong switched to IndyCar this year and joined Chip Ganassi Racing to contest the road and street course events. Despite only starting 12 of the 17 races, he finished as rookie of the year after recording five top 10 finishes. He has signed a full-time deal to drive the entire season for Ganassi in 2024.
Feature: Why is Armstrong thriving in IndyCar after three years of ‘what if’s in F2?
Armstrong is one of two names to have been added to the Macau entry list since it was first released a couple of weeks ago.
The other comes from the other end of the experience spectrum, with Laurens van Hoepen to make his F3 debut with ART Grand Prix.
A long-time protege of Nyck de Vries, van Hoepen steps up after two seasons in the Formula Regional European Championship with ART. He replaces Gregoire Saucy in the team’s line-up, joining Nikola Tsolov and Christian Mansell, who has switched from Campos Racing ahead of Macau.
Two spaces remain on the entry list: at Hitech GP alongside Luke Browning and the team’s F2 racer Isack Hadjar, and at Carlin which has already brought back two-time winner Dan Ticktum and its current F2 driver Zane Maloney.