Club column: Stefan Mackley

MSV has finalised the 2019 plans for British F3, ensuring it maintains the right ingredients for another sizzling season

After waiting months for a decision, BRDC British Formula 3 teams and drivers finally have an answer on which car will be used in 2019. It will be a relief to all of them that the current Tatuus-cosworth will be kept because, although we’re only at the start of October, plans for winter testing should already be well under way and budgets put in place.

As a racing car it ticks all the boxes: it’s good-looking, reliable, sounds great and the drivers enjoy it, so it would have been a shame to see the back of it after only three seasons. But why has it taken until now for a decision to be made on whether to keep it?

Motorsport Vision, which operates the championship, expressed an interest in becoming one of the FIA’S new Regional F3 series, and discussions have been ongoing for more than two years. It would have meant changing to a halo-fitted car for 2019, and with it a potential increase to double the current circa £200,000 budget. But with no decision from the FIA – which is understood to be considering two bids for Europe’s Regional F3 series between the organisers of Italian F4 and Renault Sport – MSV took matters into its own hands.

There was only so long teams and drivers could wait, and MSV should be commended for making a decision in the interest of its series before it was too late. Any further delay and numbers could have suffered for next season, especially if a change of car was required with such little time remaining.

It’s a decision backed by the teams and drivers themselves.“it’s good for the championship – it’s a strong field and there’s not a lot that’s broke so we don’t really need to fix it,”says Lanan Racing team principal Graham Johnson.“i would imagine it [the British F3 budget] will be half of what Regional F3 will be for a car that might be a little slower.”

“This is a really good value-for-money championship – anything beyond this is three times the amount and it shows how well run it is,”adds British F3 driver Jamie Chadwick.“i think it will be good for it to stay as it is – it’s more of an option for Formula 4 drivers between this and European F3.”

But there is a downside to not becoming a Regional F3 series, because the championship could lose the right to use the Formula 3 name next season. But even if that were to happen, there’s no reason to suggest it would suffer.“it’s a good thing having the name, but I don’t think it will be the be-all and end-all as long as it stays competitive,”says team chief Chris Dittmann.

And competitive the series has proved to be. Take qualifying at Spa as an example. Around a 4.3-mile circuit with a lap time of more than 2m18s, the top three cars were covered by less than a tenth of a second and the top 15 by less than nine tenths. At the latest round at Donington Park a season-high 20 cars were entered. Not only is this the highest number since the series’launch year in 2016, but it was also at the penultimate round of the season – a time when numbers would usually drop. Compare that with the British Formula 4 Championship, on the British Touring Car Championship bill, in which numbers dropped as low as 12 cars for its Knockhill round in August.

This shows how popular and affordable British F3 is now, which is not lost on MSV. Group operations and engineering manager Giles Butterfield says:“the single-seater market is still fairly tough so it’s pleasing to hear drivers [like Chadwick] make such comments. I think the championship stands on its own credentials – people are coming here because it’s good value for money, the car is great and performance equality is excellent.”

And what a championship battle it has turned into this season. Double R Racing’s Linus Lundqvist was on the cusp of claiming the title at Donington but endured a disastrous weekend, meaning Carlin’s Nicolai Kjaergaard could still snatch it in the final round at Silverstone. But the greatest moment from Donington was Billy Monger’s return to the circuit where his life-changing injuries occurred just 17 months ago. The Carlin driver was the fastest man across the weekend, securing two pole positions, and took a third place in the final race. It’s a sign of how the teenager isn’t just there to make up the numbers, given he rued two mistakes that cost him a potential brace of victories. Now that the championship’s plans are in place for 2019 – with a calendar due to be announced soon – there’s every chance that Monger could return and mount a serious bid for the title.

Looking further ahead, don’t rule out the MSV series becoming Regional F3 in the future. But for now the right decision has been made: to keep a car and format that is proving popular, affordable and competitive.

“IT’S MORE OF AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION BETWEEN THIS AND EUROPEAN F3 FOR F4 DRIVERS”