Business as usual for old F3

FORMULA 3

The FIA’S bid to streamline the singleseater ladder by the launch of its new Formula 1-supporting FIA Formula 3 Championship has done anything but. Instead, the cars that from 2012-18 raced in the FIA F3 European Championship have not just one, but two homes in ’19, look increasingly likely to remain the machinery for the Macau Grand Prix, and should be replaced by a new car for ’20.

F3V, the subsidiary of the Dtmorganising ITR that organised Euro F3 for the FIA from 2013-18, received a big boost from the governing body last week when the World Council decreed that 25 superlicence points would be awarded to the champion of its redubbed Formula European Masters – the series for old F3 cars that will race on in support of the DTM until the homologation of the Dallara F312 runs out at the end of next year.

Euroformula Open, the F3 series that formerly was powered by spec Toyota engines but which is allowing in the Hwa/mercedes and Spiess/volkswagen engines introduced to European F3 in 2014, only offers 10 superlicence points. But it then landed its own punch with the announcement that it has secured the plum Pau Grand Prix slot (above) for ’19.

Jesus Pareja, the chief of GT Sport that runs the EFO series, has told Autosport that he is confident of 10 to 12 cars powered by HWA or Spiess engines in addition to his Toyota teams, with BOP tests still continuing on the two concepts. Carlin, already a regular in EFO, says it can run either Spiess or Toyota cars depending on a driver’s preference, while its near neighbour Double R Racing has pledged a three-car team of HWA machinery.

Autosport has also learned that the Macau GP organisers are favouring sticking with the old concept of F3 over holding a non-championship race for the new FIA F3 cars. Sophia Florsch’s accident in last month’s race has raised fears of the magnitude of a similar shunt for the heavier and faster new FIA F3 machines.

But what happens when the current Dallara’s homologation expires? F3V, GT Sport and the Japanese F3 organisers – who are also continuing with the concept – are among those who have asked the constructor to evaluate a new car for

2020 conforming to the philosophy of ‘old’ lightweight F3, but with a halo.