Opinion: Stefan Mackley
It was inevitable that British F3 would need a new identity amid the FIA’S position on using ‘F3’, but doing so mid-season brings some benefits
“We accepted we would have to change the name and didn’t want to fall out with the FIA”
When the news broke earlier this month that the BRDC British F3 Championship would be changing its name with immediate effect, it came as a surprise – and yet, in some ways, it almost didn’t.
“From my point of view, it had bubbled along, which made you think they were not 100% convinced that it should be enforced,” admits Jonathan Palmer, whose Motorsport Vision company runs the newly rebranded GB3 Championship.
By ‘they’, he refers to world motorsport governing body the FIA, and by ‘bubbled along’ he alludes to the fact that this had been an ongoing saga for a number of years. Autosport reported as much in 2018, when the FIA announced its intention to keep use of the Formula 3 title solely for championships under its remit and specifically its new Regional F3 concept.
While British F3 organisers ultimately decided against moving in that direction after advanced talks, they lobbied to keep its prestigious name and were effectively given a stay of execution, being allowed to use the title on a year-by-year basis. Although rumblings in the paddock died down in the intervening years, behind the scenes it was evident that the FIA was in fact 100% convinced that its original claim should be enforced, and championship organisers knew as early as the start of this year that a name change would finally be needed over the following months.
“We accepted the fact we would have to change it and we didn’t want to fall out with the Fia,” says Palmer. “there was never any acrimony with the FIA; we had good discussions with them and agreed that we would change the name.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the championship had been allowed to keep it for as long as it did, or that the impending change had been kept under wraps to such an extent that many teams were caught on the hop. As one team boss admitted, they “found out minutes before” the new name was announced, even if they had been aware that the championship was struggling to keep the F3 title.
But the fact that the name change comes mid-season is the real shock. Why now? Why not wait until the season’s end? To a certain extent, it almost feels like it undermines the series.
But, as Palmer says, “from the outside it might look like it doesn’t make sense but it does from the commercial side of it”.
There was never going to be a good time to change it – and only time will tell what ramifications, if any, there will be for the future of the championship caused by its rebranding – but changing the name mid-season is likely to lessen the blow than if it was done in the middle of winter, according to team bosses.
“Now is the time to do it: mid-season,” says team owner Chris Dittmann. “they [drivers] know it’s changed name and that it’s just the name rather than over the winter wondering what else is changing. I think it’s the right time.”
It’s a valid point and allows for a crossover period in the public eye rather than prospective new drivers wondering what GB3 is come the winter following an under-the-radar announcement.
As for the new name itself, while Palmer believes it to be “a great name”, some teams and other voices in the paddock are less keen. It will take some getting used to, and perhaps the championship was always going to struggle to come up with something that conveyed what it is – specifically in terms of its pecking order in the single-seater hierarchy.
“We don’t think it’ll make a difference going forward – it’s still a very good championship and it doesn’t change anything,” says Carlin’s GB3 team manager Sam Waple.
Elite Motorsport boss Eddie Ives says: “i’m a bit nervous. We all know it’s not what British F3 used to be, but the name had an appeal to foreign drivers. Whatever way you look at it, it was a good sell.”
Ives raises an important point. The previous iteration of British F3, in which Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello and Daniel Ricciardo made names for themselves – not forgetting Palmer too, who won the title in 1981 – ended in 2014 due to low grid numbers. When the BRDC F4 Championship was rebranded just days before the start of the 2016 season to British F3, it took only the name. Regardless, it was a name with history and prestige, one that motorsport fans of almost any age knew was synonymous with the pinnacle of junior single-seaters, and its demise is a sad blow for UK motorsport.
As the famous saying goes, ‘what’s in a name?’ over the next few years, the fate of the GB3 Championship could well be determined by it.
I couldn’t end this column without praising the bravery of officials, marshals, team members and the fire brigade for their actions on Saturday as they battled to put out a fire in one of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge team awnings, and subsequent support shown to team boss Alastair Rushforth. Motorsport’s community spirit was also evident during the minute’s silence in memory of Bernard Cottrell, who will be sadly missed.