The 2014 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series season was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across England, and one round in Belgium. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Three single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the 64th and final season British Formula Three Championship. The series, promoted by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, began on 4 May at Rockingham Motor Speedway and concluded on 14 September at Donington Park after a 21 race schedule held at seven meetings.

In a season that saw only four drivers contest the entire championship, it was Chinese driver Martin Cao who won the championship, driving for Fortec Motorsports. Cao started the season with a run of seven successive second-place finishes to a series of drivers, but his consistent finishing kept him towards the top of the championship standings. Cao took his first win at Thruxton, and went on to take four overall wins – plus a further two class wins behind drivers who were ineligible to score championship points – in the final three race meetings, to ultimately win the championship title by two points, ahead of team-mate Matt Rao. Rao won five races over the course of the season, with one fewer podium finish over the season, compared to Cao. Third place went to Camren Kaminsky, who took three podium finishes over his full season campaign.

Another Fortec driver, Sam MacLeod, finished fourth in the championship with four race victories, but he did not contest the whole campaign as his main focus for the season was in the German Formula Three championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. Marvin Kirchhöfer took two wins at Silverstone, when he was learning the circuit for the GP3 Series round at the circuit later in the season. Egor Orudzhev also won at Silverstone, while Roberto Merhi (two wins) and John Bryant-Meisner shared class victories at Spa-Francorchamps. Of the ineligible drivers, Ed Jones won all three races at Spa-Francorchamps, Santino Ferrucci won two out of three at Brands Hatch, while Sean Gelael finished second to Jones twice.

Drivers and teams Team Chassis Engine Driver Rounds Carlin Dallara F308 Volkswagen 1 Zhi Cong Li All 2 Alice Powell 1 Egor Orudzhev 2 Sam MacLeod 4 Fortec Motorsport Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 3 Marvin Kirchhöfer 2 7 Matt Rao All 50 Sam MacLeod 1, 3 57 Martin Cao All Double R Racing Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 8 Wing Chung Chang 1–4 9 Roberto Merhi 4 16 Dan Wells 6 18 Max Marshall 5, 7 Dallara F308 6 Dallara F312 34 Camren Kaminsky All ADM Motorsport Dallara F311 Volkswagen 10 Kang Ling 4 72 Nikita Zlobin 4 Motopark Dallara F311 Volkswagen 11 Nabil Jeffri 4 Dallara F308 24 Indy Dontje 4 Performance Racing Dallara F310 Volkswagen 12 John Bryant-Meisner 4 Invitation Entries Fortec Motorsport Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 10 Santino Ferrucci 6 Carlin Dallara F312 Volkswagen 20 Sean Gelael 4 21 Ed Jones 4

Race calendar and results A seven-round calendar was announced on 23 September 2013. In a change of direction from recent seasons, the championship held only a single round outside the UK, in Belgium, supporting the 2014 24 Hours of Spa. The remaining six rounds were all held in England. The three race format used in previous seasons was retained for all rounds of the championship.

After appearing on the 2013 calendar, the international round held at the Nürburgring was dropped from the 2014 calendar. Donington Park, Rockingham and Snetterton all returned to the calendar after a one-year hiatus, while Thruxton returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010.

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 1 Rockingham Motor Speedway 4 May Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports R2 5 May Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports R3 Sam MacLeod Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports 2 R4 Silverstone Circuit 24 May Martin Cao Egor Orudzhev Egor Orudzhev Carlin R5 Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer Fortec Motorsports R6 25 May Martin Cao Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer Fortec Motorsports 3 R7 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit 21 June Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports R8 22 June Sam MacLeod Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports R9 Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports 4 R10 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 25 July Ed Jones Roberto MerhiFastest lap recorded by Ed Jones, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point. Ed Jones Carlin R11 Roberto Merhi Ed Jones Carlin R12 26 July Ed Jones John Bryant-Meisner Ed Jones Carlin 5 R13 Thruxton Circuit 16 August Matt Rao Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports R14 17 August Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports R15 Matt Rao Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports 6 R16 Brands Hatch 30 August Santino Ferrucci Matt RaoFastest lap recorded by Santino Ferrucci, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point. Santino Ferrucci Fortec Motorsports R17 31 August Martin Cao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports R18 Martin Cao Matt Rao Santino Ferrucci Fortec Motorsports 7 R19 Donington Park 13 September Martin Cao Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports R20 14 September Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports R21 Matt Rao Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports Notes

Championship standings

Driver ROC SIL SNE SPA THR BRH DON International Class 1 Martin Cao 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Ret Ret 11 Ret 5 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 5 285 2 Matt Rao Ret 4 1 5 Ret 3 3 1 3 8 6 4 2 2 1 4 2 3 3 1 1 283 3 Camren Kaminsky 4 5 4 6 Ret 4 4 Ret 4 12 8 13 Ret 5 3 6 5 5 4 3 3 161 4 Sam MacLeod 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 Ret 5 6 121 5 Zhi Cong Li Ret 7 5 7 3 Ret 5 Ret 5 9 Ret 9 3 3 5 7 6 Ret 5 4 4 118 6 Wing Chung Chang 3 6 3 4 Ret 5 6 3 2 7 7 11 103 7 Max Marshall 4 4 4 5 Ret 6 2 5 2 93 8 Marvin Kirchhöfer 3 1 1 54 9 John Bryant-Meisner 4 4 3 53 10 Dan Wells 3 4 4 41 11 Roberto Merhi 3 2 DNS 39 12 Egor Orudzhev 1 Ret Ret 26 13 Indy Dontje 5 DSQ 7 23 14 Nabil Jeffri 6 DSQ 8 18 15 Alice Powell 5 3 Ret 16 16 Nikita Zlobin 10 Ret 10 6 17 Kang Ling 13 9 12 5 Guest drivers ineligible for points Ed Jones 1 1 1 — Santino Ferrucci 1 3 1 — Sean Gelael 2 3 2 — Driver ROC SIL SNE SPA THR BRH DON

References

External links The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship