Formula Three is an important step within the ladder of the single seater racing and many countries and regions around the world have their own championship. Macau Grand Prix, which has been held every year on November, is widely considered as "the race of F3 champions" and the FIA gives it the Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup title to recognize the status.

The event has a long history and not a few drivers, including the legendary Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, made their way into Formula One after the success in Macau Grand Prix. The 59th edition of the Grand Prix in 2012 marked the 30th anniversary since it adopted the F3 technical regulations and, at the same time, Yokohama Tire was designated as the official tire supplier of the race.

Once again this year, the talented young drivers - almost all of them were the leading competitors in national/regional F3 championships, GP3 or GP2 series - came together in the ex-Portuguese colony and were engaged in fierce battles on Ghia Circuit, the 6km street track confined by guard rails and concrete walls, on November 15-18.

The sky was overcast throughout the opening day, 15th November, Thursday, and the temperatures were lower than usual. Felipe Nasr, a leading driver of GP2 series this year, had a great head start in the first practice session in the morning by setting the fastest lap time of all, 2'14"787, while some of his opponents hit the barriers and damaged their cars.

However, the fastest driver in the first qualifying session in the afternoon was Antonio Da Costa who clocked 2'13"400. The Portuguese had achieved solid results both in GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 series this year. He was followed by Felix Rosenqvist, the Euro F3 series competitor, but the gap with Da Costa was just 0.020 seconds. Carlos Saints Jr, from the British F3 International series, rounded out the top three and his best lap time was only 0.021 seconds shy of the Swede's time.

In the second practice session on Friday morning, Rosenqvist sat on the top of the time sheet with 2'13"958. But the gaps among the leading drivers were still very small and Daniel Juncadella, last year's Macau winner and the 2012 Euro F3 series champion, and Da Costa closely followed in second and third by only 0.023 and 0.037 seconds, respectively.

The session leader continued to change even in the second qualifying session in the afternoon and Alex Lynn, the British F3 International series competitor, secured the pole position for the qualifying race by setting the fastest time in the session, 2'13"122. Da Costa settled for the second grid, as he failed to improve his best lap time as much as many expected from him, and Juncadella followed in third by setting his fastest time of the week.

On Saturday, the 10 lap qualifying race was run under overcast skies. Da Costa made a better start than the pole sitter and led throughout the race to secure the pole position for the final race on Sunday. He was followed by Rosenqvist who started from the fourth grid and Lynn finished the race in third, paying the cost of his below-par start. Hideki Yamauchi, who finished the 2012 Japanese F3 championship in third, was the highest placed Japanese driver, as he crossed the finish line in 16th, after starting from the 17th grid.

After the hotly fought sessions and the qualifying race, the 15 lap final race of the 59th Macau Grand Prix began at a half past three p.m. on Sunday, 18th November, with thick clouds covering the sky over the Ghia Circuit. At the start, Rosenqvist got better acceleration than the pole sitting Da Costa and led the field when they entered the first corner. However, the Spaniard closely followed the leader and managed to overtake Rosenqvist just before Mandarin Bend. The top three at the end of opening lap were Da Costa, Rosenqvist and Lynn, which looked like an exact replay of the qualifying race of the previous day.

Then Da Costa started to pull away from the other leading drivers but the Safety Car came out on Lap 3 because a back marker crashed on the mountain side. As a result, the gaps between the leaders effectively became null but Da Costa kept his cool at the restart on Lap 5 when the Safety Car returned to the pit lane. Although Rosenqvist actually came abreast of him on the approach to Lisboa Corner, the Spaniard won the battle and kept the lead position.

After that, the race remained settled for several laps. However, on Lap 12, the reigning champion of the British F3 International series, Jack Harvey, crashed and was forced to come in the pit. Then, soon after the Briton's mishap, Ryo Hirakawa who is the 2012 Japanese F3 Championship title winner and Lucas Auer, the runner-up of the ATS F3 Cup in Germany, crashed at the final corner and both had to retire.

But the leading drivers never made any mistakes. Da Costa eventually kept the lead position until the checkered flag fell at the end of Lap 15 and took the crown of this year's Macau Grand Prix.

Rosenqvist finished the race in second, followed by Lynn who rounded out the podium finishers. As for the other Japanese drivers, Yamauchi was classified in 14th by gaining a few positions from the 16th grid where he started the race. The Japanese F3 championship runner-up, Yuichi Nakayama, finished in 21st, despite he had to start the race from the 30th and last slot of the grids due to retirement in the qualifying race.