2005 Formula 3 Euro Series

The 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the third championship year of Europe's premier Formula Three 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 dominated the season, winning 15 of the 20 races and scoring nearly twice as many points as his nearest rival, team-mate Adrian Sutil. As of now, six drivers (Hamilton, Sutil, Sebastian Vettel, Paul di Resta, Lucas di Grassi, and Giedo van der Garde) have competed in Formula One.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Thirteen countries were represented in the drivers' entry list, which included drivers from Argentina, the USA and the Czech Republic 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 F3 Superprix, and a contract with ASM for 2005, Lewis Hamilton 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 Adrian Sutil. 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's more consistent points finishes.

In the Teams’ Championship, ASM Formule 3 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

2005 Entry List^[3]
Team	#	Driver	Rookie	Chassis^{[N 1]}	Engine	Rounds
ASM Formule 3	1	Lewis Hamilton		F305/021	Mercedes	All
	2	Adrian Sutil		F305/059		1–9
	2	Maximilian Götz		F305/059		10
Signature-Plus	3	Loïc Duval		F305/036	Opel	All
Signature-Plus	4	James Rossiter		F305/029	Opel	All
Team Rosberg	5	Kohei Hirate		F305/003	Opel	All
Team Rosberg	6	Giedo van der Garde		F305/039	Opel	All
Manor Motorsport	7	Lucas di Grassi		F305/025 F305/062	Mercedes	All
Manor Motorsport	8	Paul di Resta	R	F305/020	Mercedes	All
ASL Mücke Motorsport	9	Sebastian Vettel	R	F305/011	Mercedes	All
ASL Mücke Motorsport	10	Átila Abreu	R	F305/028	Mercedes	All
Prema Powerteam	11	Greg Franchi		F305/004	Opel	All
	12	Marco Bonanomi		F305/026		All
	23	Franck Perera		F305/023		All
Signature	14	Fabio Carbone		R1/001	Opel	All
Signature	15	Guillaume Moreau	R	F305/035	Opel	All
HBR Motorsport	16	Alejandro Núñez		F305/027	Opel	All
	17	Maximilian Götz		F305/040		1–4
	17	Danny Watts		F305/040		7
	22	Hannes Neuhauser		F305/045		All
Team Midland Euroseries	18	Esteban Guerrieri	R	F305/034	TOM's Toyota	All
	19	Richard Antinucci		F305/001		1–4
		Nico Verdonck				5–6
		Stephen Jelley				7
		Rob Austin				8–9
		Ben Clucas				10
AM-Holzer Rennsport	20	Thomas Holzer		F305/060	Opel	All
Ross Zwolsman	24	Ross Zwolsman		F305/024	Opel	1–4
Team I.S.R.	25	Filip Salaquarda		F305/046	Opel	All
Ombra Racing	26	Paolo Montin		F305/064	Honda	9
Julia Kuhn	27	Julia Kuhn		F305/063	Opel	7, 10

Icon	Legend
R	Rookie

Driver changes

Changed Teams

Marco Bonanomi: Team Ghinzani → Prema Powerteam
Loïc Duval: Signature → Signature Plus
Gregory Franchi: Signature → Prema Powerteam
Giedo van der Garde: Signature → Team Rosberg
Maximilian Götz: TME → HBR Motorsport
Lewis Hamilton: Manor Motorsport → ASM Formule 3
Kohei Hirate: 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 ADAC (ADAC Mittelrhein e.V.) → Mücke Motorsport
Richard Antinucci: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM's) → 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) → Manor Motorsport
Esteban Guerrieri: International Formula 3000 (BCN F3000) → Team Midland Euroseries
Thomas Holzer: German Formula Three Championship (AM-Holzer Rennsport) → AM-Holzer Rennsport
Stephen Jelley: British Formula 3 Championship (Performance Racing Europe) → Team Midland Euroseries
Julia Kuhn: Formula Volkswagen Germany → Kuhn Motorsport
Paolo Montin: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Three Bond Racing) → Ombra Racing
Guillaume Moreau: Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (SG Formula)
Paul di Resta: Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Manor Motorsport) → Manor Motorsport
James Rossiter: British Formula 3 Championship (Fortec Motorsport) → Signature Plus
Filip Salaquarda: German Formula Three Championship (Team I.S.R.) → Team I.S.R.
Nico Verdonck: International Formula 3000 (Team Astromega) → Team Midland Euroseries
Sebastian Vettel: Formula BMW ADAC (ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) → Mücke Motorsport
Danny Watts: 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: Opel Team KMS → StockCar Brasil (Katalogo Racing)
Peter Elkmann: Swiss Racing Team → Recaro Formel 3 Cup (Jo Zeller Racing)
Dennis Furchheim: Swiss Racing Team → Retirement
Jamie Green: ASM Formule 3 → Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (Persson Motorsport)
Derek Hayes: Team Ghinzani → Retirement
Katsuyuki Hiranaka: Prema Powerteam → Formula Nippon (Takagi/Cerumo)
Robert Kath: Opel Team KMS → Recaro Formel 3 Cup (SMS Seyffarth Motorsport)
Tom Kimber-Smith: Team Kolles → Formula Renault 2.0 Netherlands & Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Team JLR)
Robert Kubica: Mücke Motorsport → World Series by Renault (Epsilon Euskadi)
Nicolas Lapierre: Signature → GP2 Series (Arden International)
Alexandros Margaritis: AB Racing Performance → Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (Mücke Motorsport)
Christian Montanari: Coloni F3 → World Series by Renault (Draco Multiracing USA)
Alexandre Prémat: ASM Formule 3 → GP2 Series (ART Grand Prix)
Fernando Rees: Swiss Racing Team → World Series by Renault (Interwetten Racing)
Daniel la Rosa: HBR Motorsport → World Series by Renault (Interwetten Racing)
Nico Rosberg: Team Rosberg → GP2 Series (ART Grand Prix)
Eric Salignon: ASM Formule 3 → World Series by Renault (Cram Competition)
Bruno Spengler: Mücke Motorsport → Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (Persson Motorsport)
Roberto Streit: Prema Powerteam → All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Inging)
Toni Vilander: Coloni F3 → Italian Formula 3000 (Team Astromega & GP Racing) & GP2 Series (Coloni Motorsport)
Andreas Zuber: Team Rosberg → World Series by Renault (Carlin Motorsport)
Charles Zwolsman Jr.: Manor Motorsport → Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama (Condor Motorsports)

Midseason changes

Maximilian Götz left HBR Motorsport after four rounds, to be replaced by Danny Watts, 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 Adrian Sutil at ASM. Sutil's absence was due to commitments in the A1 Grand Prix series. Five drivers shared Team Midland's #19 car. Richard Antinucci competed in the first four rounds, before Nico Verdonck of Belgium replaced him at Oschersleben and the Norisring. He in turn was replaced by three British drivers, all Euro Series rookies: Stephen Jelley at the Nürburgring, Rob Austin at the Lausitzring 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

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Winning Rookie
1	R1	Hockenheimring	16 April	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Átila Abreu
1	R2	Hockenheimring	17 April	Paul di Resta	Richard Antinucci	James Rossiter	Signature Plus	Sebastian Vettel
2	R1	Pau Circuit	7 May	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Guillaume Moreau
2	R2	Pau Circuit	8 May	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Guillaume Moreau
3	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	14 May	Lewis Hamilton	Adrian Sutil	Adrian Sutil	ASM Formule 3	Guillaume Moreau
3	R2	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	15 May	Adrian Sutil	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Átila Abreu
4	R1	Circuit de Monaco	20 May	Lewis Hamilton	Adrian Sutil	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Esteban Guerrieri
4	R2	Circuit de Monaco	21 May	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Esteban Guerrieri
5	R1	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben	25 June	Lucas di Grassi	Giedo van der Garde	Lucas di Grassi	Manor Motorsport	Sebastian Vettel
5	R2	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben	26 June	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
6	R1	Norisring, Nuremberg	16 July	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
6	R2	Norisring, Nuremberg	17 July	Lewis Hamilton	Adrian Sutil	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
7	R1	Nürburgring	6 August	Paul di Resta	Paul di Resta	Adrian Sutil	ASM Formule 3	Átila Abreu
7	R2	Nürburgring	7 August	Lucas di Grassi	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
8	R1	Circuit Park Zandvoort	27 August	Lewis Hamilton	Paul di Resta	Guillaume Moreau	Signature	Guillaume Moreau
8	R2	Circuit Park Zandvoort	28 August	Lewis Hamilton	Lucas di Grassi	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
9	R1	EuroSpeedway Lausitz	17 September	Giedo van der Garde	Esteban Guerrieri	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Sebastian Vettel
9	R2	EuroSpeedway Lausitz	18 September	Paul di Resta	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Guillaume Moreau
10	R1	Hockenheimring	22 October	Lewis Hamilton	Sebastian Vettel	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Esteban Guerrieri
10	R2	Hockenheimring	23 October	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	ASM Formule 3	Guillaume Moreau

Season standings

Drivers Standings

Points are awarded as follows:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	PP
Race 1 & 2	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

Pos	Driver	HOC1		PAU		SPA^[4]		MON		OSC		NOR		NÜR		ZAN		LAU		HOC2		Pts
1	Lewis Hamilton	1	3	1	1	DSQ	1	1	1	3	1	1	1	12	1	Ret	1	1	1	1	1	172
2	Adrian Sutil	2	20†	Ret	2	1	2	2	Ret	2	3	Ret	2	1	3	Ret	11	4	2			94
3	Lucas di Grassi	Ret	DNS	5	7	DSQ	3	7	5	1	2	5	6	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	3	2	Ret	68
4	Franck Perera	Ret	8	Ret	6	6	6	5	3	6	15	4	3	5	6	3	6	5	5	4	5	67
5	Sebastian Vettel	15	5	7	11	DSQ	13	18	17†	5	5	2	4	11	2	2	2	3	15	13	3	63
6	Loïc Duval	6	2	2	3	12†	DNS	3	2	Ret	8	Ret	5	6	10	10	16†	12	9	DSQ	4	52
7	James Rossiter	4	1	3	4	2	8	4	4	15	13	Ret	7	10	Ret	Ret	10	18	14	5	9	51
8	Guillaume Moreau	9	10	4	8	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	11	8	11	16	8	1	4	6	4	Ret	2	47
9	Giedo van der Garde	Ret	4	6	15†	Ret	17	11	Ret	17	6	Ret	Ret	8	5	Ret	3	2	6	Ret	13	34
10	Paul di Resta	Ret	17	14	DNS	DSQ	5	8	6	4	4	3	8	23	Ret	14†	5	Ret	DSQ	Ret	DSQ	32
11	Marco Bonanomi	3	14	Ret	10	DNS	19	13	16	12	17	6	Ret	9	4	8	9	10	13	6	6	21
12	Kohei Hirate	12	11	10	16†	5	4	16	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	3	7	Ret	DSQ	17	8	12	10	18
13	Fabio Carbone	14	12	16	5	4	DSQ	6	12	9	12	7	18	17	13	Ret	Ret	20	11	Ret	8	15
14	Maximilian Götz	5	13	Ret	DSQ	8	11	15	7											3	18†	13
15	Átila Abreu	8	9	11	12	DSQ	12	Ret	11	8	10	9	10	7	17†	5	8	7	12	8	Ret	12
16	Esteban Guerrieri	Ret	6	19	9	7	15	17	10	11	7	11	9	14	12	6	12	16	10	7	17	12
17	Greg Franchi	13	19	15	Ret	DSQ	7	Ret	Ret	18	18	Ret	12	18	9	4	7	13	7	10	12	11
18	Hannes Neuhauser	Ret	16	12	DSQ	Ret	9	14	15	Ret	14	Ret	13	4	11	7	17†	9	Ret	9	7	9
19	Richard Antinucci	10	7	8	14	DSQ	14	9	14													3
20	Ross Zwolsman	7	15	13	Ret	10	18	12	9													2
21	Alejandro Núñez	Ret	18	9	DSQ	9	10	10	8	10	Ret	12	16	13	14	9	15†	14	18	Ret	11	1
22	Thomas Holzer	11	Ret	18	13	DSQ	16	Ret	14	16	20	13	17	19	15	11	13	11	16	Ret	15	0
23	Filip Salaquarda	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	11	Ret	19†	13	14	19	14	15	22	19†	13	14	19	17	11	16	0
guest drivers ineligible for championship points
	Nico Verdonck									13	16	10	14									0
	Danny Watts													15	Ret							0
	Stephen Jelley													20	16							0
	Julia Kuhn													21	18					DNQ	DNQ	0
	Rob Austin															12	Ret	21	Ret			0
	Paolo Montin																	15	Ret			0
	Ben Clucas																			Ret	14	0
Pos	Driver	HOC1		PAU		SPA		MON		OSC		NOR		NÜR		ZAN		LAU		HOC2		Pts

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

† — 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.

Pos	Driver	HOC1		PAU		SPA		MON		OSC		NOR		NÜR		ZAN		LAU		HOC2		Pts
1	Sebastian Vettel	15	5	7	11	DSQ	13	18	17	5	5	2	4	11	2	2	2	3	15	13	3	157
2	Esteban Guerrieri	Ret	6	19	9	7	15	17	10	11	7	11	9	14	12	6	12	16	10	7	17	132
3	Guillaume Moreau	9	10	4	8	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	11	8	11	16	8	1	4	6	4	Ret	2	128
4	Átila Abreu	8	9	11	12	DSQ	12	Ret	11	8	10	9	10	7	17	5	8	7	12	8	Ret	116
Pos	Driver	HOC1		PAU		SPA		MON		OSC		NOR		NÜR		ZAN		LAU		HOC2		Pts

Team Standings

Pos	Team	Points
1	ASM Formule 3	261
2	Signature-Plus	103
3	Prema Powerteam	98
4	Manor Motorsport	95
5	ASL Mücke Motorsport	75
6	Signature	62
7	Team Rosberg	51
8	HBR Motorsport	17
9	Team Midland Euroseries	15
10	Ross Zwolsman	2