2010 Formula 3 Euro Series

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 teammate 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' teammate 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 edit

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 edit

2010 Entry List
Team No Driver Rookie Chassis[N 1] Engine Rounds
  ART Grand Prix 1   Valtteri Bottas[3] F308/026 Mercedes All
2   Alexander Sims[4] F308/048 All
11   Jim Pla[5] R F308/070 All
30   Esteban Gutiérrez[6] F308/049 2
  Mücke Motorsport 3   Roberto Merhi[7] F308/050 Mercedes All
4   Carlos Muñoz[8] R F308/042 All
  Signature 5   Edoardo Mortara[9] F309/023 Volkswagen[10] All
6   Marco Wittmann[10] F308/011 All
14   Laurens Vanthoor[10] F308/033 All
  Prema Powerteam 7   Nicolas Marroc[11] F308/047 Mercedes All
8   Daniel Juncadella[12] R F309/014 All
  Motopark Academy 9   Adrian Quaife-Hobbs[13] R F308/099 Volkswagen[13] 1–2
10   Matias Laine[13] R F308/096 All
13   António Félix da Costa[14] R F308/098 All
15   Kevin Magnussen[13] R F308/099 3
16   Mika Mäki[15] 5–7
17   Tobias Hegewald[16] R 8
18   Christopher Zanella[15] 9
33 F308/092 5–7
31   Jimmy Eriksson[6] R F305/045 2
34   Renger van der Zande[16] F308/092 8
  China Sonangol-Motopark 32   Luís Sá Silva[6] R F305/004 Volkswagen[6] 2
  Jo Zeller Racing 38   Sandro Zeller[6] R F306/014 Mercedes[6] 2, 9
Icon Legend
R Rookie Cup

Driver changes edit

Changed Teams
Entering/Re-Entering Formula 3 Euro Series
Leaving Formula 3 Euro Series

Team changes edit

Race calendar and results edit

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1   Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 10 April   Daniel Juncadella   Marco Wittmann   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 11 April   Daniel Juncadella   Alexander Sims   ART Grand Prix
2 R1   Hockenheimring (GP Circuit) 24 April   Marco Wittmann   Edoardo Mortara   Marco Wittmann   Signature
R2 25 April   Valtteri Bottas   Roberto Merhi   Mücke Motorsport
3 R1   Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia 22 May   Edoardo Mortara   Daniel Juncadella   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 23 May   Kevin Magnussen   Kevin Magnussen   Motopark Academy
4 R1   Norisring, Nuremberg 3 July   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 4 July   Edoardo Mortara   Valtteri Bottas   ART Grand Prix
5 R1   Nürburgring 7 August   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 8 August   Daniel Juncadella   António Félix da Costa   Motopark Academy
6 R1   Circuit Park Zandvoort 21 August   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 22 August   Edoardo Mortara   António Félix da Costa   Motopark Academy
7 R1   Brands Hatch, Kent 4 September   Laurens Vanthoor   Marco Wittmann   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 5 September   António Félix da Costa   António Félix da Costa   Motopark Academy
8 R1   Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 18 September   Valtteri Bottas   Valtteri Bottas   Valtteri Bottas   ART Grand Prix
R2 19 September   Valtteri Bottas   Jim Pla   ART Grand Prix
9 R1   Hockenheimring (National Circuit) 16 October   Edoardo Mortara   Valtteri Bottas   Edoardo Mortara   Signature
R2 17 October   Daniel Juncadella   Daniel Juncadella   Prema Powerteam

Standings edit

Drivers edit

  • 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
Pos Driver LEC
 
HOC
 
VAL
 
NOR
 
NÜR
 
ZAN
 
BRH
 
OSC
 
HOC
 
Pts
1   Edoardo Mortara 1 2 2 3 1 6 1 3 1 6 1 11 1 Ret 6 Ret 1 DSQ 101
2   Marco Wittmann 2 3 1 4 11 7 2 2 5 2 3 6 3 5 7 2 3 7 76
3   Valtteri Bottas 9 6 3 5 2 4 3 1 6 7 2 Ret 4 4 1 11 2 3 74
4   Alexander Sims 3 1 Ret 8 3 5 4 4 4 3 4 5 5 8 2 8 4 5 63
5   Roberto Merhi 5 4 4 1 4 Ret 5 11 3 5 5 3 11 10 5 9 5 2 56
6   Laurens Vanthoor Ret 5 Ret Ret 5 3 9 5 2 11 7 2 2 7 13 4 6 DSQ 42
7   António Félix da Costa 8 8 7 9 6 Ret 7 Ret 7 1 8 1 8 1 3 Ret 9 4 40
8   Daniel Juncadella 4 7 8 2 9 9 10† 6 12 10 Ret 9 6 3 4 6 8 1 35
9   Carlos Muñoz Ret 12 14 Ret 10 Ret 6 9 14 9 6 4 7 2 8 10† 11 6 18
10   Jim Pla 7 11 13 6 DNS 8 Ret 8 8 4 10 13 13 12 9 1 12 11† 13
11   Nicolas Marroc 11 10 10 13† 8 2 11† 10 9 8 13 12 12 11 10 3 Ret 8 10
12   Kevin Magnussen 7 1 8
13   Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 6 9 5 7 7
14   Matias Laine 10 13 9 10 Ret 10 8 7 11 Ret 12 10 10 6 11 Ret 10 9 3
15   Christopher Zanella 10 Ret 9 7 DNS DNS 7 Ret 2
16   Tobias Hegewald 12 7 1
17   Mika Mäki 13 Ret 11 8 9 9 0
Guest drivers ineligible for points
  Renger van der Zande 14 5 0
  Esteban Gutiérrez 6 Ret 0
  Sandro Zeller 15† 11 13 10 0
  Jimmy Eriksson 11 Ret 0
  Luís Sá Silva 12 12 0
Pos Driver LEC
 
HOC
 
VAL
 
NOR
 
NÜR
 
ZAN
 
BRH
 
OSC
 
HOC
 
Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third 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 practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
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 edit

Pos Team LEC
 
HOC
 
VAL
 
NOR
 
NÜR
 
ZAN
 
BRH
 
OSC
 
HOC
 
Pts
1   Signature 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 5 5 2 1 7 193
2 3 2 4 5 6 2 3 2 6 3 6 2 7 6 4 3 DSQ
2   ART Grand Prix 3 1 3 5 2 4 3 1 4 3 2 5 4 4 1 1 2 3 148
7 6 13 6 3 5 4 4 6 4 4 13 5 8 2 8 4 5
3   Mücke Motorsport 5 4 4 1 4 Ret 5 9 3 5 5 3 7 2 5 9 5 2 74
Ret 12 14 Ret 10 Ret 6 11 14 9 6 4 11 10 8 10 11 6
4   Motopark Academy 6 8 5 7 6 1 7 7 7 1 8 1 8 1 3 7 7 4 60
8 9 7 9 7 10 8 Ret 10 Ret 11 8 9 6 11 Ret 9 9
5   Prema Powerteam 4 7 8 2 8 2 10 6 9 8 13 9 6 3 4 3 8 1 44
11 10 10 13 9 9 11 10 12 10 Ret 12 12 11 10 6 Ret 8
Guest teams ineligible for points
  Jo Zeller Racing 15 11 13 10 0
Pos Team LEC
 
HOC
 
VAL
 
NOR
 
NÜR
 
ZAN
 
BRH
 
OSC
 
HOC
 
Pts

Nations Cup edit

Nation Points
1   Italy 96
2   Spain 90
3   Germany 76
4   Finland 76
5   Great Britain 70
6   Belgium 41
7   Portugal 40
8   France 23
9   Colombia 18
10   Denmark 8
11   Switzerland 2
Guest nations
  Mexico 0
  Angola 0
  Sweden 0
  Netherlands 0

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ All drivers competed in Dallara chassis; model listed.

References edit

  1. ^ "I premi 2010: test DTM e World Series Renault". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  2. ^ Schneider, Fabian (23 February 2011). "Bottas absolviert Test für Mercedes". Motorsport Magazin (in German). Adrivo Sportpresse GmbH. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Costa, Massimo (13 November 2009). "Carlin e Manor via dal campionato". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  4. ^ Freeman, Glenn, ed. (10 December 2009). "Pit & Paddock: Sims targets glory with ART". Autosport. 198 (11): 22.
  5. ^ Freeman, Glenn, ed. (26 November 2009). "Pit & Paddock: Euro Series beckons for Pla". Autosport. 198 (9): 23.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "A Hockenheim ci sono 17 iscritti". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 20 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  7. ^ Beer, Matt (9 December 2009). "Merhi switches to Mucke for 2010". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  8. ^ Mejia, Diego (22 December 2009). "Munoz to race Euro for Mucke". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  9. ^ Anderson, Ben (11 February 2010). "Mortara returns to F3 with VW". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  10. ^ a b c "Wittmann e Vanthoor con Signature". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c d Beer, Matt; Mills, Peter (9 December 2009). "Motopark signs Quaife-Hobbs, Laine". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  14. ^ "Ocean Racing Technology signs agreement with Antonio Felix da Costa". oceanracingtech.com. Ocean Racing Technology. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  15. ^ a b "Mäki and Zanella to return with Motopark Academy". gpupdate.net. GPUpdate. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  16. ^ a b "First match point for Edoardo Mortara". Formula 3 Euro Series. ITR e.V. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. 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.
  17. ^ "SG Formula e Kolles&Heinz non sono tra gli iscritti 2010". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  18. ^ "2010 International Series: Formula 3 Euro Series" (PDF). fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ a b 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.
  20. ^ "Euroseries calendar confirmed". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 19 February 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2010.

External links edit