SJM Theodore Racing Team Principal Teddy Yip Jr. underlined yesterday that his team had its record eighth victory at the Macau Grand Prix in 2015, adding he believed his team was in good shape to reclaim the title on Sunday.
Yip made the remarks during the team’s press conference yesterday at SJM’s Grand Lisboa Hotel.
During the press conference, Yip also presented the four young drivers competing in his team this year. They are Maximilian Günther, Callum Ilott, Zhou Guanyu and Mick Schumacher.
Günther, who also represented the SJM Theodore Racing Team last year, said he was excited to be in Macau once again, adding that he had been preparing for the Macau Grand Prix for some time, since it was the “jewel in the crown” for all drivers trying to reach Formula 1. Earlier this year, the 20-year-old German finished third overall in the FIA European F3 Championship.
When asked by a reporter whether there was any adjustment to his car for Macau’s unique track, Ilott said, “Compared to a normal circuit, you have to make a lot of adjustments because it’s very bumpy and there’s a very long straight into a very tight section…it’s definitely different to a normal track.” The 19-year-old British driver also said that every team needed to come up with the best combination in order to win in Macau.
The Guia Circuit is a 6.2 km-long track. The straight road before the Mandarin Oriental Bend marks the maximum width of the track at 14 metres while the Melco Hairpin marks the minimum with a mere seven metres.
Zhou, the only Chinese driver in this year’s FIA F3 World Cup, was asked by the media about his preparation for the race this year. Zhou said that “this year I definitely have a better preparation than last year as I now have experience in Macau…in this year’s FIA F3 European Championship, I also have had a better performance [8th overall], so I think I can have a better result [in Macau] this year,” He added that even though a street circuit is more difficult than a purpose-built one, he was still confident. The 18-year-old driver had his Macau debut last year when he finished 15th.
When The Macau Post Daily asked what expectations he had of himself, Zhou said that as a Chinese driver he aimed to finish among the top seven as the best result of a Chinese driver competing in Macau’s F3 race was seventh , and he wished he could break this record. He noted that it would be a bonus if he could stand on the podium on Sunday.
Fellow team member Mick Schumacher is the son of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and a nephew of former Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher. As he is about to make his Macau debut this weekend, the 18-year-old German driver said he was excited to be racing at the Macau Grand Prix and was confident that his team would perform well.
Michael Schumacher won the 1990 Macau Grand Prix while Ralf Schumacher won the city’s F3 race in 1995.
SJM Theodore Racing Team drivers Mick Schumacher (2nd from left), Callum Ilott (3rd from left), Maximilian Günther (right) and Zhou Guanyu (2nd from right), as well as Team Principal Teddy Yip Jr. (4th from left), present a racing helmet signed by the four drivers to SJM executives Rui Cunha (left), Ambrose So Shu Fai (4th from right), and Angela Leong On Ka (3rd from right) on the sidelines of a press conference at Grand Lisboa yesterday. Photo: SJM
