BRDC British Formula 3 has rebranded to GB3 with immediate effect following the FIA’s final move to end F3 as a category beyond a single international series.
The rights to the F3 moniker is exclusively held by the FIA, which created the Regional and International F3 concepts in 2019.
The latter became the FIA F3 Championship, now the only series homologated as F3, while Regional F3 cars are widely used but Formula Scout understands the decision was made recently to now homologate and name those as Formula Regional.
Asian F3 is believed to have a contract to use the F3 moniker for its 2022 season, although that deal is now in question, and British F3 (actually based on a heavily upgraded non-FIA Formula 4 car) previously had permission to use F3 in its name.
“The BRDC British F3 championship will be rebranded as the GB3 Championship with immediate effect, racing under its new name from the upcoming Snetterton round on 7/8 August,” a series statement announced.
“Changing to the new GB3 name is purely a consequence of the FIA’s decision to limit the use of the F3 title exclusively for the international FIA F3 series, as a result of which national governing bodies are not able to grant permits for national level single-seater championships using the F3 brand.
“GB3 organiser MotorSport Vision is very disappointed that it has been forced into the change, having done everything possible to preserve the historically significant British F3 title and ensure that drivers could continue to follow in the wheel tracks of the series’ biggest names, including Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen.
“MSV has however accepted a change of direction following extended talks with the FIA, whom it is eager to successfully work with, and looks forward to moving ahead with building up a strong new brand in GB3.”
The GB3 name is similar to the GP3 name used by the series that preceded the FIA F3 Championship. MotorSport Vision also runs the club-level F3 Cup series, which should be unaffected by the latest FIA move as it caters to F3 cars from the previous homologation cycle.
Australian F3 and Austria’s F3 Cup come under the same parameters, and the FIA also has its own championship for older cars in its Central European Zone.
However with the Formula 1-supporting FIA F3 being the only contemporary F3 series, it means it is now the ruleset for a single spec series with exclusivity rights and therefore is a category no more.