page_title: 2015 Macau Grand Prix
section_title: Entry list and background
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Macau Grand Prix / Entry list and background
caption_attribution_description: English: Guia Circuit (original portuguese: Circuito da Guia) - Mandarin Oriental Bend (foreground) and following straight to Lisboa Bend (background). Italiano: Circuito da Guia, la curva dell'Hotel Mandarin Oriental (in primo piano) e il successivo rettilineo che porta alla curva dell'Hotel Lisboa (in fondo).
context_page_description: The 2015 Macau Grand Prix was a motor race for Formula Three cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 22 November 2015. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2015 Macau Grand Prix was not a part of any Formula Three championship, but was open to entries from all Formula Three championships. The race itself was made up of two races: a ten-lap qualifying race that decided the starting grid for the fifteen-lap main race. The 2015 race was the 62nd running of the Macau Grand Prix and the 33rd for Formula Three cars.
  The Grand Prix was won by Theodore Racing by Prema driver Felix Rosenqvist from pole position, having won the Qualification Race the previous afternoon after the on the road victor Antonio Giovinazzi was penalised 20 seconds for a first lap crash. Rosenqvist led the majority of the main race to clinch his second consecutive Macau Grand Prix victory, the first time this had happened since Edoardo Mortara won the 2009 and 2010 races. Second place went to the highest placed rookie driver, Charles Leclerc for Van Amersfoort Racing, while the podium was completed by Double R Racing driver Alexander Sims.
context_section_description: The Macau Grand Prix is a Formula Three race considered to be a stepping stone to higher motor racing categories such as Formula One and is the territory's most prestigious international sporting event. The 2015 Macau Grand Prix was the 62nd running of the event and the 33rd time that the race was held to Formula Three regulations. It took place on the 6.2 km (3.9 mi) 22-turn Guia Circuit on 22 November 2015 with three preceding days of practice and qualifying.
  In order to compete in Macau, drivers had to compete in a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-regulated championship meeting during the calendar year, in either the FIA Formula Three European Championship or one of the domestic championships, with drivers placed high up in the rankings of these respective championships given priority in receiving an invitation to the meeting. Within the 28-car grid of the event, two of the three major Formula Three series were represented by their respective champion. Defending race winner Felix Rosenqvist, the Formula Three European champion, was joined in Macau by Japanese series winner Nick Cassidy. As was the case in 2014, Euroformula Open racer Yu Kanamaru was a late addition to the entry list at Carlin after George Russell was withdrawn from the race.
  Three drivers who mainly competed in other series outside of Formula Three in 2015 became eligible for the Macau race: British GT driver Alexander Sims competed in the Formula Three European Championship in the Algarve International Circuit round in order to become eligible. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters racer Daniel Juncadella had to wait until his main series campaign had concluded before sealing his eligibility; he took part in the Euroformula Open Championship, a second-tier Formula Three series in Europe, in its season-ending round at the Hockenheimring. Super GT participant Yuhi Sekiguchi sealed his eligibility for the Macau Grand Prix by competing in the All-Japan Formula Three round at Twin Ring Motegi.
  At the start of 2015, the Macau Grand Prix coordinator Barry Bland discussed the implementation of the virtual safety car (VSC) system with race director Charlie Whiting during the drawing up of the race's sporting regulations. Provision for the system was implemented into the regulations and would help save a large amount of time as well as aiding drivers in blind corners. Thus the Grand Prix was designated a "test race" for the VSC in order for the system to be written into the 2016 Formula Three European Championship regulations.
caption: The Guia Circuit, where the race was held
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