The 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the eighth championship year of the Formula 3 Euro Series. It began on 10 April at Circuit Paul Ricard and finished on 17 October at Hockenheim after eighteen races at nine meetings. Grids for the 2010 season were substantially down on the previous season; with a maximum of sixteen drivers taking part in any of the season's meetings, after teams Manor Motorsport, SG Formula, Carlin Motorsport, HBR Motorsport and Kolles & Heinz Union all pulled out to focus on other series.
On track, series veteran Edoardo Mortara returned to the formulae after a season competing for Arden International, and with seven victories – all coming in the Saturday, higher points-awarding races – during the season, Mortara took the championship at the wheel of his Signature-run Dallara-Volkswagen, giving Volkswagen their first Euro Series championship. Second place was not resolved until the final round, as Mortara's team-mate Marco Wittmann and ART Grand Prix's Valtteri Bottas battled over the placing. Bottas had to win the final race to deny Wittmann of second place, but could only finish third and thus Wittmann completed the Signature 1–2, taking a single victory during the season at the first Hockenheim meeting. Bottas finished third for the second consecutive season, after his first two Euro Series wins – although he had previously won two successive Masters of Formula 3 events at Zandvoort, which is a non-championship race – at the Norisring and Oschersleben.
Bottas' team-mate Alexander Sims also matched his final 2009 placing, taking fourth place with one victory once again, winning the opening sprint race of the season at Paul Ricard but took four further podium finishes to confirm fourth. Mücke Motorsport's Roberto Merhi completed the top five, taking his first Euro Series win in the first Hockenheim sprint race. Other sprint race victories included four for the Motopark Academy squad, including three successive for top rookie finisher – seventh in the championship – António Félix da Costa who won at the Nürburgring, Zandvoort and Brands Hatch having started each from the front row due to the series' reverse-grid system for the top eight finishers from the previous day's race. Kevin Magnussen, on a one-off outing from his usual commitments in the German Formula Three championship, also claimed a sprint race victory for Motopark at Valencia. Daniel Juncadella won the final race of the season at Hockenheim, while Jim Pla, ART's third driver, took the other victory at Oschersleben. Signature's 1–2 championship finish allowed the team to claim their respective championship, while the Nations Cup was won by Italy through Mortara.
Prize tests
The top drivers in the championship standings at the end of the year were rewarded with a wide range of prize tests in various other racing categories. The top three drivers – Mortara, Wittmann and Bottas – all received a Formula Renault 3.5 Series test.
As well as that, Mortara received a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters test[1] in the Audi A4, as he finished as top Volkswagen-engined driver as champion. Bottas, as top Mercedes-Benz driver received a test in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.[2]
Drivers and teams
- Notes
- ↑ All drivers competed in Dallara chassis; model listed.
Driver changes
- Changed Teams
- Entering/Re-Entering Formula 3 Euro Series
- Leaving Formula 3 Euro Series
Team changes
Race calendar and results
Standings
Drivers
- Points are awarded as follows:
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
PP |
|---|
| Race 1 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Race 2 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| Withdrew (WD) |
| Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank |
Did not participate (DNP) |
| Excluded (EX) |
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
R – Rookie Cup
|
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Teams
Nations Cup
See also
References
- ↑ "I premi 2010: test DTM e World Series Renault". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ↑ Schneider, Fabian (23 February 2011). "Bottas absolviert Test für Mercedes". Motorsport Magazin (in German) (Adrivo Sportpresse GmbH). Retrieved 30 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 Costa, Massimo (13 November 2009). "Carlin e Manor via dal campionato". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). Retrieved 13 November 2009.
- ↑ Freeman, Glenn (ed.) (10 December 2009). "Pit & Paddock: Sims targets glory with ART". Autosport 198 (11): 22.
- ↑ Freeman, Glenn (ed.) (2009-11-26). "Pit & Paddock: Euro Series beckons for Pla". Autosport 198 (9): 23.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A Hockenheim ci sono 17 iscritti". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 20 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ↑ Beer, Matt (2009-12-09). "Merhi switches to Mucke for 2010". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ↑ Mejia, Diego (22 December 2009). "Munoz to race Euro for Mucke". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
- ↑ Anderson, Ben (11 February 2010). "Mortara returns to F3 with VW". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- 1 2 3 "Wittmann e Vanthoor con Signature". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 24 November 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ↑ Elizalde, Pablo (8 February 2010). "Prema signs Marroc for Euro Series". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- ↑ Elizalde, Pablo (8 February 2010). "Juncadella joins Prema for Euro F3". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 Beer, Matt; Mills, Peter (9 December 2009). "Motopark signs Quaife-Hobbs, Laine". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ↑ "Ocean Racing Technology signs agreement with Antonio Felix da Costa". oceanracingtech.com (Ocean Racing Technology). 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- 1 2 "Mäki and Zanella to return with Motopark Academy". gpupdate.net (GPUpdate). 22 July 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- 1 2 "First match point for Edoardo Mortara". Formula 3 Euro Series (ITR e.V.). 16 September 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
And the Portuguese da Costa will contest the home event of his squad with two new team-mates: the 21-year-old German Tobias Hegewald will make his Formula 3 Euro Series debut for the Oschersleben based team and Renger van der Zande is going to make his comeback, at the wheel of a Motopark Academy racer.
- ↑ "SG Formula e Kolles&Heinz non sono tra gli iscritti 2010". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ↑ "2010 International Series: Formula 3 Euro Series" (PDF). fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- 1 2 English, Steven (29 January 2010). "Euro Series to race at Magny-Cours". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ↑ "Euroseries calendar confirmed". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 19 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
External links
Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
Daniel Juncadella
Marco Wittmann
Edoardo Mortara
Alexander Sims
Valtteri Bottas
Kevin Magnussen
António Félix da Costa
Circuit Park Zandvoort.svg.png){kind=small}
Laurens Vanthoor
Colombia
Switzerland
Mexico
Angola
Sweden