The 1983 British Formula Three Championship was the 33rd season of the

British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to: *British Formula 3 International Series, a class of auto racing for Formula 3 open wheeled single seater racing cars, which took place from 1951 to 2014 *BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Th ...

, starting at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

on 6 March and concluding at Thruxton on 23 October after 20 races. The season saw a head-to-head title battle between future

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, ...

stars

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

and

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 19 ...

- both driving

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 ...

-powered

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...

chassis, prepared by

West Surrey Racing West Surrey Racing is a UK-based motorsport team run by New Zealander Dick Bennetts. He is responsible for masterminding the careers of such names as Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Jonathan Palmer, Rubens Barrichello, Maurício Gugelmin and Eddie ...

and

Eddie Jordan Racing Eddie Jordan Racing was a British racing stable founded by Irish racing driver Eddie Jordan in 1980. The team won Formula 3000 the drivers' championship in 1989 with Jean Alesi. The team competed in Formula 3 and Formula 3000. After great success ...

respectively. Senna built up a commanding advantage by winning the first nine races in succession, but a series of retirements for the Brazilian later in the year allowed Brundle to close the gap. The Brit took the points lead heading into the series finale, but Senna dominated the race to secure the title. Senna won 12 of the 20 races in the season (60% of that year's races), a record until

Jan Magnussen Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula ...

won 14 of the 18 races in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

season (78% of that year's races). Both Senna and Brundle stepped up to F1 in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, joining

Toleman Toleman Motorsport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and participated in 70 Grands Prix. Origins The Toleman company was formed in 1926 by Edward Toleman for the purpose of delivering Ford c ...

and Tyrrell respectively. Other notable drivers from the year included future

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

winner Davy Jones,

BTCC The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

star David Leslie and Senna's future Lotus teammate

Johnny Dumfries John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (26 April 1958 – 22 March 2021), styled Earl of Dumfries before 1993, was a Scottish peer and a racing driver, most notably winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did not use his title a ...

. 1983 was also the final season before 'Class B' was established, offering a separate prize for those competing in older cars.

Race calendar and results

Brundle was ineligible to score points as he was using European specification tyres.

Allen Berg Allen Bernard Berg (born August 1, 1961) is a Canadian former racing driver who raced for the Osella team in Formula One. Racing career Berg was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He began in karting in 1978 and switched to cars when he was 20 ...

therefore secured maximum points at this round.

Championship Standings

''Points in brackets include dropped scores'' – ''only the best 17 of 20 scores count towards the championship'' European Championship race where the British runners had to use regulation Avon rubber to be eligible for British championship points.

References

{{British F3 Seasons 1983 in British motorsport British Formula Three Championship seasons