The 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the fourth championship year of Europe’s premier Formula Three series. As in previous years, there were ten rounds – each with two races – held at a variety of European circuits. Each weekend consisted of one 60-minute practice session and one qualifying session, followed by one c.110 km race and one c.80 km race. In a revised qualifying system that used only one session, the starting order for race 2 was determined by the finishing order of race 1, with the top eight positions reversed.

Summary 2006 saw the Euro Series make its debut at three venues: Brands Hatch in the UK, the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona in Spain, and Le Mans. This was the first time that rounds had been held in Britain and Spain.

A number of regulatory changes took place prior to the 2006 season. Mid-season testing was heavily restricted to a maximum of 10 days per driver/car, with no testing at race venues, leaving teams and drivers to make the most of the race weekend test sessions. The qualifying session for race 2 was dropped in favour of a result-based reverse grid system. The finishing order of race 1 decided the grid for race 2, with the top eight finishers reversed. Chassis specifications of between two and four years old (from 2002–2004) were permitted for the first time, with the creation of the Drivers' Trophy title. Eligibility for this award was restricted to drivers who were not more than 22 years old.Comprehensive regulation changes for 2006 From f1prospects.com, 23 December 2005. Retrieved 7 September 2007.

After Lewis Hamilton's domination of the 2005 season, the 2006 championship battle was considerably closer. The title was won by Scotsman Paul di Resta, who ended the year 11 points ahead of Germany's Sebastian Vettel. For much of the season, di Resta and Vettel were exchanging the points lead, but the German's focus wavered towards the end of the year. BMW-Sauber's motorsport director Mario Theissen attributed this to the busy schedule that Vettel undertook as his team's test driver in the last three Grands Prix of the 2006 F1 season.Theissen regrets overloading Vettel From autosport.com, 21 November 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2007. Other drivers worthy of note included Kamui Kobayashi, who finished on the podium twice on the way to winning the Rookie Cup, and race winner Kazuki Nakajima, whose performances attracted a testing contract with Williams.

Not surprisingly, the two main championship contenders were team-mates at ASM Formule 3, the French-based team that has dominated the Euro Series for the last three seasons with three Drivers' and Teams' Championship titles in succession. 2006 saw another improvement in form from Manor Motorsport – a former multiple champion team in British F3. With Japan's Kohei Hirate and the experienced Esteban Guerrieri, it was frequently ASM's closest challenger and finished 2nd in the Teams' Championship standings. This year, Manor was no longer the sole British team in the Euroseries – it was joined by entries from Hitech Racing and Fortec Motorsport at Hockenheim (round 1) and Brands Hatch (round 4).

With only one race win for an Opel-powered car – from a reverse-grid pole position – it was another season of domination by the HWA-built Mercedes engine. Dallara was the de facto sole supplier of chassis, with the Signature SLC project on indefinite hold and the Mygale chassis still yet to race in this series.

Teams and drivers 2006 Entry List Team # Driver Rookie Chassis Engine Rounds ASM Formule 3 1 Sebastian Vettel F305/059 Mercedes All 2 Paul di Resta F305/021 All 16 Giedo van der Garde F306/012 All 17 Kamui Kobayashi F305/012 All Manor Motorsport 3 Kohei Hirate F305/001 Mercedes All 4 Esteban Guerrieri F305/020 All 18 Kazuki Nakajima F305/062 All Prema Powerteam 5 Alejandro Núñez F306/004 Mercedes All 6 Ronayne O'Mahony F305/023 All 19 João Urbano F306/005 1–5 Paolo Maria Nocera 6–9 Roberto Streit 10 ASL Mücke Motorsport 7 Sébastien Buemi F305/011 Mercedes All 8 Jonathan Summerton F305/028 All Signature-Plus 9 Guillaume Moreau F305/035 Mercedes All 10 Romain Grosjean F305/029 All 20 Charlie Kimball F306/010 All 21 Tim Sandtler F305/036 All HBR Motorsport 11 Richard Antinucci F305/045 Mercedes All Team ISR 14 Filip Salaquarda F306/009 Opel All Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team 22 Michael Herck F306/016 Mercedes All Jo Zeller Racing 24 Peter Elkmann F306/014 Opel 1–7 Natacha Gachnang 9–10 Julia Kuhn 25 Julia Kuhn F305/063 Opel 1–2, 4, 6 Fortec Motorsport 26 Yelmer Buurman F305/002 Mercedes 1, 4 Hitech Racing 29 James Jakes F305/037 Mercedes 1, 4 30 James Walker F305/003 1, 4 Bordoli Motorsport 31 Natacha Gachnang F305/026 Opel 5–6 Van Amersfoort Racing 32 Dominick Muermans F306/023 Opel 7 33 Récardo Bruins Choi F305/046 7 Trophy Janiec Racing Team 40 Anthony Janiec F302/063 Renault 1, 3, 5–7, 9–10 46 Julien Abelli F302/067 9 HBR Motorsport 41 Cemil Çipa F304/012 Opel 1, 3, 5–7, 9–10 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport 42 Kevin Fank F302/032 Mercedes 1 Gina-Maria Adenauer 5 43 Julian Theobald F303/015 1, 3, 5–7 44 Bruno Fechner F302/012 1, 6–7 Dominik Schraml 3 FS Motorsport 45 F302/050 Opel 5 Icon Legend Rookie

Driver changes Changed Teams Richard Antinucci: Team Midland Euroseries → HBR Motosport Giedo van der Garde: Team Rosberg → ASM Formule 3 Esteban Guerrieri: Team Midland Euroseries → Manor Motosport Kohei Hirate: Team Rosberg → Manor Motosport Paul di Resta: Manor Motorsport → ASM Formule 3 Sebastian Vettel: Mücke Motorsport → ASM Formule 3

Entering/Re-Entering Formula 3 Euro Series Richard Antinucci: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM'S) → HBR Motorsport Récardo Bruins Choi: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany & Formula Renault 2.0 Netherlands (van Amersfoort Racing) → van Amersfoort Racing Sébastien Buemi: Formula BMW ADAC (ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) → ASL Mücke Motorsport Yelmer Buurman: Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Fortec Motorsport) → Fortec Motorsport Peter Elkmann: Recaro Formel 3 Cup (Jo Zeller Racing) → Jo Zeller Racing Natacha Gachnang: Formula BMW ADAC (Josef Kaufmann Racing) → Bordoli Motorsport Romain Grosjean: Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (SG Formula) → Signature-Plus Michael Herck: British Formula 3 Championship & Austria Formula 3 Cup (Junior Racing Team) → Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team James Jakes: Formula Renault 2.0 UK (Team aka) → Hitech Racing Charlie Kimball: British Formula 3 Championship (Carlin Motorsport) → Signature-Plus Kamui Kobayashi: Formula Renault 2.0 Italy & Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (Prema Powerteam) → ASM Formule 3 Dominick Muermans: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany & Formula Renault 2.0 Netherlands (van Amersfoort Racing) → van Amersfoort Racing Kazuki Nakajima: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM'S) → Manor Motorsport Paolo Maria Nocera: Italian Formula Three Championship (Lucidi Motors) → Prema Powerteam Ronayne O'Mahony: British Formula 3 Championship (Fortec Motorsport) → Prema Powerteam Filip Salaquarda: Recaro Formel 3 Cup (ISR Racing) → Team I.S.R. Tim Sandtler: Formula BMW ADAC (Mamerow Racing) → Signature Plus Roberto Streit: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Inging) → Prema Powerteam Jonathan Summerton: Formula BMW ADAC (Team Rosberg) → ASL Mücke Motorsport João Urbano: Formula BMW ADAC (ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) → Prema Powerteam James Walker: British Formula 3 Championship (Fortec Motorsport) → Hitech Racing

Entering Trophy Class Julien Abelli: Karting → Janiec Racing Team Gina-Maria Adenauer: Toyota Yaris Cup Germany → SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Cemil Çipa: Formula 3 Turkey → HBR Motorsport Kevin Fank: Recaro Formel 3 Cup Trophy Class (JMS Motorsport) → SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Bruno Fechner: Formula Renault 2.0 Germany (Kern Motorsport) → SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Anthony Janiec: French Formula Three Championship Class B (JMP Racing) → Janiec Racing Team Dominik Schraml: Recaro Formel 3 Cup (Swiss Racing Team) → SMS Seyffarth Motorsport

Leaving Formula 3 Euro Series Átila Abreu: Mücke Motorsport → StockCar Brasil (RS Competições) Rob Austin: Team Midland Euroseries → SEAT Cupra Great Britain R class (Startline Services) Marco Bonanomi: Prema Powerteam → Euroseries 3000 (Fisichella Motor Sport) & World Series by Renault (Tech 1 Racing) Fabio Carbone: Signature → All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Three Bond Racing) Ben Clucas: Team Midland Euroseries → Australian Formula 3 (Bronte Rundle Motorsport) Loïc Duval: Signature Plus → Formula Nippon (PIAA Nakajima Racing) & Super GT (Nakajima Racing) Gregory Franchi: Prema Powerteam → World Series by Renault (Prema Powerteam) Maximilian Götz: ASM Formule 3 → International Formula Master (ISR Racing) Lucas di Grassi: Manor Motorsport → GP2 Series (Durango) Lewis Hamilton: ASM Formule 3 → GP2 Series (ART Grand Prix) Thomas Holzer: AM-Holzer Rennsport → Retirement Stephen Jelley: Team Midland Euroseries → British Formula 3 Championship (Räikkönen Robertson Racing) Paolo Montin: Ombra Racing → Porsche Carrera Cup Italy (Bonaldi Motorsport) Hannes Neuhauser: HBR Motorsport → Porsche Supercup (Konrad Motorsport) Alejandro Núñez: HBR Motorsport → Prema Powerteam Franck Perera: Prema Powerteam → GP2 Series (DAMS) James Rossiter: Signature Plus → World Series by Renault (Pons Racing) Adrian Sutil: ASM Formule 3 → All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM's) Nico Verdonck: Team Midland Euroseries → Spanish Formula Three by Toyota (R. Llusia Racing) Ross Zwolsman: RZ Racing → ATS Formel 3 Cup (Rennsport Rössler) Danny Watts: HBR Motorsport → Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain (Red Line Racing)

Additional participations Prema Powerteam's third entry was taken over by Italy's Paulo Maria Nocera for four rounds, starting at the Nürburgring. He in turn was replaced by Brazil's Roberto Streit at the final round of the season. Bruno Rudolf Fechner started five races in SMS Seyffarth Motorsport's #44 entry, but was substituted by fellow German Dominik Schraml in round 3 at Oschersleben. The #44 car was not present at every round. Schraml made a one-off return at the Norisring, driving a Dallara-Opel for FS Motorsport. Kevin Fank's #42 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport entry returned at the Norisring in the hands of Gina Maria Adenauer before it, too, failed to make another appearance. Like the drivers that they replaced, Schraml and Adenauer were eligible for the Drivers' Trophy. Julien Abelli, of Janiec Racing, did not make any appearances until the Le Mans round.

In round 5 at the Norisring, F3 rookie Natacha Gachnang of Switzerland drove a second entry for Jo Zeller Racing. She also competed in rounds 6, 9, and 10. In the F3 Masters at Zandvoort, ATS F3 Cup team Van Amersfoort Racing made a one-off appearance with two cars for its Cup regulars, Dominik Muermans and Récardo Bruins Choi.

Calendar The series supported the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at all rounds. Round Circuit/Location Country Date 1 R1 Hockenheimring 8 April R2 9 April 2 R1 EuroSpeedway Lausitz 29 April R2 30 April 3 R1 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 20 May R2 21 May 4 R1 Brands Hatch 1 July R2 2 July 5 R1 Norisring, Nuremberg 22 July R2 23 July 6 R1 Nürburgring 19 August R2 20 August 7 R1 Circuit Park Zandvoort 2 September R2 3 September 8 R1 Circuit de Catalunya Spain 23 September R2 24 September 9 R1 Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans 14 October R2 15 October 10 R1 Hockenheimring 28 October R2 29 October

Results