How junior single-seaters ended up in chaos

When Jean Todt stated in his manifesto for a second term of FIA presidency that he wanted a MotoGP-style ladder of single-seater racing at Formula 1 events, he changed the course of junior motorsport in Europe.

Back then, in 2013, there was a neat equilibrium. GP2 and GP3 supported F1, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship ran with the DTM as a parallel series to GP3, both feeding into GP2. Renault had its successful Formula Renault 3.5 category, plus its FR 2.0 pyramid of Eurocup, ALPS and Northern European Cup, and this group of Renault championships in turn also fed drivers into F1.

There were some renegade series, but these generally had the less-well-financed drivers and weren't really taking drivers away from the major categories.

GP2 was renamed FIA Formula 2 for 2017, GP3 was effectively redubbed FIA F3 for '19, and we have lost FIA F3 European, FR 3.5, and the FR 2.0 ALPS and NEC series. So far so streamlined; just as many were calling for.

But alongside this has come the introduction of the Formula Regional European Championship and BRDC British F3, a big boost in the profile of Euroformula Open, and a new lure from Japan to European talent resulting in drivers heading east to race in Super Formula and Japanese F3.

Furthermore, while the FIA F4 initiative has been vastly successful across the world, it is very expensive in some countries - with their budgets exhausted, more and more talents from the super-competitive German and Italian series are stepping straight from F4 not into a higher category of single-seater, but GT or touring car racing in a bid to turn professional sooner. At the next level up, too many series are competing for an ever-diminishing pool of drivers.

The crisis at present is at the third tier, triggered by the launch of the FIA F3 Championship and the governing body's Regional F3 category in Europe.

In 2017, the F3 European Championship teams agreed, in consultation with the FIA, that the new route forward should be an abandoning of the category's open-competition philosophy to go the one-make route.

This was done to stop a costly development arms race, but it drove the category into the open arms of F2 and GP3 promoter Bruno Michel, who unsurprisingly was chosen to run the new FIA F3 Championship. When those F3 teams made their one-make decision in 2017, they could not have known that Michel would choose just three of them - Prema, Carlin and Hitech GP - for his GP3-superceding series.

Those who were not chosen by Michel - Motopark and Van Amersfoort Racing - pinned their colours to what was eventually named Formula European Masters (FEM). This was the planned continuation series for the old FIA F3 European Championship cars run by Formel 3 Vermarktungs, the subsidiary of the DTM-promoting ITR that had organised European F3 from the start of the Euro Series in 2003.

"There was all this uncertainty around different categories so it was really difficult to close the line-up for FRegional" Timo Rumpfkeil

This came up against a number of major obstacles. The first was that the Spanish-based Euroformula Open (EFO), which had run for many years with the spec Piedrafita-built Toyota engine powering the current Dallara F3 chassis, opened its gates for 2019 to the Spiess (formerly Volkswagen) and HWA Mercedes units that had been used in Euro F3 since the new engine regulations were introduced in '14. Now drivers could race the same cars, with the same engines, as they could in FEM, but on a better range of circuits than they would get supporting the DTM.

The second obstacle was the introduction of Regional F3 to Europe. When the FIA introduced what was then called F3 Light as a concept in 2016 - a laudable bid to bridge the gap between F4 and FIA F3 - one team boss was moved to tell Autosport: "What do they need to do that for? We've already got Euroformula Open."

Regional F3 was successfully introduced to Asia in 2018, less successfully to the US in the same year, and the next step was an FIA-certified European series for '19. Renault Sport went public in July last year with its plan to ditch the historic FRenault Eurocup and bid to become the FIA's Regional F3 choice, with the Tatuus T-318 chassis powered by a turbocharged Megane engine. But its plan was torpedoed in October when the FIA plumped for the Italian federation's presentation, using the Tatuus with Alfa Romeo power - the same combination as used in Asia.

Snubbed by the FIA, Renault went ahead anyway with its new formula, and kept the Formula Renault Eurocup name.

The Italian-run series, known as the Formula Regional European Championship, is said to have been pushed at the FIA by Ferrari. But Prema boss Rene Rosin, who is running the Ferrari Driver Academy's 2018 Italian F4 champion Enzo Fittipaldi among his three-car Regional team, denies this.

"It was not supported by Ferrari," says Rosin. "It was supported by the [FIA] Single Seater Commission, and the Italian delegate was Massimo [Rivola, then in charge of the Ferrari Driver Academy]."

Prema sold its old F3 cars to EFO team Teo Martin Motorsport. Other squads found interest slow in an FEM series that had lost Pau, Hungaroring, Zandvoort, Spa, Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring from its Euro F3 days and gained less-inspiring venues Zolder, Assen and Lausitzring (plus the glorious Brands Hatch, but it's almost impossible to overtake there).

"One of the reasons was the new FIA F3 with its 30 drivers," says VAR boss Frits van Amersfoort. "They struggled to find 30, and that's why it messed up the market even more."

Double R Racing principal Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt, who joined the EFO field for 2019 but was also open to competing in FEM, says: "I registered an interest in it, but we had not one phone call. It would have been great to join that series without the FIA being in charge, but it's expensive. Olly Oakes [Hitech boss] told me he had drivers and could I run them, but it came to nothing."

When FEM was cancelled in late March, Motopark and Fortec Motorsport switched to EFO, while VAR - the only other team with a confirmed driver - went to FRegional. Even Motopark, top of the tree in FEM with Prema no longer in the 'traditional F3' arena, struggled to fill its team.

"There was all this uncertainty around different categories so it was really difficult to close the line-up," says Motopark boss Timo Rumpfkeil (below). "There were a few categories contacting us to move in their direction, but in the end I like the concept of the current F3 car, and we could keep them running in EFO for another year. Our customers wanted to drive the Dallara because that was the best for their talents."

"Everyone told me that GT Sport [EFO's promoter] was a good organiser who listened to the teams' interests and worked with them to make it better," adds Hieatt. "I never enjoyed being in an FIA championship."

Japanese F3 is also connected to EFO, as it too continues to use the old-spec F3 Dallara. Three drivers from European F3 - race winners Sacha Fenestraz and Enaam Ahmed, plus Ameya Vaidyanathan - moved there for 2019, along with FRenault Eurocup podium topper Charles Milesi. So too did Motopark - in conjunction with the established B-Max team, it is running Fenestraz, Ahmed and Vaidyanathan.

"The Yokohama is a really good tyre and it's a good sidestep for a clear career opportunity," points out Rumpfkeil. "If you run in the top three there you are very close to a paid drive for the future. This is something that is not guaranteed in FIA F3."

Trevor Carlin, whose team is running in EFO and is assisting the YTB line-up of Milesi and Yoshiaki Katayama in Japanese F3, says: "We sent a chief mechanic and a race engineer [James Goodfield, from Carlin's Euro F3 team] and we've given them technical support. It seems to be going well."

"In order to establish the pyramid it was important to ensure there was no confusion, so for that reason we have given clarity to the F3 space by simply having one championship that has Formula 3 in its title" FIA statement

While Motopark and Carlin remain loyal to the old F3, Prema switched its parallel programme to FRegional as well as FIA F3. The FRegional Tatuus-Alfa in this series, at 650kg minimum weight, is 70kg heavier than the old-spec Dallara - thanks in part to the steel halo. But budgets are €300,000 cheaper.

"It was a logical evolution to merge F3 and GP3 together," claims Rosin. "There was not the market to have the two championships sustained at that economy level. If you consider what happened in 2013 [when British F3 collapsed and European F3 mopped up the UK teams], somebody suffered then, some were unhappy, but there was no market for two championships.

"The Regional car is a good car, and it's the same as used in Formula Renault and will be used in Toyota Racing Series [in New Zealand, below] - the only change is the powertrain. And you can do a lot of mileage."

"It's a lot heavier, which makes it more difficult to drive," says van Amersfoort. "But they're running the car in W Series, Formula Renault, New Zealand, so we just have to accept it. It's not a bad car - a little heavy, but apart from that it's solid. And a heavy car seems to be the way to go in the future..."

One criticism of the Tatuus from its inaugural season in Asian F3 was that the steering was very heavy, but Rosin points out "mileage is limited in Asia, but because of the mileage we do in Europe we discovered what was wrong and changed some parts".

A mere 10 cars entered the opening round at Paul Ricard, but this expanded to 14 next time out at Vallelunga. "The first year is difficult but it will get stronger," says Rosin. "And there is a need for this intermediate category because the jump from FIA F4 to FIA F3 is way too big."

But why is it not called European Regional F3? Autosport enquiries yielded little other than unconfirmed reports that Liberty Media owns the rights to the F3 name in Europe for a substantial period of time. An internet check on ownership of F3 trademarks reveals some within FIA ownership.

When the FIA was asked for clarification, it stated: "Having the top three tiers of FIA single-seater competition together at the same [F1] events is an important part of the learning process and makes it easier than ever for fans to follow the careers of the sport's rising stars.

"In order to establish the pyramid it was important to ensure there was no confusion, so for that reason we have given clarity to the F3 space by simply having one championship that has Formula 3 in its title." Even so, FRegional would surely be better promotable if the F3 name could be used.

"[In] the paddock, they call it F3!" laughs van Amersfoort. "What a mess, and it's such a shame that the FIA is a brilliant composer of this big mess. Sorry to say it, but that's the way it is."

The equivalent Renault series has done much better in 2019, but still grids have dropped off from the 30-car fields of yore to roughly 20 - and, of course, it has the jewel in the crown of a Monaco GP support round.

The car weighs in 15kg heavier than the Regional equivalent at 665kg, but it's 81kg more than its predecessor, which since its introduction in 2013 had been one of the best training cars in Europe.

Renault tried to keep its secondary NEC series going using the old chassis, but, says Fortec Motorsport boss Richard Dutton: "It was very hard to sell. It would have been like doing the old BARC Renault series [which ran for many years for previous-generation cars] but I don't think there are enough drivers around."

The intrigue of the Japanese teams taking on the Europeans at Macau late in the year has been wiped out

Fortec pulled out of Renault for 2019 after 18 years of huge success in the category.

"The ladder was perfect - you won the Eurocup and you got help from Renault to move up to FR3.5," says Dutton. "The new Regional F3 and Eurocup cars are a bit of a joke - they're big. And I don't think it's a formula to teach drivers.

"I felt [what Renault did to go ahead anyway with its plans] was a kneejerk thing. The FIA snubbed them, and they said, 'We don't need the FIA. We'll do it on our own.' But I might look at it in the future.

"The FIA have got Formula Regional really wrong. You can see by the numbers - without Prema there wouldn't be a Formula Regional. And Renault rushed their car - it only came out a couple of weeks before the first test. But if Renault continue with it, it'll be a good car eventually."

Fortec is one of the teams in the parallel UK-based BRDC British F3, using a much-modified Tatuus F4 chassis with Cosworth power. "There are a few drivers who would have done Renault who think it's more value for money," points out Dutton. "It's now £250-275k, much more affordable than it ever has been."

It has also evolved into something of a path to EFO, with last year's champion and runner-up Linus Lundqvist and Nicolai Kjaergaard graduating with Double R and Carlin respectively, and Billy Monger with Carlin.

"I think that will continue," says Carlin. "Before that it was people like Colton Herta and Cameron Das [making the same step]. You either choose the FIA ladder and get superlicence points [required to race in F1], or go where the best cars and the best training are and learn your trade that way. If you want to do British F3 and EFO, it's a fabulous path."

"It's one of the best-value championships in the world, and the best-run championship I've ever been in," asserts Hieatt. "It's an outpost on its own and all the better for it. Compared to Regional it's half the price - and it's much more than half the car."

So what next? Dallara is building a 320, with titanium halo, to continue the philosophy of the old F3. It will be used in EFO and, in all likelihood, Japanese F3, which is set to change its name to Super Formula Lights for 2020.

But it's too late to keep this formula at the Macau Grand Prix, which will run for the FIA F3 cars. In doing so, the intrigue of the Japanese teams taking on the Europeans late in the year has been wiped out.

"We believe most of the teams share the same feeling as us - extremely disappointed with the recent announcement [from Macau]," says TOM'S principal Susumu Koumi, whose team has won the Macau GP in its F3 era more times than any other. "Our chief engineer, Jun Yamada, told me, 'What a pity - such a historic event and important race for us'."

It was TOM'S driver Sho Tsuboi who was struck by VAR's Sophia Florsch during the horrific shunt at Lisboa in the 2018 running. Simple maths indicates that the force of a similar crash in the FIA F3 car would be substantially greater. Mass times velocity equals momentum, and last year's winner Dan Ticktum's top speed just before Lisboa without a tow was 267km/h (165mph) in his 580kg car. The new cars are 690kg with a projected top speed of 300km/h (186mph). That gives a momentum 33.7% greater.

"The impact would be massive [in the new car], but when you look at the wreckage of Sophia's car you can see that the halo would have protected her," says van Amersfoort.

"Barry Bland [the late former Macau GP coordinator] introduced F3 cars to Macau in 1983, and at the time it was a wonderful idea, but we shouldn't forget that those early F3 cars had 24mm air restrictors and 190bhp. Now they're going to race there with more than 300bhp. Is that wise?"

Carlin, who will be in Macau with his FIA F3 team, adds: "I'm slightly concerned about the speed, because the terminal velocity is going to be massive. From what I've heard they [the FIA] have done some simulations and said it's fine. But they've obviously never stood at the side of Mandarin or Lisboa."

Even without Macau, many say the new old-school Dallara 320 will be the ideal training ground for driver excellence.

"I know there are various opinions on this category, but remember why it lasted so many years with the basic concept - a nice little lightweight, nimble 'analogue/non-high-tech' car with a two-litre engine," says Koumi. "To me, it has been the best training tool for not only up-and-coming drivers but also mechanics and engineers. Nowadays the majority say things need to change to evolve - true, but never forget the spirit and basics."

"All the drivers love the Dallara - it's light, very well constructed and built with not many compromises," says Hieatt. "It's super-reliable and it's cost-effective to run. Also, the EcoBoost F4 engine we run has a fuel consumption 25-33% higher than the HWA F3! We regularly do test days of over 500km and it's where drivers hone their skills, compared to four laps on Pirellis [in FIA F3]. People will wake up to the new F3 being the emperor's new clothes."

But there's a problem, indicating the plight in which single-seater motorsport finds itself.

Even those in rival series would probably say the old-spec Dallara F3 car is the best to produce driving excellence, and the 320 will continue that. But for what?

One insider at this level of the sport, who did not want to be named, says: "For developing a driver, for sure this car is the best. But preparing for bullshit... I don't know. When you see these heavy shitboxes in F2 and F1, maybe we don't need that old philosophy of F3 cars anymore..."