The 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the third 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 one 60-minute practice session and two 30-minute qualifying sessions (one at Monaco), followed by one c.110 km race and one c.80 km race. 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.

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...

dominated the season, winning 15 of the 20 races and scoring nearly twice as many points as his nearest rival, team-mate

Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also t ...

. As of now, six drivers (Hamilton, Sutil, Sebastian Vettel,

Paul di Resta Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from to , and became a reserve driver ...

, Lucas di Grassi, and

Giedo van der Garde Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde (born 25 April 1985 in Rhenen, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver, currently competing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship for TDS Racing. From 2018 to 2021 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Ch ...

) have competed in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Summary

The 2005 calendar included events at the historic circuits of Pau (France), Spa-Fracorchamps (Belgium), Zandvoort (Netherlands) and Monaco. Monaco has a long tradition of Formula 3 events, but this was the first since 1997. The debut of a new street circuit in the French town of Avignon was to take place in September, but the plans fell through and its date was given to the Lausitzring.Tremayne, Tim. "Di Resta on Pole at Lausitz". ''Autosport.com'', September 16, 2005. Thirteen countries were represented in the drivers' entry list, which included drivers from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

for the first time. There were teams from France, Germany, Britain, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. After a promising debut season with Manor Motorsport that ended with a win in the non-championship

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

F3 Superprix, and a contract with ASM for 2005,

was regarded as the championship favourite. He exceeded expectations by winning 15 races from 20 starts, securing 13 pole positions, posting ten fastest race laps, and scoring nearly twice as many points as his nearest rival, team-mate

. Lucas di Grassi made a full-time return to the series (he entered two rounds in 2003) and finished in 3rd place overall, with one win. The highest-placed rookie was the then-reigning Formula BMW Germany champion Sebastian Vettel, who was classified 5th overall with six podium finishes. He was beaten to 4th place by

Franck Perera Franck Perera (born 21 March 1984 in Montpellier, France) is a race car driver who has competed in a number of international open-wheel racing championships. Career In 2006, Perera drove in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team, after four years of ra ...

's more consistent points finishes. In the Teams’ Championship,

ASM Formule 3 ASM may refer to: Codes * American Samoa, ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code * Asmara International Airport, IATA airport code * Assamese language, ISO 639 language code ''asm'' Organizations * Aare Seeland mobil, a Swiss bus and train operator * Al ...

retained the title that it had secured in 2004, with Signature in a distant second place. Third place was taken by Prema Powerteam, which had won the Euro Series' first teams' title in 2003. Manor Motorsport was classified 4th overall, as it continued to improve its form against rivals with more experience in Europe. At this time, the Spiess-Opel engine was still numerically dominant, but won on only two occasions. HWA-Mercedes had begun to gain the upper hand in 2004 (with 13 wins from 20 races), and increased its development effort to win 18 races in 2005.

Teams and drivers

Driver changes

; Changed Teams *

Marco Bonanomi Marco Bonanomi (born 12 March 1985 in Lecco) is an Italian professional racing driver. Career Formula Renault Bonanomi began his car racing career in 2001 by competing in a few rounds of the Formula Renault Eurocup and Italian Formula Rena ...

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 ...

→

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 ...

Loïc Duval Loïc Duval (; born 12 June 1982) is a French professional racing driver racing for Audi Sport as a factory driver in DTM and driving for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen dri ...

Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

→ Signature Plus *

Gregory Franchi Gregory "Greg" Franchi (born 6 April 1982, in Flémalle) is a Belgian racing driver. Career Karting Franchi began his karting career in 2000, with the 36th place in European Championship Formula A. Formula Ford Franchi make debut in his formul ...

: Signature → Prema Powerteam *

: Signature →

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 ...

Maximilian Götz Maximilian Götz (born 4 February 1986) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula Master and the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the 2003 Formula BMW ADAC season, taking six victories. He also won the 202 ...

: TME → HBR Motorsport *

Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...

→

Kohei Hirate is a Japanese race car driver. Hirate has won the Super GT series twice. Career Hirate began karting in 1999 when he was 13. After winning the All Japan Junior Kart Championship, coming third and fifth in the All Japan Kart Championship and ...

: Prema Powerteam → Team Rosberg * Alejandro Núñez: Swiss Racing Team → HBR Motorsport * Ross Zwolsman: TME – RZ Racing ; Entering/Re-Entering Formula 3 Euro Series * Átila Abreu:

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 ...

(ADAC Mittelrhein e.V.) → Mücke Motorsport * Richard Antinucci:

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 ...

) → Team Midland Euroseries * Rob Austin: British Formula 3 Championship (Menu F3 Motorsport) → Team Midland Euroseries * Fabio Carbone: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Three Bond Racing) → Signature * Ben Clucas: Formula Renault 2.0 Italy (Prema Powerteam) → Team Midland Euroseries * Lucas di Grassi: British Formula 3 Championship (

Hitech Racing Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

) → Manor Motorsport *

Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri (born 19 January 1985 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine racing driver. He was the most successful driver in the WTCR series in terms of wins. Career Formula racing After graduating from karts, Guerrieri competed in various F ...

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 ...

( BCN F3000) → Team Midland Euroseries * Thomas Holzer: German Formula Three Championship (AM-Holzer Rennsport) → AM-Holzer Rennsport *

Stephen Jelley Stephen Jelley (born 12 May 1982) is a British auto racing driver. Career Single-seaters Born in Leicester, Jelley moved up from Formula Ford to the National Class of the British Formula 3 Championship for 2004, taking three class wins. In 20 ...

: British Formula 3 Championship ( Performance Racing Europe) → Team Midland Euroseries * Julia Kuhn: Formula Volkswagen Germany → Kuhn Motorsport *

Paolo Montin Paolo Montin (born 8 November 1976) is an Italian racecar driver. Career Montin finished 2nd in the Italian Formula 3 championship in 1998 driving for Team Ghinzani with 1 win and 113 points. He raced for the team at the Macau GP in the same sea ...

: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Three Bond Racing) → Ombra Racing *

Guillaume Moreau Guillaume Moreau (born 8 March 1983 in Limoges, France) is a French racing driver who is currently competing in the Le Mans Series. In 2008, Moreau shared the GT1 class championship with teammate Patrice Goueslard in the Le Mans Series drivin ...

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

SG Formula SG Formula is a French auto racing team which participated in the junior categories of open wheel racing: Formula Renault and Formula Three. The team was founded in 2004 by Frenchman Stephane Guerin. History After its foundation in 2004, SG Form ...

) *

: Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Manor Motorsport) → Manor Motorsport *

James Rossiter James Rossiter (born 25 August 1983) is a former professional racing driver, British motorsport executive and Team Principal of Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E. He was a Test Driver for BAR, Honda, Super Aguri and Force India in Formula One an ...

: British Formula 3 Championship (

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 *

Filip Salaquarda Filip Salaquarda (born January 11, 1984 in Prague) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic. Career Early career After an early career in karting, Salaquarda began his racing career in 2000 in his native Czech Republic, competi ...

: German Formula Three Championship ( Team I.S.R.) → Team I.S.R. *

Nico Verdonck Nicolas Verdonck (born 5 December 1985) is a Belgian racing driver. He was born in Brussels. Career Formula Renault Verdonck competed in Formula Renault 1600 in 2003, his first year in single seaters. His race engineer was Tim Wright. Formula 3 ...

: International Formula 3000 (

Team Astromega Team Astromega was a racing team from Belgium, headquartered in Heist-op-den-Berg and created in 1995 by Mikke Van Hool. The team competed in A1 Grand Prix and Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium. History Team Astromega was created in 1995 by Belgian In ...

) → Team Midland Euroseries * Sebastian Vettel: Formula BMW ADAC ( ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) → Mücke Motorsport *

Danny Watts Danny Watts is a British professional racing driver. Career He was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racing in 1998 in the UK Formula First ch ...

: British Formula 3 Championship (Promatecme F3) → HBR Motorsport ; Leaving Formula 3 Euro Series * Philipp Baron: Team Ghinzani → Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Baron Service) *

Ruben Carrapatoso Ruben Carrapatoso (born 29 July 1981 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian race driver, that competed in various series, including the Stock Car Brasil and in one season of the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior s ...

: Opel Team KMS → StockCar Brasil (Katalogo Racing) * Peter Elkmann: Swiss Racing Team →

Recaro Formel 3 Cup The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to ...

(Jo Zeller Racing) * Dennis Furchheim: Swiss Racing Team → Retirement *

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 ...

: ASM Formule 3 →

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 ...

(

Persson Motorsport Persson Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Germany. Managed by Ingmar Persson, they have competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (formerly Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) since their formation in 1993 until 2012, running private ...

) * Derek Hayes: Team Ghinzani → Retirement *

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 ...

: Prema Powerteam →

Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...

(Takagi/Cerumo) * Robert Kath: Opel Team KMS → Recaro Formel 3 Cup (SMS Seyffarth Motorsport) *

Tom Kimber-Smith Tom Kimber-Smith (born 1 November 1984 in Ascot, Berkshire) is a British race car driver. He is currently driving the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class with Robert Alon. He has enj ...

: Team Kolles → Formula Renault 2.0 Netherlands & Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Team JLR) *

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 ...

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 ...

→

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. ...

(

Epsilon Euskadi EPIC Racing (Euskadi Phil Imanol Claudio Racing) was a racing team from Spain. The team's headquarters were located in Vitoria ( Alava). It was the second major motorsport team from the Basque Country, (Euskadi). Epsilon Euskadi was the big ...

) * Nicolas Lapierre: Signature →

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...

(

Arden International Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently runs teams in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and F4 British Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship ...

) * Alexandros Margaritis: AB Racing Performance → Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (Mücke Motorsport) * Christian Montanari: Coloni F3 → World Series by Renault (

Draco Multiracing USA International Draco Racing was a motorsport team. It was most well known for operating in the World Series by Renault, but had also taken part in Formula Opel Lotus, International Formula 3000 and Euro Formula 3000. Career Formula Opel Lotus E ...

) *

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, ...

: ASM Formule 3 → GP2 Series (

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

) *

Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, ...

: Swiss Racing Team → World Series by Renault (

Interwetten Racing Interwetten.com Racing is a racing team from Austria. It was founded in 2001 by Walter Raus. Career The team started its career in Formula Volkswagen, and in its second year of operations won the championship with the German driver Sven Barth. ...

) * Daniel la Rosa: HBR Motorsport → World Series by Renault (

) *

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 ...

: Team Rosberg → GP2 Series (ART Grand Prix) *

Eric Salignon The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

: ASM Formule 3 → World Series by Renault ( Cram Competition) * Bruno Spengler: Mücke Motorsport → Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (Persson Motorsport) * Roberto Streit: Prema Powerteam →

(Inging) *

Toni Vilander Toni Markus Vilander (born 25 July 1980) is a Finnish professional racing driver who currently drives for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team in various categories of sports car racing. After a single-seater career which reached the level of the ...

: Coloni F3 → Italian Formula 3000 (

& GP Racing) & GP2 Series (Coloni Motorsport) *

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 ...

: Team Rosberg → World Series by Renault (Carlin Motorsport) *

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 ...

: Manor Motorsport →

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

Presented by Yokohama (Condor Motorsports)

Midseason changes

left HBR Motorsport after four rounds, to be replaced by

, making his Euro Series debut. Watts was able to stay for only one round, and the HBR line-up was subsequently reduced to two cars. Götz returned at the final round as a substitute for

at ASM. Sutil's absence was due to commitments in the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...

series. Five drivers shared Team Midland's #19 car. Richard Antinucci competed in the first four rounds, before

of Belgium replaced him at Oschersleben and the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...

. He in turn was replaced by three British drivers, all Euro Series rookies:

at the Nürburgring, Rob Austin at the

Lausitzring The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the bo ...

and Zandvoort, and Ben Clucas in the final round of the season at Hockenheim. A number of registered drivers failed to complete the season, including Paulo Montin, who made only two starts with Ombra Racing; and Julia Kuhn, who made two starts in round 1 and attempted (but failed) to qualify for the first race of round 10. RZ Racing left the series after round 9 at Oschersleben.

Calendar

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.

Team Standings

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