8 replies to this topic

[70JesperOH]

This weekend the FIA Formula 3 Championship has their final at Monza, as has been the story in recent years. This got me to thinking about former international FIA F3 iterations, including the 1975 FIA European Cup leading to a full Championship for 1976-1984. By the late 1980s a one race cup re-introduced a pan-European sense, but was quietly disbanded off.

 

Formula 3 was introduced in 1964 as a de facto replacement of Formula Junior. The 1 litre "screamer" era was very successful with numerous races held on the European continent and on the British isles, but why was there never an FIA title until 1975? Formula 2 had delivered the cars for the 1952 and 1953 World Drivers Championship and by 1967 a drivers championship was introduced. And was there a manufactures championship for 1.5 litre cars in the late 1950s? - the series that lead Porsche toward F1, if I'm not mistaken?

 

National championships was held across Europe, but a lot of non-championship races were held as well. There was a travelling circus of drivers being lured by money and fame all across Europe, including the odd trip across the Iron curtain to Eastern Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and others. So the infrastructure was in place. With as many as a handfull of races to choose from on every given weekend, was the marked too saturated?

 

There was an FIA sanctioned European Touring Car Cup from 1963-1969, that by 1970 was uplifted to championship status - The European Rally Championship became the World Championship by 1973. These series were gradually recognised and given proper recognition. But F3 was just to plain for so long?

 

Jesper

 

 

 

 

[D-Type]

I think the reason there wasn't an FIA sanctioned World, or European, F3 Championship lies in the original intention of Formula Junior, namely to allow wanabee racing drivers to learn their trade in (relatively) affordable cars.  The large numbers of races and drivers lent itself better to national championships and non-championship races..  This also allowed national clubs to "tweak" the regulations to suit local conditions eg tyre makes.  As time went on the demand for international races rose until the FIA felt an international championship was in order

[Sterzo]

Confirming D-Type's analysis, early F3 was an entry-level racing category. Today, before tackling F3 you would race in F4 and progress via Formula Regional, neither of which has a world championship.

[FlyingSaucer]

Well, you have to take into consideration that all the original attempts to create F3 took place on a regional basis, and the international expansion was a consequence of the success of these categories within their respective countries. None of them were designed with the intention of international expansion.

 

For example, the first attempt to create some sort of 'Formula 3' after the war took place in England, with the 500cc Formula (1946-1957). This category was so successful in its home country that it quickly began to expand to other countries, with English drivers being invited to make "demo" races in the Netherlands, Belgium and France (although these were real race events). Afterwards, these countries began to walk on their own two feet, creating their 'own' F3, with the most successful continental case at this incarnation of F3 being the West German championship.

 

Soon after, as you said, Formula Junior (1958-1963) came along. Again it was a national initiative (Italy) and quickly overshadowed the 500cc F3, which was becoming expensive and outdated (since most of the 500 cars were dependent of Norton engines, a pre-war design) . The success of the FJ was resounding and also unexpected, hence the recognition of FJ as a grassroots category in the early 1960s. Originally, the FJ was not planned as a replacement for the 500cc F3, but, with the wide acceptance of the category, it became clear that the natural path would be to replace one category with another. However, everything started to go wrong with the FJ when it also started to become too expensive, absorbing not only the '500cc F3' operations, but also the F2.

 

The problem is that the FIA ​​never managed to create international championships in both cases, and the consequent increase in operating costs in both killed any chance of creating a some sort of unified championship. Furthermore, aligning interests between different federations, which had their own intentions and objectives, was always a headache for the low-level formula and the management of the FIA.

 

I think the best try to creating an international grassroots championship in those years (and that comes closest to the current concept of F3) was the Campionato A.N.P.E.C./Auto Italiana d'Europa, which was, theoretically, the only international low-level Formula champioship recognized at the time. There was a ranking and a calendar of events, which was roughly composed of 8-10 selected races from the vast Formula Junior calendar. Generally, these races were attended by the best Formula Junior drivers and teams of the time 

Edited by FlyingSaucer, 02 September 2024 - 00:26.

[Sterzo]

 

Soon after, as you said, Formula Junior (1958-1963) came along. Again it was a national initiative (Italy) and quickly overshadowed the 500cc F3, which was becoming expensive and outdated (since most of the 500 cars were dependent of Norton engines, a pre-war design)

I think by the time Formula Junior was created, 500 racing had pretty much fizzled out as a training ground for young drivers in the UK. 1100cc sports cars - Lotus, Coopers, Elvas and Lolas - stole its ground in the late fifties.

[FlyingSaucer]

I think by the time Formula Junior was created, 500 racing had pretty much fizzled out as a training ground for young drivers in the UK. 1100cc sports cars - Lotus, Coopers, Elvas and Lolas - stole its ground in the late fifties.

 

Yes, the 500cc Formula was at its twilight in the late 50's. But if you wanted to make a full career focused solely in formula cars before the Formula Junior days, your path would cross inevitably with the 500cc F3. 

 

It is worth noting that even with the decline of the category in the end of the decade, there were still relevant 500cc Formula national championships not only in England, but also in West Germany and the United States. Also its worth of mention the Nordic and BENELUX regions in this late 50s context. France, if I'm not mistaken, also maintained its own variation of the 500cc Formula 3 (known as Racer/Formule Nationale), running a mix of Cooper and DB chassis, until the absorption of its activities by the FJ, in early 1959 (even though I know that the first FJ race in France was in 1958 - but that was just a demo race).

Edited by FlyingSaucer, 02 September 2024 - 00:22.

[F1matt]

I miss F3, from the multiple regional championships to the multiple chassis manufacturers and engine tuners, with professional teams and some amazing drivers wondering how far they could go and how they compared to drivers in other series, and then we had Macau at the end of the year to give them all a test. 

[AJCee]

I quite agree F1matt, I miss it too, the British F3 championship was probably my favourite series ever. the trips over the channel for select events was a nice change too and a bit more exotic than a damp Snetterton!

But that was then and it’s different now, so we’ll enjoy what’s on offer.

[Bikr7549]

I miss F3, from the multiple regional championships to the multiple chassis manufacturers and engine tuners, with professional teams and some amazing drivers wondering how far they could go and how they compared to drivers in other series, and then we had Macau at the end of the year to give them all a test. 

Yes, a second (or it looks like a third) to this. The top line series were always interesting but I followed the lower series more closely in US-Atlantics, FSV and FF. More close by races, and you could get right up to the cars and even talk with the drivers.