‘Such a sad loss for the world’: Maro Engel takes a break at the Macau GP to open up about the death of his friend Chester Bennington

German driver’s car will feature Linkin Park livery in Sunday’s race

Reading Time:2 minutes

Maro Engel is competing at the Macau Grand Prix. Photos: Nora Tam

Published: 1:25pm, 17 Nov 2017Updated: 10:57pm, 17 Nov 2017

The death of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington in July sent shock waves across the music world and sent millions of fans across the globe into mourning for the loss of the charismatic lead singer.

German driver Maro Engel was among those deeply affected when Bennington took his own life, having formed a strong friendship with the singer and his bandmates through their shared commercial associations with the Mercedes-AMG organisation.

“The news was terrible. It was just heartbreaking,” said Engel, during a break in practice in Macau. “They’re such great guys with such a great vibe and spirit. It was a pleasure to be able to get to know Chester, and it is such a sad loss for the world.”

Engel’s Mercedes car with the Linkin Park livery.

This week Engel’s Mercedes features special one-off Linkin Park livery as it races in the Suncity Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup – designed by the band – as the driver and his team work to call attention to the mental afflictions that led to Bennington’s death, and to offer hope for help to those who suffer as the singer did.

Engel’s Mercedes is rolled out for the start of practice.

“It’s great that we are able to show the support to the Linkin Park family and to members of the group,” said Engel. “Everyone who knew Chester would tell you he was such a positive person, and so full of life. He was so inspiring. You would never of thought of that [suicide] for him. But it shows that we all need to turn our attention to a subject that is really important in modern society.”