| Category | Single-seaters |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Inaugural season | 1950 |
| Folded | 2014 |
| Drivers | 45[1] |
| Teams | 22[2] |
| Constructors | 4[3] |
| Engine suppliers | 5 |
| Tyre suppliers | Yokohama |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Markus Pommer |
| Last Teams' champion | Lotus |
| Official website | Formel3.de |
TheGerman Formula Three Championship was the nationalFormula Three championship of Germany, and the formerWest Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series merged with theFrench Formula Three Championship to form theFormula 3 Euro Series. The lower-level series, theATS Formel 3 Cup, subsequently operated in Germany, but it folded after the end of the 2014 season. Since the late 1980s, the list of German F3 champions has included many notable drivers, includingFormula One World ChampionMichael Schumacher and nine-timeLe Mans winnerTom Kristensen.
The first few years of Formula Three in Germany were inevitably subject to the effects of the country'spost-wargeo-political situation, which resulted in the existence of two separate championships. TheWest German championship ran from 1950 to 1954, while theEast German equivalent continued until 1956. During this period, both championships used the then-standard 500cctwo-stroke formula.[4] This era was notable forBMW's first foray intoopen-wheeled racing as an engine supplier, having enjoyed success in pre-warmotorcycle racing andtouring cars.[5]
The 500cc Formula 3 specification was superseded in 1958 byFormula Junior, with engine capacities of 1000cc (360kgchassis) or 1100cc (400kgchassis) that were derived from production cars, rather than motorcycles.[6] This new specification was adopted in a revived German F3 Championship in 1960, which was won byGerhard Mitter. The 1961 title was won byKurt Ahrens Jr., who became champion again in 1963. He was effectively a back-to-back winner, because there was no championship in 1962.[7]
In 1964, theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) ended Formula Junior and returned to Formula Three, but this time with 1000cc four-cylinder production-based engines.[8] However, it would be ten years before Formula Three was revived in Germany. The first German F3 champion of this era wasErnst Maring, who won the title in 1975.[7] He was also the first non-German driver to win the title. Other notable drivers of this era were two-time champions Bertram Schäfer (1976 and 1978) and Frank Jelinski (1980–81). Schäfer drove for his eponymous team, Bertram Schäfer Racing, which also won the championship with Jelinski. BSR became a stalwart of German F3, winning a total of eight drivers' titles.[9] It still competes in the series today.
In the 1980s, the German F3 Championship began to produce some notable champions that would later graduate toFormula One and achieve title-winning success in other championships.Bernd Schneider (1987) andJoachim Winkelhock (1988) went on to make F1 appearances and became champions at the highest levels oftouring car racing. 1985 championVolker Weidler also competed in F1 and won the24 Hours of Le Mans in1991.
However, the1990 champion was arguably the most notable of them all:Michael Schumacher. Four years before winning the first of his seven F1 World Championship titles, Schumacher had already attracted attention with his performances in F3 and theWorld Sportscar Championship at a time when the profile of German F3 was rising, and within a year, he had already made hisGrand Prix début.Heinz-Harald Frentzen competed against Schumacher (sharing the runner-up position in1989), and later became a winner of three Grands Prix.
Schumacher's championship successor,Tom Kristensen from Denmark, embarked on asportscar career that peaked with a record number of eightLe Mans wins. He has since established himself in theDTM touring car series.
During the 1990s, two more future Grand Prix winners graduated from the German F3 Championship –Ralf Schumacher andJarno Trulli – together with many other notable drivers that includeAlexander Wurz,Jos Verstappen,Norberto Fontana,Nick Heidfeld andChristijan Albers. The last champion of this period,Gary Paffett, went on to win theDTM drivers' championship title and worked as a test driver forMcLaren-Mercedes. In 2007, he returned to racing in the DTM.
In 2002, the motorsport governing bodies of France and Germany collaborated to revive the concept of a European F3 championship.[10] TheF3 Euroseries was supposed to replace the German and French national championships – indeed, the French championship came to an end at that point. However, the German championship had more entrants, many of whom had concerns about the inevitable cost increase that a pan-European event calendar would entail. Bertram Schäfer led moves to maintain some form of national F3 series in Germany, and had support fromADAC and the F3V (Germany's national F3 association). In 2003, the new series was inaugurated, with Schäfer himself functioning as the series promoter.[11] TheRecaro Formel 3 Cup had title sponsorship fromRecaro, a racing parts company based in Germany. It was replaced in 2007 by wheel manufacturerATS.
In 2005, a two-tier championship class system was adopted for chassis specifications from the previous three-year lifecycle. This system was adopted by theBritish F3 Championship in the 1990s and has since gained favour in many other F3 championships throughout Europe. It can provide an important entry point for drivers and teams without a competitive budget.
After a2014 season in which grid numbers ranged between nine and 14 cars, the series' organisers rejected a proposed merger with theBritish Formula 3 Championship with the intention of continuing the F3 Cup in 2015 under the nameGerman Formula Open in order to circumvent FIA rules on national F3 championships which stipulate that they can hold no more than one round outside their home country (the organisers were planning to hold races at three meetings abroad as part of the support package for theADAC GT Masters championship). However, in January 2015 it was announced that the series would not be held in 2015, although it was hoped that it could be revived in the near future.[12]
Despite the fact that F3 is still an open formula for which any chassis builder or engine tuner can supply a product provided that it meets the technical regulations, most championships have just one de facto choice of chassis supplier – usuallyDallara – and two or three popular engine suppliers – usuallyMugen-Honda,Mercedes-Benz, Spiess-Opel, orTOM's-Toyota.
The Formel 3 Cup has bucked this trend to become one of the most eclectic F3 championships in the world, with some of the variety that F3 enjoyed in the 1970s. In addition to the ubiquitous Dallaras, theLolaB06/30 and theSLC R1 from Signature have established a foothold. The SLC, which was the Signature team's first foray into chassis construction, had previously competed in theF3 Euroseries in 2005, but Signature chose not to continue using it. The Lola, which was developed after theBritish company's collaboration withDome came to an end, has otherwise had only limited use inBritish F3 during 2006.Swiss Racing Team had provisionally lodged two entries for a pair ofMygale M06/F3 chassis in addition to a single Dallara entry.[13] Before the start of the season, however, it had changed its line-up to four Dallaras, one of which was later replaced during the season with an SLC R1.[14]
.jpg)
During the 2006 season, a fourth chassis joined the series on an experimental basis. TheLigier JS47, which was built byMartini afterGuy Ligier acquired the company in 2005, was used in selected rounds byNico Hülkenberg, driving for Josef Kaufmann Racing.[14]
The engine supply market in the Formel 3 Cup is just as open. The H.W.A.-Mercedes and Spiess-Opel are the most popular, but some teams use the Mugen-Honda, TOM's-Toyota and even the older Sodemo-Renault. This is in stark contrast to the Euroseries, in which Mercedes powered all bar five of the 2006 entrants. However, the 2007 Formel 3 Cup season is likely to see a different pattern emerge, with the introduction of a new "Challenge" engine, which is expected to be chosen by a number of teams in both the Championship class and the Trophy class. It is being built by Spiess and is based on the company's Opel engine, but with some technical changes to lengthen the service interval and reduce running costs.[15]
Source:[1]
