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WHAT
IS F3?
A
Formula 3 car looks exactly like a scaled-down Grand
Prix car because that is exactly what it is. A precision
built single-seater powered by a two-litre race engine.
Designed by computer and redefined in a wind tunnel.
Capable of 165 mph they demand a clean, precise, committed
driving style.
A
serious racecar with a serious objective. Close, hard,
give-no-quarter competition. Short, sharp sprint races
where young drivers with serious career ambitions pay
their dues.
Michael
in action in F3
Why
is the British Championship so highly regarded?
Win in British Formula 3 and you're marked as a man-to-watch.
Around the world, no other race series has produced
as many Grand Prix winners and World Champions as British
Formula 3. If a race driver matches intention with achievement
in this championship, what may have started as a passion
becomes a career.
Ayrton
Senna, the man who redefined Grand Prix speed in the
late Eighties and early Nineties, made his name in British
Formula 3. Senna won twelve F3 races in 1983. He moved
straight to Formula 1 and in 1988, 1990 and 1991 was
crowned World Champion.
"I
think that the British Formula 3 Championship was the
perfect place for me to race that year to make the step
forward. And to learn, to get credibility in order to
make the jump to Formula 1, it was the right place to
be."
Ayrton
Senna
1983: British Formula 3 Champion
1988, 1990 and 1991: World Formula 1 Champion
1997
saw another Formula 1 legend, Jackie Stewart, returning
to Grand Prix racing with his own team. This man does
not start a project without expecting, and being determined,
to succeed. The drivers he chose were two British Formula
3 Champions, Rubens Barrichello ('91), and the young
Dane, Jan Magnussen who, in '94, broke Senna's F3 record.
The
cornerstones of good, crowd-pleasing racing are simple
enough. All cars should feature similar technical specifications.
Engines that produce around the same amount of power,
now about 212 bhp. Cars which offer limited aerodynamic
downforce, so that winning comes from a combination
of the skill of the designer, the skill of the driver
and the expertise and professionalism of the team. Rules
that make the use of one make of tyre mandatory, to
stop teams working independently with manufacturers
to eke out a grip advantage.
"The
British Formula 3 Championship is a must for any driver
with his sights set on Formula 1. The best young racers
in the world come to compete in what is certainly the
toughest Formula 3 Championship in Europe. The television,
plus daily, weekly and monthly publications cover the
events extremely well and it is excellent for drivers,
sponsors and spectators alike."
Jackie
Stewart
1964 : Most successful driver in British Formula 3 racing
1969, 1971 and 1973 : World Formula 1 Champion
1997 : Returned to Formula 1 with Stewart Grand Prix
These
are the ingredients of Formula 3, but ultimately races
are won by attention to detail. Cars are adjusted in
millimetres, tenths, often hundredths of a second are
vital. Top teams spend a month testing through the season.
Thirty-plus days and thousands of miles pounding round
the circuits to shave fractions off a lap time, just
to stay competitive. Drivers are coached in the subtleties
of car set-up and taught the wisdom of racecraft, so
the better to prepare them for Formula 1.
Young
race drivers go to Britain from all over the world to
race in the British Formula 3 Championship. The rewards
are obvious: less than six months after winning the
1990 British F3 title, Mika Hakkinen was a Grand Prix
driver for Team Lotus. British Formula 3 is the ultimate
stepping stone in motor racing, the final confirmation
that a driver has what it takes to succeed in the zero-defect
world of Formula 1. As a series, British Formula 3 racing
is one of the country's leading sporting success stories
with a strong international media following.
"Formula
3 is good for a driver because you are learning all
the time. That's most important. The racing is very
competitive and very hard. The things you learn about
how racing cars work are just unbelievable. Formula
1 is different again - but you learn the basics about
racing in Formula 3."
Mika
Hakkinen
1990 : British Formula 3 Champion
Formula 1 World Champion with McLaren International
The
most recent F3 success story is that of Jenson Button
who after competing in the 1999 British Series signed
with Williams GP and who this year races with Benetton.
Both Schumacher brothers raced in F3 as did current
Jordan GP driver Jarno Trulli who was another to move
from the category straight into F1.
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