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The top 10 Euro F3 drivers of 2014

The hype over Max Verstappen might have overshadowed everyone else during the European F3 season, but the class of 2014 was much more than just the future Toro Rosso driver, as MARCUS SIMMONS explains

The single most important thing that brought this year's Formula 3 European Championship to wider attention than normal is easy to pinpoint: Max Verstappen. But ignoring all else would be to downplay the achievements of his main rivals.

Yes, Verstappen provided a context that gave us a thrilling season. But, equally, his own rise to Formula 1 wonderkid was only made possible by the opposition and performances from, most notably, Esteban Ocon, Tom Blomqvist and Lucas Auer.

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Author Marcus Simmons

Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.

Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.