The season that killed a once great single-seater category

There was a time at the start of the 2010s when the Formula Renault 3.5 series - or World Series by Renault - was considered the superior feeder series to Formula 1, compared to GP2.

Red Bull, for example, usually preferred to place its junior drivers in FR3.5. Current F1 racers Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr were the most high-profile drivers to eschew the feeder category sitting on the F1 bill, while Jean-Eric Vergne and Jaime Alguersuari did the same on their paths to grand prix racing.

Unlike GP2, the FR3.5 car ran low-degradation Michelin tyres, which drivers loved. While the racing was less frenetic than its counterpart, there was less variance in results. The cream rose to the top, without a second race artificially pushing said cream down the bottle.

It was born in 1998 under the Euro Open by Nissan moniker, and that predominantly Spanish championship was won by future Minardi F1 driver Marc Gene, who was succeeded the year after by a gentleman named Fernando Alonso. But Renault then threw its weight behind the category to create a full World Series package, adding the Megane Trophy and the Formula Renault Eurocup series to its bill.

In addition to the aforementioned Red Bull alumni, Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen won a FR3.5 title, as did future IndyCar stars Mikhail Aleshin and Robert Wickens, plus Formula E racers Robin Frijns (below), and Oliver Rowland.

But as the quality of the GP2 field began to rise around 2014 and '15, and after Renault withdrew its support ahead of 2016, the hastily renamed (World Series) Formula V8 3.5 category struggled to attract the same quality of driver - or quantity thereof, and grid numbers began to dwindle as the decade's second half continued.

Although the series promoters RPM aligned with the World Endurance Championship to join its support bill, GP2's transition to Formula 2 had drawn a great deal of attention away from FV8 3.5. It was also hamstrung by the FIA, which elected to reduce the number of superlicense points the category had to offer. By 2017, only 12 drivers had signed up for the Silverstone season-opener.

I was lucky enough to cover that round, which was the first ever race event I'd actually attended as a journalist. Fortunately, I'd been given enough of a crash-course in how to behave, so I was able to adequately pretend to be a proper journalist throughout the weekend.

Part of that briefing was to find out why the field was so small, given the FV8 3.5's popularity just a couple of years prior. It was arguably now a playground for the rich, as ex-Auto GP 'gentleman' driver Giuseppe Cipriani took to the field at the grand old age of 51, along with a cast of some-time ex-GP2 and GP3 drivers. Despite the storied names of Pietro Fittipaldi and, indeed, Roy Nissany appearing on the entry list, it was not a vintage season.

FV8 3.5 boss Alguersuari spoke of his concern for the drivers' families, wanting to create an affordable series that was more accessible for racers with talent but less backing

Not that it mattered too much. Although Fittipaldi cantered to both wins at Silverstone at the start of his journey to the title win, the racing that weekend was tough - and most memorably spilled over when Canadian journeyman racer Nelson Mason had SMP Racing's Matevos Isaakyan showing a lack of compliance when Mason attempted to pass him around the outside.

Fittipaldi should have had to sustain a much more concerted effort for the title from Egor Orudzhev, also part of the AVF-run SMP squad alongside Isaakyan.

Orudzhev, who had looked strong in a marginally more talented field the previous year, only recorded two finishes away from the podium - but four retirements, before a bout of tonsillitis ahead of the Bahrain season finale, meant that Fittipaldi was left relatively unchecked.

But by the end of the year, the field had lost further numbers. Cipriani didn't bother with Bahrain, and nor did the Teo Martin team, which was born from the ashes of the defunct HRT F1 team - after Konstantin Tereshchenko had deputised for Orudzhev.

At Silverstone, I'd grilled those already-sparse numbers. Unlike some select public relations managers in motorsport, whose chosen method of dealing with problems is to cut the phone lines and attempt to give nothing away, FV8 3.5 was more than willing to confront its issues.

I was granted an audience with Jaime Alguersuari Sr, the championship's CEO, to kick those numbers about. Dressed in a black puffer jacket zipped up to the neck, accompanied by head of communications Blanca de Foronda, we piled into commentary box 20 in Silverstone's Wing complex. At the top, he invited me to "be critical", a refreshing outlook that more could perhaps employ in a post-truth world.

Immediately, Alguersuari spoke of his concern for the drivers' families, wanting to create an affordable series that was more accessible for racers with talent but less backing.

"It's very important [to be critical]," Alguersuari said back in 2017. "In Formula 1, you hear something and no-one is critical. 'Oh, all is OK - Formula 1 is OK!' No. It is not OK. What does 12 drivers mean in World Series? Six teams only? Reality.

"The big single seaters are in crisis, and the little single-seaters, no. Is this a paradox? Yes."

He then drew attention to the conservatism in F1, and the contemporary reluctance to take on younger drivers - illustrated by Williams' decision to spring Felipe Massa out of retirement after Valtteri Bottas was drafted into Mercedes.

"What do you believe if Bottas goes to Mercedes?," asked Alguersuari. "Normal situation [for Williams] is to take a young driver, but Williams take Massa! Your father should spend a million euros [on racing]? No, don't spend a million euros. Your father is intelligent, and he asks 'what happens here? Bottas goes to Mercedes and Williams take Massa?'

"After that, this is the thing. [We want to give] credibility to the families. Blanca says to me 'Jaime, why do you speak always about the families rather than the drivers?'. A young driver needs his family. In Spanish, 'sponsor' is 'patrocinador'. Now, the father is [the] patrocinador. Who is paying? The fathers, you know?

"If the FIA and the promoters don't think deeply about this economical problem, the future... the immediate future will be complicated for motorsport. Motorsport should be promoted through good performances and talent. It's not, except maybe Verstappen? But in general, you need money, money, money, money, money. This is the problem."

But it's also true that the FIA's decision to slash the number of superlicence points available for winning FV8 3.5 to just 35 points - not enough to secure an F1 seat without anything else in reserve - made the series much less of a prospect for young drivers to gravitate towards.

In its various guises, FV8 3.5 blessed F1 with two multiple champions, and numerous race winners across its history

That said, Alguersuari and RPM had looked at a workaround. If F1 was going to cultivate a dedicated support ladder by turning GP2 and GP3 into F2 and FIA Formula 3, then World Series was going to position itself as a feeder for a different category entirely.

"The question for me," Alguersuari continued, "is where I should push these young drivers to be professionals. My concern is the families, and my goal is to get them into professional motorsport. Formula 1? Probably not! Maybe in LMP1, LMP2, LMP3 - the others.

"The World Series car is very similar to F1 maybe 10 years ago. It's a formation car. My company is to look for a solution and an objective to bring these drivers to a professional solution for them."

That's not to say FV8 3.5, having had its nose put severely out of joint by F2's improved status and support from F1, took its demotion lying down.

The two categories were at one stage vying for the official F2 title, once the FIA had announced its intention to bring the name back to the fore. GP2, thanks to its place on the F1 support bill, won that war - and pushed FV8 3.5 closer to its deathknell. Much, of course, to Alguersuari's chagrin.

"F2, for example, it's a fantastic title if it gives you the access to F1 without money," he said. "In this case, 'Ok, thanks FIA!' But, it's not true! It's only a title - a number and letter!

"Formula 2 and World Series should be access to Formula 1 without money. This does not exist. It's a big problem. It's for that which I look for a different professional career for my drivers and families."

Despite its severely limited grid, FV8 3.5 continued on in 2017. But at the Bahrain season finale, RPM announced that its series was going to take a hiatus, from which it has so far yet to return amid difficulties attracting further drivers and teams to bolster its dwindling numbers.

In its various guises, FV8 3.5 blessed F1 with two multiple champions, and numerous race winners across its history.

Although its latter crop of drivers "probably" wouldn't make it to F1, Alguersuari predicted, its final champion currently has a cushty role as Haas' reserve driver, while Nissany has recently completed a test for Williams.

But it also got yours truly on the road to covering F1 as Autosport's technical editor too... so much, then, for helping talented people climb the ladder.