ART Grand Prix towards F3 UK?

La F3 Euro Series, with twelve to fifteen drivers per meeting, is going through crucial times in order to maintain its status as an international discipline. The flight of the teams resulted in a minimal 2010 plateau, and the discipline should change. For 2011, the championship should be refocused on Germany and certain teams would prefer to migrate to the other side of the Channel, even if they are still waiting to know the future of the Euro Series, born from the merger of the French and Germans.

Last winter, teams already left the F3 Euro Series: Manor, which developed an activity F1 (under the name Virgin), SG Formula, which has since gone out of business, and Carlin, which shines in British F3. It is this discipline which could also welcome teams from the F3 Euro Series championship, starting with the French team ART Grand Prix, which wishes to continue in the category, even if the Euro Series disappears.

« F3 is very important for ART », Explains Frédéric Vasseur, co-owner of the team, to Autosport. “ We built our team around this and want to continue it. We are currently waiting for the Euro Series proposal. All European teams will have a decision to make to find drivers for the Euro Series or British F3. »

« But if there is no Euro Series, we will be in British F3, continues Vasseur, whose team has given up on maintaining its candidacy to join F1. It is a competitive championship with strong teams. There would be a sense of being on a grid with lots of cars. » Which is not the case for the F3 Euro Series, which only relies on a starving field this season. Furthermore, the presence of Frédéric Vasseur last weekend at Spa, where F3 UK was taking place, is no coincidence.

The balance of power could therefore shift in favor of British F3, which has managed to maintain competitiveness and an attractive field. The arrival of renowned teams, starting with ART Grand Prix, could even breathe new life into the discipline, once a justice of the peace in the detection of new talents.