The BRDC F4 championship has been renamed for 2016, meaning a resurrection for the British Formula 3 championship name.
An agreement between series organisers MSV, the FIA and British governing body the MSA was reached on Tuesday, meaning the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship will come into effect this season.
Under its previous guise of BRDC F4, the championship was already gaining momentum, with long-time single seater advocates Carlin, Fortec Motorsports and Double R Racing all joining the championship, while George Russell and Will Palmer, the last two champions of the series, have both won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.
A new car – the FA-016 Tatuus-Cosworth – has been introduced ahead of the new season that is close to regular Formula 3 specifications, and has passed all safety tests a F3 car would need to pass to race.
“I am delighted that we have successfully worked with the FIA and MSA to streamline British single seater motorsport and establish a clear and logical hierarchy for both drivers and teams,” said MSV chief executive Jonathan Palmer.
“Our much advanced 2016 BRDC F4 Tatuus Cosworth car has proved an outstanding success, being very close to the performance of British F3 in its heyday – but at less than half the budget.
“Cost effectiveness and value for money is critical to any championship’s health, and having set standards with our BRDC F4 Championship we are now doing the same at F3 level with the BRDC British F3 Championship.”
More than twenty cars are entered for the first round of the season that gets underway at Snetterton this weekend, including Lando Norris, the reigning MSA Formula champion.
