1950–1956 The first few years of Formula Three in Germany were inevitably subject to the effects of the country's
post-war geo-political situation, which resulted in the existence of two separate championships. The
West German championship ran from 1950 to 1954, while the
East German equivalent continued until 1956. During this period, both championships used the then-standard 500cc
two-stroke formula. This era was notable for
BMW's first foray into
open-wheeled racing as an engine supplier, having enjoyed success in pre-war
motorcycle racing and
touring cars.
1960–1963 The 500cc Formula 3 specification was superseded in 1958 by
Formula Junior, with engine capacities of 1000cc (360
kg chassis) or 1100cc (400
kg chassis) that were derived from production cars, rather than motorcycles. This new specification was adopted in a revived German F3 Championship in 1960, which was won by
Gerhard Mitter. The 1961 title was won by
Kurt Ahrens Jr., who became champion again in 1963. He was effectively a back-to-back winner, because there was no championship in 1962. -
Toyota driven by Rudolf Dötsch in a German F3 event, 1976.|left
1975–2002 In 1964, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) ended Formula Junior and returned to Formula Three, but this time with 1000cc four-
cylinder production-based engines. However, it would be ten years before Formula Three was revived in Germany. The first German F3 champion of this era was
Ernst Maring, who won the title in 1975. It still competes in the series today. In the 1980s, the German F3 Championship began to produce some notable champions that would later graduate to
Formula One and achieve title-winning success in other championships.
Bernd Schneider (
1987) and
Joachim Winkelhock (
1988) went on to make F1 appearances and became champions at the highest levels of
touring car racing. 1985 champion
Volker Weidler also competed in F1 and won the
24 Hours of Le Mans in
1991. However, the
1990 champion was arguably the most notable of them all:
Michael Schumacher. Four years before winning the first of his seven F1 World Championship titles, Schumacher had already attracted attention with his performances in F3 and the
World Sportscar Championship at a time when the profile of German F3 was rising, and within a year, he had already made his
Grand Prix début.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen competed against Schumacher (sharing the runner-up position in
1989), and later became a winner of three Grands Prix. Schumacher's championship successor,
Tom Kristensen from Denmark, embarked on a
sportscar career that peaked with a record number of eight
Le Mans wins. He has since established himself in the
DTM touring car series. During the 1990s, two more future Grand Prix winners graduated from the German F3 Championship –
Ralf Schumacher and
Jarno Trulli – together with many other notable drivers that include
Alexander Wurz,
Jos Verstappen,
Norberto Fontana,
Nick Heidfeld and
Christijan Albers. The last champion of this period,
Gary Paffett, went on to win the
DTM drivers' championship title and worked as a test driver for
McLaren-
Mercedes. In 2007, he returned to racing in the DTM. at the
Nürburgring, 2006.
2003 onwards In 2002, the motorsport governing bodies of France and Germany collaborated to revive the concept of a European F3 championship. The
F3 Euroseries was supposed to replace the German and French national championships – indeed, the French championship came to an end at that point. However, the German championship had more entrants, many of whom had concerns about the inevitable cost increase that a pan-European event calendar would entail. Bertram Schäfer led moves to maintain some form of national F3 series in Germany, and had support from
ADAC and the F3V (Germany's national F3 association). In 2003, the new series was inaugurated, with Schäfer himself functioning as the series promoter. The
Recaro Formel 3 Cup had title sponsorship from
Recaro, a racing parts company based in Germany. It was replaced in 2007 by wheel manufacturer
ATS. In 2005, a two-tier championship class system was adopted for chassis specifications from the previous three-year lifecycle. This system was adopted by the
British F3 Championship in the 1990s and has since gained favour in many other F3 championships throughout Europe. It can provide an important entry point for drivers and teams without a competitive budget. After a
2014 season in which grid numbers ranged between nine and 14 cars, the series' organisers rejected a proposed merger with the
British Formula 3 Championship with the intention of continuing the F3 Cup in 2015 under the name
German Formula Open in order to circumvent FIA rules on national F3 championships which stipulate that they can hold no more than one round outside their home country (the organisers were planning to hold races at three meetings abroad as part of the support package for the
ADAC GT Masters championship). However, in January 2015 it was announced that the series would not be held in 2015, although it was hoped that it could be revived in the near future. == Champions ==