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Drivers summoned to extra briefing after chaotic Macau GP qualifying
The Macau Grand Prix has been plagued by red flag stoppages across the opening sessions
Stephen Lickorish
Published: Nov 15, 2024, 12:17 PM
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Ugo Ugochukwu, R-ace GP
Photo by: Macau GP
Macau Grand Prix drivers were summoned to an extra briefing after McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu topped two qualifying sessions that featured a combined total of 12 red-flag periods.
The first 40-minute segment was held on Thursday in the wet and that had five stoppages as the Formula Regional World Cup drivers battled tricky conditions.
Friday morning practice was also wet and that meant the second qualifying session later that day was the first time the field had encountered the Guia circuit in the dry, which rendered Thursday's lap times meaningless.
However, their lack of experience running at full speed contributed to a stop-start 40 minutes in which drivers were unable to ever build a rhythm.
Ferrari Driver Academy member Dino Beganovic set the early pace after the opening flying laps but he was then caught up in the first red flag.
This was caused by Rintaro Sato clipping the barriers at Moorish and his TGM machine was left stranded in the middle of the track, leaving unsighted Prema pair Alex Dunne and Beganovic nowhere to go.
Ugo Ugochukwu, R-ace GP
Photo by: Macau GP
Tuukka Taponen then hit the wall at the same corner upon the resumption, before a further red flag was needed when James Wharton appeared to send Jin Nakamura into the R Bend barriers.
The session was then restarted without all of the fluid cleared up, resulting in another instant red flag, before three further accidents brought more disruption.
Red Bull junior Oliver Goethe moved to the top spot between these stoppages as Beganovic plummeted down the order to an eventual 15th.
But in the final, brief green-flag run, Ugochukwu set a time just 0.014 seconds faster than Goethe's own improvement to grab pole for Saturday's opening race.
However, with so many incidents, officials decided to summon the entire field to an extra briefing on Friday evening local time to discuss the situation.
Goethe believes the lack of previous dry running was a key factor in the number of incidents.
Oliver Goethe, MP Motorsport
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
"None of us have driven in the dry with this car here so to find the limit took a bit of time and it’s very easy to make a mistake in this scenario," he said.
"I think some of the drivers that crashed were so far off and thinking they had to push like crazy - it happens easily."
An incident where a slow Mattia Colnaghi leaving the pits caused a concertina effect behind that resulted in Noel Leon damaging his front wing and several drivers crossing the white line on the exit was also being investigated by officials.
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