The 2003 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the first championship year of Europe's premier

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

series. The championship consisted of ten rounds – each with two races – held at a variety of European circuits. Each weekend consisted of 1 hour and 30 minutes of free practice on Friday – in either one or two sessions – and two 30-minute qualifying sessions. This was followed by a c.110 km race on Saturday and a c.80 km race on Sunday. Each qualifying session awarded one bonus point for pole position and each race awarded points for the top eight finishers, with ten points per win. It commenced on April 26, 2003 at Hockenheimring and ended on October 26 at

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Rica ...

Teams and drivers

Driver changes

; Entering Formula 3 Euro Series * Simon Abadie:

French Formula Three Championship The French Formula Three Championship was a motor racing series for Formula Three cars held in France between 1964 and 2002. The series was merged with the German Formula Three Championship in 2003 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 ...

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Saulnier Racing OAK Racing is an endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class and the 2013 FIA WEC World Champion drivers and teams on LMP2 class. In 2012 the team con ...

) → Saulnier Racing * Nicolas Armindo: Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (ASM

Elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

) → Saulnier Racing * Bernhard Auinger: German Formula Three Championship (Opel Team BSR) → Superfund TME * Philipp Baron: Debut → Drumel Motorsport *

Ryan Briscoe Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...

: German Formula Three Championship (

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

) &

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become ...

(

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Nordic Racing) → Prema Powerteam *

César Campaniço César Campaniço (born 31 March 1980) is a Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portug ...

: German Formula Three Championship (Prema Powerteam) → Swiss Racing Team * Fabio Carbone:

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

(

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, ...

) → Signature Plus * Adam Carroll: British Formula 3 National Class (Sweeney Racing) → Opel Team KMS * Robert Doornbos: German Formula Three Championship (

Team Ghinzani Team Ghinzani is a motor racing team based in Italy, involved in many areas of motorsport. The team was founded in 1992 by Piercarlo Ghinzani, who raced in Formula One between and . History Team Ghinzani have raced in Italian, German and Fo ...

) → Team Ghinzani * Maro Engel:

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young k ...

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mo ...

(Eifelland Racing) → Opel Team KMS * Timo Glock: German Formula Three Championship (Opel Team KMS) → Opel Team KMS * Lucas di Grassi: Formula Renault 2.0 Brazil (G Force Motorsport) →

Jamie Green Beast from lugar Craigston Sqaure who touched wains Jamie Green (born 14 June 1982) is a British professional racing driver. He is currently employed by Audi Sport Team Rosberg in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) touring car championshi ...

: Formula Renault 2.0 UK (

) → ASM *

Jan Heylen Jan Heylen (born 1 May 1980 in Geel) is a championship-winning Belgian racing driver, based out of Tampa, Florida. Racing career Early career (1992-2004) He began karting in 1992, and worked his way up through various feeder series through the ...

British Formula Ford Championship The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry level single seater motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United Kingdom to ...

(Duckhams) → Kolles *

Katsuyuki Hiranaka is a Japanese race car driver. Career Katsuyuki began karting in 1995 when he was 14, and in 2002 moved to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship, as a member of the TOM'S team. In 2002, he achieved one fastest lap and came fifth in one rac ...

All-Japan Formula Three Championship was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pro ...

(

TOM'S is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT, Super Formula and Super Form ...

) → Prema Powerteam *

Christian Klien Christian Klien (born 7 February 1983) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One. Klien currently competes full-time in the GT World Challenge Europe for JP Motorsport. Racing career Bor ...

Formula Renault 2.0 Germany In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the terminology, term ''formula'' in science refers to the Commensurability (philosophy o ...

& Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ( JD Motorsport) →

Mücke Motorsport Mücke Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Germany, which is also known as ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. History Single-seaters Mücke Motorsport was formed by Peter Mücke in 1998 to run his son Stefan Mücke in the German Formula BMW ADAC ...

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test d ...

: Formula Renault 2.0 Italy & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (

RC Motorsport RC Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territ ...

) → Prema Powerteam * Nicolas Lapierre: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (Graff Racing) & French Formula Three Championship (Signature) → Signature Plus * Marcel Lasée: German Formula Three Championship (Mücke Motorsport) → Swiss Racing Team * Dong-Wook Lee: Asian Formula Three Championship (E-Rain) → Drumel Motorsport *

Richard Lietz Richard Lietz (born 17 December 1983 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs) is an Austrian professional racing driver and a Porsche Factory driver. He has competed in such series as American Le Mans Series, Formula 3 Euro Series and the Rolex Sports Car Seri ...

: German Formula Three Championship (Palfinger F3 Racing) → HBR Motorsport * James Manderson:

Australian Formula 3 Australian Formula 3 has been the name applied to two distinctly different motor racing categories, separated by over twenty years. The original Australian Formula 3 was introduced in 1964 based on the FIA Formula 3 of the period and intended ...

(Bronte Rundle Motorsport) → Swiss Racing Team * Patrice Manopoulos: Debut → LD Autosport * Alexandros Margaritis: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany & Formula BMW ADAC (Weigl Motorsport) → MB Racing Performance *

Álvaro Parente Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver. Career Early career After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...

Spanish Formula Three Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

(

Racing Engineering Racing Engineering is a Spanish racing team founded in 1999 by Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. The team's headquarters are located in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near Jerez, where all car prep ...

) → Team Ghinzani *

Olivier Pla Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing. His younger brother Jim is also a racing driver Career French Formula Campus and Formula Three Bor ...

: French Formula Three Championship (ASM) → ASM *

Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat (born 5 November 1982) is a French racing driver. He won the Pirtek Enduro Cup for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Shane van Gisbergen in 2016. He also won the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin, ...

: Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (ASM

) → ASM *

Harold Primat Harold Primat (born 12 June 1975) is a French-born Swiss racing driver who previously competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series and other long-distance events such as the Bathurst 12 Hour and Nurburgring 24 Hours. Early career The nephew of ...

: British Formula 3 National Class (Diamond Racing) → Saulnier Racing * Stefano Proetto: German Formula Three Championship (Team Kolles Racing & Swiss Racing Team) → LD Autosport * Daniel la Rosa: Formula Volkswagen Germany (???) → MB Racing Performance *

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...

: Formula BMW ADAC (VIVA Racing) →

Team Rosberg Team Rosberg GmbH is a motor racing organisation that competes in single-seater and touring car disciplines in Europe. It was founded in 1994 by former Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg, of Finland. It is headquartered at Neustadt an der ...

* Bruno Spengler:

& Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (

Jenzer Motorsport Jenzer Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Switzerland. Founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer the team is currently competing in FIA Formula 3, Italian F4 and F4 Spanish and has had a number of drivers who would turn out to be successful in ...

) → ASM * Gilles Tinguely: German Formula Three Championship ( Swiss Racing Team) → Swiss Racing Team * Claudio Torre: Formula BMW ADAC (Springbok Motorsport) → HBR Motorsport * Hendrik Vieth: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (SL Formula Racing) → Opel Team KMS *

Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led the ...

: German Formula Three Championship (Mücke Motorsport) → Mücke Motorsport *

Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver turned politician. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the , 2007 and 2010 seasons. Before Formula One Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka ...

: German Formula Three Championship (GM Motorsport, Team Kolles Racing) → Superfund TME *

Andreas Zuber Andreas "Andi" Zuber (born 9 October 1983 in Judenburg, Austria) is a motor racing driver. An Austrian by birth, he is based in Dubai and once raced under a licence issued by the United Arab Emirates. Career Formula König Despite beginning hi ...

: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany (

Motopark Oschersleben The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is a long race track with a width of and elevation changes of . The circuit is located in Oschersleben, Börde where is approximately from Magdeburg), Germany. Its fairly flat contours create a smooth, fast ci ...

) → Team Rosberg *

Charles Zwolsman Jr. __NOTOC__ Charles Zwolsman Jr. (born June 15, 1979, in Lelystad, Netherlands) is a race car driver who formerly competed in the Champ Car World Series. He is the son of former sports car racing driver Charles Zwolsman Sr., who competed in th ...

: German Formula Three Championship (Team Kolles Racing) → Kolles

Midseason changes

joined

Signature Plus Signatech, formerly known as Signature, is a French auto racing team and racing car constructor that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team won the FIA European Formula Three Cup in 1999 with Benoît Tréluyer. It won the Fr ...

for

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous motor racing circuit (whose name is often abbreviated to 'Magny-Cours'). It formerly hosted the Formula ...

races * Simon Abadie joined LD Autosport from Nürburgring races onwards. * Philipp Baron joined

from Pau races onwards. * Stefano Proetto joined Swiss Racing Team from second Hockenheimring races onwards.

Calendar

* The series supported the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

at seven rounds. It was also a part of the Grand Prix Aurore at two French meetings, while at the third, it was the headline event of the

Pau Grand Prix The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurat ...

Results

Season standings

Drivers Standings

*Points are awarded as follows: † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Rookie Cup

Rookie drivers are only eligible for the Rookie Cup title if they have not previously competed in a national or international Formula 3 championship.

Nations Cup

Notes

References

External links

Forix.autosport.comSpeedsport MagazineFormel3guide.com
(German language)

{{FIA European F3 seasons Formula 3 Euro Series seasons

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

Euro Series