Two Formula 3 drivers will be barred from competing in upcoming rounds of the championship after they raced on circuits on the F3 calendar in other single-seater series without the FIA’s and the F3 promoter’s authorisation. Feeder Series explains what happened.

By Michael McClure and Tori Turner

Per stewards’ rulings issued by the FIA Thursday on the eve of F3’s third round at Imola, drivers Martinius Stenshorne and Nikola Tsolov violated article 10.4 of the 2024 F3 sporting regulations, which state that drivers must have explicit permission from the FIA and series promoter Formula Motorsport Limited if they wish to participate in testing or race in other single-seater series alongside F3.

Both Stenshorne and Tsolov’s respective management teams failed to inform the FIA of such activities, leading to their suspensions from F3’s Silverstone and Spa rounds respectively. Each driver was also handed four penalty points on their records, bringing each of their season totals to six.

“No driver entered in the Championship may carry out any type of activity on any track with any type of single seater car that was designed and/or built to achieve a power-to-weight ratio less than 2.0 kg/bhp,” the article reads.

“In order that an FIA observer may be appointed, Competitors [teams] or drivers must inform the Promoter and FIA of any planned single seater activity at least seven days before it is due to commence.”

Stenshorne’s penalty

Hitech GP rookie Stenshorne, who was announced Thursday morning to be a new member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, violated the rule with his participation in the UK–based GB3 Championship’s second round at Silverstone Circuit, held 27 and 28 April. F3 will hold its seventh round of 2024 at the British track from 5 to 7 July.

Stenshorne raced for Chris Dittmann Racing in the GB3 event in what was his first time racing the series’ Tatuus MSV-022. The 18-year-old Norwegian finished ninth and 14th in the two races held. Race three of the weekend was cancelled because of the adverse weather conditions.

Stenshorne, a client of All Road Management, also participated in two days of pre-event testing.

“The promoter representative was not informed of the single seater testing activity of the driver of Car 15,” the ruling read. “He also mentioned that neither the Competitor nor the Driver requested written approval from the Promoter as requested in Article 10.4 e) of the Sporting Regulations.

“The Driver of Car 15 explained that he was not aware of the requirements of Article 10.4 and that both activities, the test, and his participation in the GB3 Event, were organized by his management team.

“The Team Representative explained that he was unaware of the driver’s participation in the GB3 test and Competition in Silverstone until he received the summons from the Stewards but admitted that Hitech Pulse-Eight was present in the Event as they run three cars in the GB3 Championship.”

The announcement of Stenshorne’s participation in GB3 said that “his appearance at Silverstone comes as part of Chris Dittmann Racing’s link up with the Hitech Academy.” In the official FIA report, Hitech’s team representative explained that they were “unaware of the driver’s participation in the GB3 test and competition” but admitted that the team was present at the event. Hitech GP fields a separate three-car entry for the full GB3 season.

Hitech GP did not respond to Feeder Series’ request for comment when asked about the discrepancy. A statement released by Hitech GP later on Thursday evening confirmed that the team would be appealing the decision and said the penalty was “extremely strong compared to similar infringements”.

The stewards’ report also said that had the FIA and the promoter representative received a request for Stenshorne to participate in the Silverstone GB3 round, “they would have denied the authorisation due to the similarities between the GB3 car and F3 car and the sporting advantage gain for the driver”.

Stenshorne is 13th in the F3 standings entering Imola. He took his first F3 race win in the sprint race at the last round in Melbourne.

Tsolov’s penalty

ART Grand Prix driver Tsolov, an Alpine junior, participated in Eurocup-3’s season opener at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 19 and 20 April. F3 will visit Spa for its penultimate round from 26 to 28 July. 

Tsolov raced for Spanish outfit GRS, with whom he entered two Eurocup-3 rounds last year after his rookie F3 season concluded. The 17-year-old Bulgarian retired from the sole competitive session of the weekend as both of the qualifying sessions and the second race were cancelled because of torrential rain. 

In the stewards’ ruling, Tsolov reportedly said “he was not aware of the requirements of Article 10.4 and his participation in the Eurocup-3 Series, of which he is planning to participate in three more Eurocup-3 Series Races this year, was organized by his management team three days before the event.”

Tsolov, a client of two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management programme, was announced at GRS at 17:00 CET on Tuesday, 16 April. Feeder Series understands that he had been confirmed for the seat at least a week before the Eurocup-3 round began and that he is set to participate in four more rounds this year. None of those rounds – to be held at Portimão, Zandvoort, Jerez and Barcelona – precede F3 events at the same venues.

“The Team Representative explained that he was unaware of the driver’s participation in the Eurocup-3 Series Competition in Spa,” the ruling reads. “The Driver and the Competitor failed to request written authorization for the driver to take part in the Eurocup-3 Series, as requested in Article 10.4 of the Sporting Regulations.”

Tsolov is 16th in the F3 standings entering Imola, with seven points to his name.

Lindblad’s penalty

The FIA also announced that Prema Racing rookie Arvid Lindblad had been given a €20,000 fine for participating in GB3’s two pre-event test days with Fortec Motorsport on 25 and 26 April without informing the FIA and Formula Motorsport Limited.

The 16-year-old British driver, who did not enter any other sessions during the round, was ordered to pay €10,000 of the fine immediately, while the remaining €10,000 was suspended contingent on his not violating the rule again during the season.

The stewards deemed the breach an “administrative error”. Per the ruling, Lindblad “explained that his management team organized the test session at Silverstone and there was a miscommunication with his team. The Team Representative [from Prema] explained that he was unaware of the Driver’s participation in the GB3 test in Silverstone until they received the summons from the Stewards.”

Lindblad did not receive penalty points. He will be required to pay the initial €10,000 within 48 hours of the notification, which came at 15:13 CEST on Thursday, via bank transfer to the FIA.

The Red Bull junior is fifth in the F3 standings and the lead rookie on 23 points. He scored a win in the Bahrain sprint race and a second-place finish in the Melbourne sprint race.

How can drivers avoid suspension? 

Though the rule applies to cars that have a power-to-weight ratio of 2.0 kg/bhp or less, it appears neither car the drivers in question used meets these criteria. The Tatuus MSV-022 produces 250 brake horsepower and has a weight of 608 kg, inclusive of the driver, while the modified Tatuus F3-T318 used in Eurocup-3 produces 270 horsepower at a weight of 665 kg inclusive of driver.

No F2 or F3 driver has been previously excluded from the championship since the introduction of the rule in 2019. Back then, the regulations specified a maximum power-to-weight ratio of 2.7 kg/bhp and the possible imposition of up to six penalty points.

The limit was decreased to 2.0 kg/bhp in 2020 alongside the addition of conditions under which “genuine participation to another championship or standalone event” without violating the rule could be met.

In such cases, the conditions were that drivers prioritise F3 events over those of other championships; that collective testing, but not private testing, was permitted; that a driver’s status as a genuine competitor in another series could only be conferred if they attended all of that series’ rounds; and that the FIA and the promoter must approve, in writing, such participation for an event or championship.

Thanks to these conditions, drivers have participated in other championships alongside full-season F3 campaigns.

Notably, Mari Boya drove in both F3 and Eurocup-3 last year, finishing second in the latter despite missing the Aragón round to race in F3’s Monaco event. He had made appearances at both Spa and Italy’s Autodromo Nazionale Monza months prior to F3’s respective visits there. Feeder Series understands that Boya had received formal permission to do so.

Nikita Bedrin is set to do a similar double campaign this year with PHM Racing in F3 and MP Motorsport in the Formula Regional European Championship. MP has confirmed that he would miss the three Formula Regional rounds that clash with F3 events.

Stenshorne on why he went to Silverstone

Feeder Series spoke to Stenshorne at Silverstone about why he had entered the GB3 round.

“It’s the first time for me here and with the car, so it’s just a learning experience and mainly to learn the track for F3 because there’s not much practice,” he said.

Noting the differences between the cars, Stenshorne said the GB3 car “had quite a lot of downforce – not as much as F3, of course. F3 also has more power and also a bit softer tyres.”

He also said there were similarities “not from the way you have to drive the car exactly but from how you drive the track”.

“I think it’s good to get some racing experience here as well even if the car is different,” he continued. “It’s closer to what I’ve been doing in F3. So in that sense, we thought, ‘Why not?’”

Martinius Stenshorne interview by George Brabner

Additional reporting by Daniele Spadi and Martin Lloyd

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency and GRS Team