British Formula 3 International Series
| File:BRDC Formula 3 Championship Logo.png | |
| Category | Single seaters |
|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Inaugural season | 1951 (Original), 2016 (BRDC) |
| Folded | 2014 |
| Drivers | 26 (22 confirmed) |
| Teams | 9 |
| Constructors | Tatuus |
| Engine suppliers | Cosworth |
| Tyre suppliers | Pirelli |
| Official website | www |
 Current season | |
The British Formula Three Championship, officially named the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, is an national motor racing series that takes place in the United Kingdom, with a small number of events held in mainland Europe. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater elevated pace Formula 4 based chassis, previously run with Formula Three chassis. The series was previously knows as the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series before folding in 2014. Notable former champions included Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Rubens Barrichello and Daniel Ricciardo.
The series is currently run by the British Racing Drivers' Club and MotorSport Vision, in partnership with the Motor Sports Association and Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. It has status as a national F3 series certified by the FIA, and carries super licence points for the top five drivers each season.
History
The first Formula Three championship to take place in the UK was the Autosport F3 championship held in 1951, which was won by Eric Brandon. By 1954, it had evolved into a national-level series and was organised by the British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC).[1] This was the 500cc period of Formula Three, which was active in the UK and other countries until 1959, at which point Formula Three was adapted into Formula Junior. In this period, there were often two or three series running concurrently and a single national series had yet to be firmly established.[2]
The FIA reintroduced Formula Three in 1964 using a one-litre engine formula, and there were two F3 championships held in the UK that year. This was not the last occasion of two or more F3 championships running concurrently in the post-1964 era: from 1970 to 1973, there were three regional series (the Lombard North, John Player, and Forward Trust championships) and there were normally two series between then and 1978, with many drivers running in both.[1] From 1979 onwards, there would be a single championship as the BARC and BRDC combined their series into the Vandervell British F3 Championship, which was later renamed for sponsorship reasons to the Marlboro British F3 Championship and then the Lucas British F3 Championship.[citation needed]
In 1974, the engine capacity was raised to two litres, which remained the engine formula all the way until the championship's demise some 40 years later. In 1984, the series adopted a B class for competitors with older chassis, which helped grid sizes to grow rapidly in the 1980s, renamed in 2000 as the Scholarship class and later the National class.[citation needed] In 2004, the organisation of the series was taken over by SRO, which began to run the series alongside the British GT Championship. Five years later, the series declined an invitation to join the support bill of the British Touring Car Championship, which attracted larger crowds than the British F3/GT meetings run by SRO.[3]
However, rising costs in the late 2000s as a result of the arrival of big-spending engine manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen and hosting rounds abroad, combined with the revival of an FIA-backed European Formula 3 Championship in 2012, starved the British series of grid numbers, which were down to the mid-teens by 2012. Facing a shortfall of entries in 2013, the calendar was cut from 10 to just four meetings in a bid to save the series.[4] The following year saw the calendar back up to seven meetings, but grids remained small, with some races attracting as few as five cars. In October 2014, it was announced that the 2014 season would be the final season of the British Formula Three Championship in it's current guise after a planned merger with the German Formula Three Championship fell through.[5]
The championship was revived in March 2016 after the FIA and MSA reached an agreement to re-brand the BRDC British Formula 4 Championship as the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship.
Equipment
Like most Formula Three championships, competitors in British F3 were permitted to use any eligible chassis, but in practice few competitors ever deviated from the Dallara since the Italian marque's arrival in 1993. Since then, TOM'S, Mygale and Lola have been among those to take on the might of the Italian marque, largely without success. Prior to Dallara's domination, Ralt and Reynard were the pacesetting chassis, with March being the chassis of choice for much of the 1970s.[citation needed]
Two engine manufacturers – AMG-Mercedes (tuned by H.W.A) and Volkswagen – were represented on a full-time basis at the time of the series' demise. The Mugen-Honda engine (tuned by Neil Brown Engineering) was the dominant powerplant of the 1990s and the early-to-mid 2000s, prior to the arrival of Mercedes in 2006, although other manufacturers, including Toyota, Vauxhall/Opel, Renault and Mitsubishi also enjoyed success in the past.[citation needed]
All entrants in the series had to use control tyres from a single supplier. Since 1982, these were manufactured by Avon Tyres, which from the 2009 season onwards were re-branded as Cooper Tires, as Cooper became the championship's official title sponsor.[citation needed]
2016 rebranding
On 23rd March 2016, the FIA and MSA revealed to the FIA World Motor Sport Council that an agreement had been reached the day prior to rebrand the BRDC Formula 4 Championship in order to reflect the increased pace of the new car designed for the 2016 season, and to fill the void left after the British Formula 3 Championship folded in 2014.[6]
The series will co-headline seven of eight rounds of the 2016 British Formula Three Championship season with the British GT Championship.
New car
The BRDC British Formula Three Championship notably does not use a FIA Formula 3 car, instead using a car based on the Formula 4 specification that is elevated to the pace of F3 cars. The car, the F4-016, is designed by Italian manufacturer Tatuus to the F3 safety regulations including side impact panels, front and rear carbon impact structures, wheel tethers and extractable seat. The car also uses a unique Sadev limited slip differential.[7]
The cars are around the same pace as the previous FIA F3 specification car used prior to the series folding in 2014. However, the laptimes for current F3 cars have become around two seconds faster since then due to new engine regulations released for the 2014 racing season.[8]
The FIA have previously been stringent with assigning of national F3 status. The Euroformula Open Championship had to drop the F3 moniker due to it using an old specification Dallara F312 Formula 3 car and low specification engine that did not meet the standards set by the FIA's single-seater commission. The granting of the national F3 status to the Tatuus-Cosworth F4-016 highlights the pace of the car in relation to the FIA's other formula specifications.[9]
| Tatuus-Cosworth F4-016 | |
|---|---|
| Constructor | Tatuus |
| Engine | 2.0L Cosworth |
| Lubrication | Dry sump |
| Horsepower | 230 bhp |
| Engine management | Cosworth |
| Transmission | Sadev 6-speed sequential |
| Suspension | Double wishbone Pushrod |
| Chassis | Carbon-fibre monocoque |
| Tires | Pirelli |
| Brakes | AP Racing 4-piston calipers |
| Wheelbase | 2750 mm |
| Front track | 1600 mm |
| Rear track | 1500 mm |
| Weight | 495 kg |
See also
References
- ^ a b British F3 Champions From motorsportsetc.com. Retrieved on 4 September 2007.
- ^ Formula 3 Story From clarinet.fi. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
- ^ http://www.crash.net/btcc/news/11100/1/gow-f3-had-agreed-to-btcc-move.html
- ^ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105307
- ^ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116404
- ^ BRDC Formula 4's British Formula 3 rebrand goes ahead for 2016 – Autosport, 23 March 2016
- ^ The Tatuus-Cosworth BRDC British F3 Car – BRDC, 26 March 2016
- ^ The Tatuus-Cosworth BRDC British F3 Car – BRDC, 26 March 2016
- ^ BRDC F4 becomes British F3 on eve of 2016 season – PaddockScout, 23 March 2016