2010 British Formula 3 International Series

The 2010 British Formula 3 International Series was the 60th British Formula 3 International Series season. It began on 3 April at Oulton Park and finished on 26 September at Brands Hatch after 30 races at ten meetings, held in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium.

For the third season in succession, a Red Bull Junior Team-supported Carlin Motorsport driver won the championship title. Following on from the successes of Jaime Alguersuari in 2008 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2009, Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne won the title with two meetings to spare after taking twelve victories in the first 24 races. Vergne eventually finished with thirteen victories and 29 points-scoring finishes – his only failure was a mistake in the wet, final race at Brands Hatch when he slid off the road – as he finished 99 points clear of his team-mate James Calado. Both drivers received a Formula Renault 3.5 Series test for their performances.^[1] Calado's five wins helped him to fend off Fortec Motorsport's Oliver Webb, a three-time winner, in the battle for second place in the standings.

Webb's early season form of seven top-two placings in the first nine races had given him the championship lead over Vergne and a 48-point advantage over Calado, but the Carlin driver overhauled his rival following an unbroken of points finishes to the end of the season, while Webb suffered four races where he did not score any points, to end up 43 points behind at season's end. A late season surge by a third Carlin driver, Adriano Buzaid put him within reach of Webb's third place at the final round, but Webb eventually held on by twelve points. Buzaid had taken seven successive podiums, including his only two victories of the season coming at Silverstone and Snetterton. Three other race-winners battled for fifth place in the championship, with Felipe Nasr overhauling both Gabriel Dias and Rupert Svendsen-Cook at the final race of the season. The only other drivers to win a race were reigning National Class champion Daniel McKenzie, who took two wins to an eventual tenth place championship finish, and Alexander Sims, who won at Silverstone while competing in one of two guest appearances with his Formula 3 Euro Series team ART Grand Prix.

The National Class for older-specification machinery was an in-house battle between two T-Sport drivers as Menasheh Idafar and James Cole were the only drivers to compete in all of the meetings; only four drivers competed in the class at all in 2010, with Luiz Razia – who competed at the May Silverstone meeting, to learn the circuit ahead of the GP2 Series meeting later in the season – and Juan Carlos Sistos – who contested the August Silverstone and Snetterton meetings – the only others to compete alongside the T-Sport pair. Idafar eventually won the National Class title by 17 points, taking 17 wins to Cole's twelve, including an overall third-place finish at the final race at Brands Hatch. Sistos took the other victory, finishing ahead of Cole and Idafar on his début in the championship.

Drivers and teams edit

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Driver	Rounds
Championship Class
Carlin	Dallara F308	Volkswagen	1	Adriano Buzaid	All
			2	James Calado	All
			21	Rupert Svendsen-Cook	All
			22	Jazeman Jaafar	All
			31	Jean-Éric Vergne	All
			32	Lucas Foresti	All
Hitech Racing	Dallara F310	Volkswagen	3	William Buller	All
Hitech Racing	Dallara F310	Volkswagen	4	Gabriel Dias	All
Fortec Motorsport	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	5	Daniel McKenzie	All
			6	Oliver Webb	All
			9	Max Snegirev	All
T-Sport	Dallara F310	Volkswagen	7	Alex Brundle	All
Räikkönen Robertson Racing	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	8	Daisuke Nakajima	All
			26	Carlos Huertas	All
			27	Felipe Nasr	All
Litespeed F3	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	14	Jay Bridger	All
Sino Vision Racing	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	17	Kevin Chen	2
			17	Wayne Boyd	4
			18	Adderly Fong	All
CF Racing with Manor Motorsport	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	25	Hywel Lloyd	All
			28	Rio Haryanto	2–3
			28	Yann Cunha	8
National Class
T-Sport	Dallara F307	Mugen-Honda^[2]	43	Menasheh Idafar	All
T-Sport	Dallara F307	Mugen-Honda^[2]	44	James Cole	All
Motul Team West-Tec	Dallara F307	Mugen-Honda	46	Luiz Razia	2
Motul Team West-Tec	Dallara F307	Mugen-Honda	46	Juan Carlos Sistos	8–9
Invitation Entries
Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	71	Carlos Muñoz	6, 8
Hitech Racing	Dallara F309	Volkswagen	77	Pietro Fantin	5, 8, 10
ART Grand Prix	Dallara F308	Mercedes HWA	90	Esteban Gutiérrez	2
			90	Nathanaël Berthon	6
			91	Alexander Sims	2, 6
			92	Jim Pla	2, 6
Prema Powerteam	Dallara F309	Mercedes HWA	93	Daniel Juncadella	6
Prema Powerteam	Dallara F309	Mercedes HWA	94	Nicolas Marroc	6

Calendar edit

The calendar was announced on 7 January 2010.^[3] It consisted of ten rounds, with three races at each round.^[3] A race weekend consisted of a half-hour first race, a 20-minute "half points" sprint featuring a "semi-reverse" grid, and finally a 40-minute feature race designed to place the emphasis on driver stamina, racecraft and mechanical reliability.^[4] From Rockingham onwards, pit stops were implemented during the 20-minute race, in which drivers had to pit inside a 15-minute pit stop window.^[5]^[6]

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	National Class Winner	Supporting
1	R1	Oulton Park	3 April	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar	British GT
	R2		5 April		Jean-Éric Vergne	Rupert Svendsen-Cook	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
	R3		5 April	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	James Cole
2	R4	Silverstone (Arena)	1 May	James Calado	James Calado	James Calado	Carlin	James Cole	FIA GT1 World Championship
	R5		2 May		Adriano Buzaid¹	Alexander Sims	ART Grand Prix	Menasheh Idafar
	R6		2 May	James Calado	Oliver Webb	James Calado	Carlin	James Cole
3	R7	Magny-Cours	22 May	Jean-Éric Vergne	Oliver Webb	Oliver Webb	Fortec Motorsport	Menasheh Idafar	Superleague Formula
	R8		23 May		Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	James Cole
	R9		23 May	Jean-Éric Vergne	Oliver Webb	Oliver Webb	Fortec Motorsport	James Cole
4	R10	Hockenheim	29 May	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	James Cole	ADAC GT Masters
	R11		30 May		Gabriel Dias	Gabriel Dias	Hitech Racing	James Cole
	R12		30 May	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
5	R13	Rockingham	17 July	Oliver Webb	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar	British GT
	R14		18 July		Daniel McKenzie	Daniel McKenzie	Fortec Motorsport	Menasheh Idafar
	R15		18 July	Oliver Webb	Felipe Nasr	Felipe Nasr	Räikkönen Robertson Racing	James Cole
6	R16	Spa-Francorchamps	30 July	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar	FIA GT1 World Championship 24 Hours of Spa
	R17		30 July		Felipe Nasr	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
	R18		31 July	Oliver Webb	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	James Cole
7	R19	Thruxton	7 August	Jean-Éric Vergne	James Calado	James Calado	Carlin	James Cole	British Truck Grand Prix
	R20		8 August		Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	James Cole
	R21		8 August	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
8	R22	Silverstone (Bridge)	14 August	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	James Calado	Carlin	Juan Carlos Sistos	British GT
	R23		15 August		Carlos Huertas	Adriano Buzaid	Carlin	James Cole
	R24		15 August	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
9	R25	Snetterton	29 August	Adriano Buzaid	William Buller	Jean-Éric Vergne	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar	British GT
	R26		30 August		James Calado	Gabriel Dias	Hitech Racing	Menasheh Idafar
	R27		30 August	Adriano Buzaid	Adriano Buzaid	Adriano Buzaid	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar
10	R28	Brands Hatch	25 September	Oliver Webb	Oliver Webb	Oliver Webb	Fortec Motorsport	Menasheh Idafar	British GT
	R29		26 September		Felipe Nasr	Daniel McKenzie	Fortec Motorsport	Menasheh Idafar
	R30		26 September	Daniel McKenzie	James Calado	James Calado	Carlin	Menasheh Idafar

¹ Fastest lap recorded by Alexander Sims, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point.

Standings edit

With an extra round at each meeting, the championship's point system was altered slightly for the 2010 season. The first and third races offered points using the system that had been used in 2009 (20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1), with an extra point for the fastest lap. The second race again saw the top ten being awarded points, but the points system rewarded less points; using the points scale 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, with two points for fastest lap.^[4]

Pos	Driver	OUL			SIL			MAG			HOC			ROC			SPA			THR			SIL			SNE			BRH			Pts
Championship Class
1	Jean-Éric Vergne	1	5	1	4	5	6	4	1	2	1	5	1	1	9	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	3	1	1	8	2	8	4	Ret	392
2	James Calado	Ret	11	6	1	9	1	6	DNS	4	4	6	6	4	6	3	2	4	2	1	2	3	1	5	4	8	7	3	2	5	1	293
3	Oliver Webb	2	8	2	2	22	2	1	2	1	8	2	11	3	8	6	4	5	23	5	3	2	9	7	3	4	15	Ret	1	7	10	250
4	Adriano Buzaid	3	4	5	9	6	5	8	11	11	5	3	4	9	3	4	5	Ret	9	4	6	4	4	1	2	2	2	1	3	3	9	238
5	Felipe Nasr	Ret	14	Ret	DNS	10	3	Ret	6	7	Ret	13	Ret	7	15	1	7	2	5	7	Ret	6	5	4	12	3	5	5	10	9	7	136
6	Gabriel Dias	7	Ret	4	8	2	8	2	17	3	7	1	5	6	4	Ret	Ret	11	4	11	9	Ret	11	14	7	6	1	8	NC	14	Ret	135
7	Rupert Svendsen-Cook	5	1	3	10	Ret	11	18	10	6	12	9	8	11	13	Ret	3	7	7	3	4	5	6	6	6	Ret	14	10	4	6	Ret	131
8	William Buller	10	9	11	12	21	10	3	3	13	10	7	2	5	5	5	Ret	15	15	9	Ret	12	Ret	13	9	7	3	9	6	17	2	111
9	Daniel McKenzie	9	7	10	15	13	15	13	8	5	3	11	16	8	1	12	6	3	10	8	5	9	8	10	10	9	6	12	7	1	6	109
10	Carlos Huertas	4	3	12	5	8	Ret	5	DNS	16	11	10	14	2	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	22	10	8	13	7	2	17	11	19	7	5	2	8	104
11	Daisuke Nakajima	6	2	7	3	3	21	9	4	Ret	16	Ret	7	10	2	Ret	20	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	10	19	11	5	4	4	9	8	Ret	97
12	Jazeman Jaafar	8	6	13	7	7	7	7	DSQ	10	2	8	3	Ret	11	14	15	Ret	8	13	7	Ret	12	8	13	10	9	6	16	12	11	85
13	Lucas Foresti	17	15	15	14	14	12	Ret	7	9	13	12	9	12	10	11	8	Ret	Ret	6	17	7	3	12	5	14	12	13	15	13	Ret	45
14	Jay Bridger	18	12	8	18	15	Ret	10	9	Ret	6	4	12	Ret	17	10	16	16	13	12	10	8	18	20	16	17	13	16	12	11	5	37
15	Hywel Lloyd	14	18	DNS	22	20	14	14	5	8	20	18	15	Ret	14	9	9	8	12	Ret	12	Ret	14	9	15	Ret	17	11	18	16	Ret	23
16	Adderly Fong	16	17	16	23	Ret	19	16	16	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	18	20	13	23	18	Ret	15	15	Ret	Ret	24	18	12	16	20	Ret	Ret	4	12
17	Alex Brundle	15	10	9	13	11	20	Ret	12	Ret	15	14	10	16	12	15	18	17	21	Ret	11	10	16	18	8	13	11	19	13	10	Ret	11
18	Max Snegirev	13	16	14	19	Ret	16	15	15	14	19	Ret	18	15	18	Ret	22	19	18	Ret	16	Ret	13	15	Ret	16	10	15	19	20	Ret	1
19	Wayne Boyd										17	17	13																			0
20	Rio Haryanto				21	19	Ret	17	14	Ret																						0
21	Yann Cunha																						20	22	22							0
22	Kevin Chen				24	DNS	DNS																									0
guest drivers ineligible for points
	Alexander Sims				11	1	4										13	10	3													0
	Esteban Gutiérrez				6	4	9																									0
	Daniel Juncadella																10	Ret	6													0
	Carlos Muñoz																11	6	17				15	11	17							0
	Jim Pla				16	12	13										17	Ret	11													0
	Nathanaël Berthon																19	13	16													0
	Nicolas Marroc																14	Ret	14													0
	Pietro Fantin													17	16	Ret							Ret	21	23				14	18	Ret	0
National Class
1	Menasheh Idafar	11	13	Ret	DNS	16	18	11	18	15	18	16	17	13	18	8	12	12	20	Ret	13	11	21	17	14	15	18	14	11	15	3	435
2	James Cole	12	Ret	17	17	17	17	12	13	12	9	15	Ret	14	20	7	21	14	19	14	14	15	19	16	20	18	20	17	17	19	12	418
3	Juan Carlos Sistos																						17	23	21	19	21	18				72
4	Luiz Razia				20	18	Ret																									23
Pos	Driver	OUL			SIL			MAG			HOC			ROC			SPA			THR			SIL			SNE			BRH			Pts

References edit

^ Anderson, Ben (2010-09-26). "Prize FR3.5 test for British F3 drivers". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
^ "Idafar signs with T-Sport for National F3 title bid". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2010-01-28.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b "2010 British F3 calendar revealed". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
^ ^a ^b "Race and qualifying format change adds spice to F3". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-02-12.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Anderson, Ben (2010-06-24). "British F3 to add pitstops". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
^ Carter, Nick (2010-07-13). "Pit stop era starts at Rockingham". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2010-07-14.

External links edit

The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship

[1] Anderson, Ben (2010-09-26). "Prize FR3.5 test for British F3 drivers". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-09-26.

[Dallara-Honda-2] "Idafar signs with T-Sport for National F3 title bid". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2010-01-28.^{[permanent dead link]}

[Calendar-3] "2010 British F3 calendar revealed". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2010-01-07.

[2010_alterations-4] "Race and qualifying format change adds spice to F3". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-02-12.^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] Anderson, Ben (2010-06-24). "British F3 to add pitstops". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-07-14.

[6] Carter, Nick (2010-07-13). "Pit stop era starts at Rockingham". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2010-07-14.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]