Beganovic calls Macau GP red flags "embarrassing", optimistic of fighting back

The FIA F3 race winner was caught up in another driver's crash during Macau GP qualifying and will start 15th on the grid, but still feels he can bounce back

FIA F3 race winner Dino Beganovic has described the 12 red flags during the two Macau Grand Prix qualifying sessions as "embarrassing", having been caught up in one of the many clashes.

The Ferrari Driver Academy member was at the top of the timesheets when he encountered the stranded car of Rintaro Sato, who had crashed at Moorish.

He was unable to avoid the TGM machine, which had already been struck by Beganovic's Theodore Prema team-mate Alex Dunne - the pair having been completely unsighted.

This triggered the first of seven red flags of a disjointed session with Beganovic eventually tumbling down to 15th on the grid for the qualifying race. Dunne, who was fifth fastest at the time, will start 18th.

"It was frustrating – there was a lot of adrenaline going through me at that point," Beganovic told Autosport. 

"It makes it even more heart-breaking when you’ve done everything right in the session and the whole event – we haven’t been crashing, we haven’t been doing stupid stuff. To be punished like this, by someone else’s mistake, it hurts.

"It’s also quite embarrassing what happened and in Q1 that so many red flags came out - it’s no wonder we got called for a second drivers’ briefing."

Autosport understands that the need for improved driving standards was discussed at this briefing with an explanation of what to avoid as well as reinforcing how their actions were having an impact on other categories at the event, such as the bikes - which had their practice cancelled as a result of the two hours it took to complete the 40-minute Formula Regional qualifying session.

Despite the tough start to his event, Beganovic - who crashed out when fighting for third in last year's grand prix - is still optimistic of turning his fortunes around.

He says his early-session qualifying pace shows what "we’re capable of doing and what we came here for".

"We know in Macau, anything can happen - starting from 15th, nothing is closed, all the doors are still open," he added. 

"The hill that we need to climb got a little bit steeper but I’m sure we can do it, we’ve got the pace and I think we’ve got a pace advantage compared to the cars around us. 

"It’s not going to be as easy to overtake as in the F3 car, as we had the DRS, but I think with our pace we can still move forward. 

"The target [for Saturday's qualifying race] is to put us in the mix for tomorrow [main race] and in a decent position to fight for the win." 

Follow the live action from this year's Macau Grand Prix on Autosport.com and Motorsport.tv.