Eyes may be turned towards the young drivers' test in Abu Dhabi for signs of new and up-and-coming talent but with reports of bought seats, some not-so-young drivers, and clear signs that aerodynamic testing and analysis of Pirelli's new rubber is the focus of the efforts, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. And there is no where better than this weekend's Macau Grand Prix were probably the strongest field the Formula Three event has seen in a long time will gather.

The 17th-20th November is this year's Macau Grand Prix weekend, the highlight of which is the Formula 3 race. If you're not familiar with the event, it's up there with the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and Le Mans - this is THE junior race they all want to win. Indeed, Ayrton Senna did, as did Michael Schumacher after a ding-dong battle with Mika Hakkinen, Ralf Schumacher, Takuma Sato, Riccardo Patrese and, twenty years ago, David Coulthard joined the list. Jenson Button, Robert Kubica (twice), Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli and Damon Hill had to settle for second, while Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Sutil third. It's the race where all the F3 series come together and that's why it is so special - is the British F3 Champion better than the Japanese F3 Champion? Macau attempts to answer that question.

Entry list

With such a strong line-up for the 2011 end-of-season party, there is almost certain to be some future Formula One talent present. Indeed, GP3 champion Valtteri Bottas will arrive straight from testing with Williams, trailing rumours behind him that he, and not his fellow Finn, may inherit the team's race seat next year. British Formula 3 and the F3 Euroseries are both strongly represented and only one of the top eight drivers in each series is absent. Watch out particularly for British F3 champion < strong >Felipe Nasr of Brazil and Spain's < strong >Roberto Merhi, this year's F3 Euroseries winner and well as the inaugural FIA Formula 3 International Trophy champion. The German F3 champion, kiwi < strong >Richie Stanaway is an other notable while drivers from the Japanese F3 series are also usually strong.

So if you really want to pick out some of the stars of the future, keep an eye on the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix.

Schedule

Here's a quick overview of what's happening when.

Useful Links

• Official Grand Prix Macau website
• Macau Grand Prix on Facebook