Oliver Goethe emerged as a standout performer despite facing extraordinary challenges in the Macau GP Qualifying session. Amidst a session plagued by multiple red flags and disruptions, Goethe’s patience and skill saw him clinch second place, narrowly missing out on pole position by a fraction of a second.
The drama for Goethe began early when an accidental fire extinguisher discharge added an unexpected layer of chaos. Reflecting on the incident, Goethe shared, “If you imagine the session already being so chaotic, for me, it was even more!”
“I accidentally set off the fire extinguisher, which added that extra bit of stress, but thankfully there was another red flag to repair the barriers, and it gave the mechanics time to fix everything – they did a great job to get me back out, and in the end it was such a crazy session, so many red flags and every lap was so crucial.”
“In the end we didn’t know when it was going to be the last one, and with the track evolving and the drivers improving, we knew that the times would keep getting quicker. Thankfully in the last lap I got a good lap in, but gutted to miss out on pole by that tiny margin.”
The transition from wet to dry conditions added another dimension to the challenge. Drivers had to quickly adapt to the significantly different grip levels and speeds, making every lap an exercise in precision and nerve. Goethe elaborated on the difficulty of finding the rhythm amidst constant interruptions, saying, “So far, before this qualifying, we’ve only driven in the wet. So, the step-up in speed and grip was massive.”
“It was all about adapting quickly. The times improved quite a lot throughout the session. At the start, it’s difficult to be completely on the limit after not driving on the dry.”
“It was difficult to adapt. But after a couple of laps, I feel like I was already on the limit. And I feel like I was always up there. So, that’s good.”
