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From press release
Nicholas Latifi took fifth in the Macau Grand Prix for SJM Theodore Racing by Prema from ninth on the grid.
While the Canadian earned a good result, there was disappointment for his team-mates Esteban Ocon and Antonio Fuoco, who both failed to finish.
Frenchman Ocon was battling for the lead on the opening lap when he collided with Tom Blomqvist at the Lisboa bend. This broke his steering, and he was unable to avoid hitting the barriers at the next corner, causing a pile-up, a track blockage and a red flag.
Fuoco was also caught up in the accident and the SJM Theodore Racing by Prema mechanics worked wonders to change the entire left-front assembly of his car before the restart, which he took from the pit-lane.
Unfortunately, there was not enough time to bleed the brakes and, after making progress up the field, he retired with four laps remaining due to brake troubles.
Latifi got through the incident unscathed and was fifth for the entire duration of the restart. He ran very close to Roberto Merhi in the battle for fourth, and twice attempted to brave it out with the Spaniard to take the place, finishing just 0.614 seconds behind.
“It's a very good result, but I'm disappointed that it was the maximum I could have got unless something happened. We opted to go really low on downforce, the least I think of everybody on the grid, and it still didn't give us the top speed we were hoping for.
“Then the tire degradation got worse and they started to pull a gap in front of me. But I'm pleased with fifth.”
Nicholas Latifi took fifth in the Macau Grand Prix for SJM Theodore Racing by Prema from ninth on the grid.
While the Canadian earned a good result, there was disappointment for his team-mates Esteban Ocon and Antonio Fuoco, who both failed to finish.
Frenchman Ocon was battling for the lead on the opening lap when he collided with Tom Blomqvist at the Lisboa bend. This broke his steering, and he was unable to avoid hitting the barriers at the next corner, causing a pile-up, a track blockage and a red flag.
Fuoco was also caught up in the accident and the SJM Theodore Racing by Prema mechanics worked wonders to change the entire left-front assembly of his car before the restart, which he took from the pit-lane.
Unfortunately, there was not enough time to bleed the brakes and, after making progress up the field, he retired with four laps remaining due to brake troubles.
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| Nicholas Latifi (Photo: WRI2) |
Latifi got through the incident unscathed and was fifth for the entire duration of the restart. He ran very close to Roberto Merhi in the battle for fourth, and twice attempted to brave it out with the Spaniard to take the place, finishing just 0.614 seconds behind.
“It's a very good result, but I'm disappointed that it was the maximum I could have got unless something happened. We opted to go really low on downforce, the least I think of everybody on the grid, and it still didn't give us the top speed we were hoping for.
“Then the tire degradation got worse and they started to pull a gap in front of me. But I'm pleased with fifth.”