The European Formula Three (F3) Series has announced they have secured a full 30 car field for the 2014 season as second generation racers come to the fore.
From 17 countries and with a good eight rookies in the field, including endurance star Olivier Beretta’s son Michele and former Formula One star Jos Verstappen’s son Max.
Jos, who raced for Simtek, Minardi and Arrows during his career said of his son’s drive for Van Amersfoort Racing: “The F3 European Championship is a very competitive category with a competitive car and we want to do the best we can. However, it will be a year in which Max must learn from the small mistakes he’ll inevitably make as a rookie. Regardless, this is the perfect step for Max venturing into single seater racing, as Van Amersfoort Racing is a fantastic and professional team.”
One man back for more – and hoping to teach the rookies a lesson or two – is last year’s F3 runner up Felix Rosenqvist who will continue to race for kfzteile24 Mucke Motorsport in a bid to go one better than his runners up spot behind Italian Raffaele Marciello.
A couple of rookies hoping to teach the runner up not to underestimate them include Autosport Award winner Jake Dennis who is racing for Carlin and 15-year-old Santino Ferrucci. The American will start to compete at round four in Spa after his sixteenth birthday due to FIA regulations on his age.
Gerhard Berger, Head of the FIA’s Single Seater Commission, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have received thirty entries for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. We’ve filled all the slots and this confirms that Formula 3 is now back again in the vanguard of promotional Formulas. It’s the best training school and every driver should go through it. The entry list, comprising twelve great teams, looks fantastic with experienced drivers and a dozen or so rookies whose performance will be highlighted by a separate classification. Given the overall level, we’ll have another exceptional champion this season!
“The year 2014 is important as the arrival of a new generation of engines opens up a long-term perspective. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Renault and Neil Brown Engineering are all backing the FIA F3 European Championship, and we’re already hard at work trying to persuade other manufacturers to join us next year.”
The 2014 Euro F3 Championship gets under way at Silverstone alongside the World Endurance Championship over the Easter weekend.