FIA plans to introduce 'F3 Light' to F1 ladder for 2017

After seeking to streamline the junior single-seater path with F4, and the death of traditional British and German F3 in recent years, the FIA started work on reintroducing a second tier of F3 last year.

The last meeting of the World Motor Sport Council ratified the Single Seater Commission's plans to rebuild "an intermediate level single-seater championship between National F4 and the FIA F3 European Championship" to be "based on a more affordable version of FIA F3 regulations".

In the UK, BRDC Formula 4 has since been rebranded as BRDC British F3 while similar moves are afoot in India.

"The World Council approved the idea of a new series, to be called F3 Light, which will be organised on a regional basis," single seater president Stefano Domenicali said.

"With F4's growing success at national level around the world, it has created a something of a bottleneck for talented youngsters when they want to move out of F4 to the next step on the ladder.

"It is a big jump to go from a series that has around 250 to 300 drivers around the world to our FIA F3 European Championship that can only take a tenth of that number.

"The risk is that you lose a lot of potential talent along the way - and we want to prevent the loss of those who might mature as drivers a bit later, or who do not have the resources to make the immediate move up to the higher category."

With a view towards introducing F3 Light in 2017, Domenicali said the concept would need to find a unique place between F4 and European F3.

"We have already had plenty of interest in Europe, especially in Italy, UK and Germany, in Asia and in Australia," he said.

"F3 Light would use similar engines to those in F3, but with reduced power, while the chassis should be more sophisticated than that used in F4.

"From a financial point of view, ideally the new category would require a budget midway between the two existing series."