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