Club column: Stefan Mackley

Just over a month before the British Formula 3 season starts, we know who the favourite is – but will he have any meaningful opposition?

AFTER SIGNING UP TO COMPETE WITH THE TEAM that took Matheus Leist to the 2016 title – Double R Racing – there’s no doubt who the pre-season favourite is in BRDC British Formula 3 at the moment. It’s Linus Lundqvist.

Five wins in British Formula 4, and fifth place in the final standings, marked Lundqvist out as a talent worth keeping an eye on. One of the key questions, though, is what sort of opposition he’ll be ranged against this season.

As it stands, there are eight confirmed entries in BRDC British F3, but that number is likely to rise well into double figures. Fortec Motorsports and Chris Dittmann Racing have yet to announce any of their three drivers, and neither has Douglas Motorsport, which plans to run three cars for the first time this season. Stratton Motorsport, known for its British GT exploits, has announced its intentions to field a team, and there is a spare seat each at Carlin, Lanan Racing and Double R.

Since the series rebranded from BRDC F4 to F3 in 2016, numbers have slowly dwindled. Twenty-nine drivers took part in the inaugural season, but this number dropped slightly for 2017 as only 23 competed across the year. There were 18 on the grid at the opening round at Oulton Park, but that was a season high; for the final round at Donington Park, only 14 cars were present.

For the most senior single-seater category in the UK that simply isn’t good enough. So why is it happening? The championship has fallen into something of a void between F4 and ‘proper’ FIA F3. The Tatuus-cosworth lacks the downforce of a true F3 car but is more powerful than those used in F4 championships. Drivers making the step up into cars from karting arguably prefer to use the less-powerful vehicle to make the transition easier.

British F3 has lost its identity on the motorsport career ladder. The Formula Renault Eurocup is potentially causing the most harm to its reputation. A drive in the Eurocup costs approximately €350,000-€400,000 (£310,000-£350,000) with a top team, and for that you can compete at tracks across Europe, some of which will have relevance higher up the ladder.

The cost for a drive in British F3 is slightly less, although it’s rumoured some teams charge almost £300,000.

Max Fewtrell and Lando Norris, champions in British F4 (though it was called MSA Formula when Norris won in 2015), ventured off to Eurocup rather than progress into British F3. Norris did enter some rounds of the 2016 British F3 season, but he was focusing on (and won) the Eurocup title.

Even Euroformula Open – which uses the same chassis as European F3, only with spec Toyota engines – is an option; last year’s British F4 champion Jamie Caroline is said to be very close to competing in this series. Countless other young drivers have left British shores and in the process bypassed British F3.

In an era in which testing restrictions are more stringent than ever, learning European circuits – tracks on which drivers will expect to race as they further their careers – has become of paramount importance. This inescapable fact therefore makes European series that much more attractive.

But to say that BRDC British F3 hasn’t enabled drivers to make progress up the career ladder would be wrong.

Leist will make his Indycar debut this season and last year’s title winner with Carlin, Enaam Ahmed, will compete with Hitech GP in the F3 European Championship alongside fellow British F3 frontrunner Ben Hingeley.

But apart from those examples it’s been slim pickings for the past two years, and the lack of strength in depth of the grid has been one of the series’ biggest problems. But if its relatively low profile has been another negative, that could be about to change.

The inclusion of

British F3 in the Sunoco Whelen Challenge this season, offering one driver the chance to race in the 2019 Daytona 24 Hours, could help attract entries. And one potential entrant in particular is sure to draw attention to the series: Billy Monger.

The 18-year old’s horrific F4 accident at Donington Park last year, the double leg amputation he had to undergo as a result, and his gritty determination to return to racing have made him headline news beyond the world of motorsport.

That return reached another milestone last week when he tested a single-seater for the first time since the accident. Although it was only his first test and performance details weren’t released, Monger has made no secret that he wishes to return to single-seaters. He even lobbied the FIA to lift a rule banning disabled drivers from competing in the discipline.

Should Monger choose British F3 as the series in which to make his racing return, then media interest in it will spike.

But that won’t fix British F3’s lack of identity on the single-seater ladder. With the FIA beginning to implement Regional F3, starting in Asia and the US, perhaps a move towards this could help British F3 find a home in the future…

For now, though, Lundqvist remains favourite on the track, and more strength in depth is needed to challenge him.

“Should Monger choose British Formula 3, then interest in it will spike”