Feeder Series’ Eurocup-3 editor argues in favour of the FIA and F3 promoters’ decisions to hand one-round suspensions to F3 drivers Martinius Stenshorne and Nikola Tsolov for unauthorised competition in other single-seater series.

By Juan Arroyo

Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this article are those of the author alone and should not be taken to represent the opinions of Feeder Series or its other staff members.

Martinius Stenshorne and Nikola Tsolov faced a rough start to the Imola F3 round before even stepping foot on track. On Thursday, both drivers were found to have breached Article 10.4 of the F3 sporting regulations, which prohibits drivers’ participation in other championships without the explicit written permission of the FIA and F3’s promoter, Formula Motorsport Limited.

Stenshorne appeared in GB3’s Silverstone round on 27 and 28 April with British outfit Chris Dittmann Racing and in the collective tests held on the two days prior.

The 18-year-old told the stewards that he was not aware of the regulations and that his participation was organised by his management team. A representative from Hitech said the team was unaware of his participation in the tests and race weekend – despite the fact that Hitech runs three cars in GB3.

Meanwhile, Tsolov raced in Eurocup-3’s season-opener at Spa-Francorchamps with GRS Team on 19 and 20 April. Tsolov, like Stenshorne, claimed he was not aware that the regulations would have prohibited his entry without the explicit permission of F3 officials, and ART Grand Prix, his F3 team, claimed they were unaware of his participation at Spa.

Stenshorne was consequently suspended for the Silverstone F3 round, while Tsolov was  suspended for the Spa-Francorchamps F3 round. Both drivers had four penalty points added to their licences.

Prema Racing’s Arvid Lindblad was also summoned to the stewards for participating in the two days of GB3 testing at Silverstone, but he was only handed a €10,000 fine and an additional €10,000 suspended fine until the end of the season for doing so.

This regulation is one of few ways the FIA can curtail extensive private testing, seen as a source of inequality by fervent followers of junior series. Although not a carbon copy of the series’ Dallara chassis, GB3’s Tatuus MSV-022, the Tatuus T-318 used in Eurocup-3 and Formula Regional series and Euroformula Open’s Dallara 320 are the closest drivers can get to the Dallara F3 2019 in power-to-weight ratio.

It’s no wonder that a number of competitors – including Tsolov last year – head to Formula Regional–level series during the championship’s nearly two-month break. “I think it’s good to get some racing experience here as well even if the car is different,” Stenshorne told Feeder Series at Silverstone. “It’s closer to what I’ve been doing in F3. So in that sense, we thought, ‘Why not?’,”

Even then, the breach committed by Stenshorne, Tsolov and Lindblad was participating in other series’ sessions without permission, not the participation itself. The fact that two of them inadvertently sacrificed an entire F3 weekend because of a communication failure is an embarrassing outcome for the drivers, their management stables, and their teams.

If the regulations state that you must seek permission from the FIA to race outside F3, you go and do it. The rules are the rules, so there should be no reason for debate – unless, of course, you’re trying to skirt the rules to avoid rejection or you’re genuinely unfamiliar with the rulebook. Doing the former is morally questionable; being the latter is unfathomable at this level.

In Stenshorne’s and Tsolov’s respective decision documents, Hitech and ART claimed they were unaware of drivers’ participation in other championships. Hitech’s claim disintegrated when their representative noted the team’s ongoing participation in the series. Further proof to the contrary came from a release on the Norwegian’s website in which he thanked Hitech and his management for arranging the deal for him to race at Silverstone.

Also notable is the fact that within that decision’s document, the stewards noted that both the FIA and Formula Motorsport Limited would have denied a request by Stenshorne anyway “due to the similarities between the GB3 car and the F3 car and the sporting advantage gain for the driver”.

Hitech released a statement indicating it would appeal Stenshorne’s suspension, but with evidence that damning, it’s unlikely to amount to much.

Tsolov’s assertion that his participation in Eurocup-3 was organised by his management only three days prior to the Spa event is likewise untrue. By the Bulgarian’s account, he would’ve learned he was competing at Spa and four later Eurocup-3 rounds on 16 April, the day GRS announced his entry.

But Feeder Series learned this information from the team on 11 April, more than the required seven days before the FIA must be given notice of a driver’s intent to participate in a specified event.

Feigning ignorance may have been the only logical choice for the affected parties. From a moral standpoint, it’s not a good one.

Both weekends were ultimately affected by heavy rain, Stenshorne finished ninth and 14th in the two races held, while Tsolov retired from the sole Eurocup-3 race held. With that in mind the risk seems even less worth the punishment.

And it’s not as if permission hasn’t been granted before either. Mari Boya’s Eurocup-3 campaign with MP Motorsport last year – which saw him finish second despite missing a round – would have been caught from the start otherwise, as would Jak Crawford’s 2021 Euroformula Open campaign in which he won half the races he entered. Even this season, the FIA is aware that Nikita Bedrin is balancing an F3 season with PHM and a Formula Regional Europe campaign with MP.

That Stenshorne and Tsolov’s teams and management didn’t even ask for permission to do the same is a shocking oversight that will cost them dearly. The teams may lodge an appeal, but it’s too late to ask for forgiveness now.

Martinius Stenshorne interview by George Brabner

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency (both images)