Eriksson edges Norris, Ilott to Macau F3 pole

Joel Eriksson battled his way to pole position for the Macau Formula 3 qualifying race after edging out British rivals Lando Norris and Callum Ilott in a closely-fought final qualifying session interrupted by three red flag stoppages.

McLaren Formula 1 junior Norris had finished almost one second clear of the field in Q1 on Thursday, only to face a stiffer challenge from the likes of Eriksson and Ilott in Friday's second and final stage of qualifying.

Norris was the first driver to dip below the 2:11 mark, turning in a lap of 2:10.744 to sit more than six-tenths of a second clear of the fielding heading into the second half of the session.

After finding a gap on-track between traffic, Eriksson worked up an effort of 2:10.720 to snatch pole away from Norris, with the duo opting not to run in the final five minutes after a stoppage following a crash for Yuhi Sekiguchi.

Ferrari Driver Academy member Ilott had stood eighth when the session resumed, but was able to work up a final flying lap that took him up to third place, just 0.090 seconds off Eriksson's pole time. The Briton was fortunate to get the lap in, with a crash at the final corner for another car stopping the session just moments later.

Ilott's Prema Powerteam teammate, Maximilian Günther, will start the race fourth ahead of early leader Ferdinand Habsburg, with Daniel Ticktum taking P6 overall.

Mick Schumacher will line up seventh for the start of the qualifying race at Macau ahead of Sekiguchi and Sergio Sette Camara, with Guanyu Zhou rounding out the top 10 positions.

The results of Saturday's qualifying race will form the grid for the 64th Macau Grand Prix on Sunday.