New F1 race director hit with farcical 12-red flags Macau qualifying

New F1 race director Rui Marques faced chaotic scenes in qualifying for the iconic Macau Grand Prix, with the session featuring a staggering 12 red flags 

The street race in China has seen the likes of Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel compete at the event in their junior careers, with this season's race the 71st, and using Formula Regional equipment. 

The likes of Red Bull junior Oliver Goethe and Ferrari's Dino Beganovic are competing, with storms hitting Thursday's first part of qualifying. 

Bad weather again hit Friday practice, before the storms cleared, meaning the afternoon qualifying was the first time the field had dry conditions. A flurry of red flags, however, meant consistent lap times were not possible. 

A total of 12 red flags were called in the 40-minute session, with Marques - who has taken over the F1 race director role from Niels Wittich - ordering a compulsory extra driver briefing to dissect the chaos.

McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu set the fastest time for the qualifying race, a 10-lap affair that is used to form the grid for the main event.