1999 British Formula Three Championship Explained

The 1999 British Formula Three season was the 49th British Formula Three Championship season. It commenced on 21 March, and ended on 17 October after sixteen races. Marc Hynes was the champion, although the season is best remembered for 19-year-old future F1 champion Jenson Button marking himself out as one to watch. Martin O'Connell took the spoils in Class B.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers were competitors in the 1999 season. Class B is for older Formula Three cars.

Team No Driver Chassis Engine Rounds Class A Stewart Racing 1 Luciano Burti nowrap Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 2 Andrew Kirkaldy Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Fortec Motorsport 3 Matt Davies Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 4 Kristian Kolby Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Promatecme UK 5 Aluizio Coelho Dallara F399 nowrap Renault Sodemo All 6 Jenson Button Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo All Alan Docking Racing 7 Yudai Igarashi Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 1–15 Warren Hughes 16 8 Alex Yoong Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 3–6 Doug Bell 7–14 SpeedSport F3 9 Toby Scheckter Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 10 Warren Carway Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Carlin Motorsport 12 Narain Karthikeyan Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 14 Michael Bentwood Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All S.S. Sport 15 Tim Spouge Dallara F399 Opel Spiess All 16 Doug Bell Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 1–3 Manor Motorsport 17 Marc Hynes Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 18 Tor Sriachavanon Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Graff Racing 19 Alex Yoong Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 9 ASM 20 Sebastien Dumez Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 21 Tiago Monteiro Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 22 Julien Beltoise Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 JB Motorsports 23 nowrap Walter Van Der Lent Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 24 Yves Olivier Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Prema Powerteam 25 Peter Sundberg Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 26 Juan Manuel López Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 27 Giorgio Pantano Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Opel Team BSR 28 Christijan Albers Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 29 Patrick Friesacher Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 RC Benetton 30 Gabriele Varano Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Class B Rowan Racing 51 Martin O'Connell Dallara F398 TOM'S-Toyota 1–7, 10–16 Stephen Shanly 8–9 52 Gavin Jones TOM'S 037F TOM'S-Toyota 6, 8–9 Charles Hall Dallara F398 TOM'S-Toyota 13–14 Carlin Motorsport 54 John Bender Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda nowrap 3–5, 8–9, 11–16 SpeedSport F3 57 John Ingram Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda 8–9 Nick Eliades 13–16 JSR 75 Jeremy Smith Dallara F398 Opel Spiess 1–8, 10 Diamond Racing 77 Takuma Sato Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda 9–12, 14–16 Entries 20-30 were regular entrants in other European Formula Three Championships, and only competed at the round at Spa-Francorchamps. They were eligible to score points. Driver changes Changed Teams Michael Bentwood: Speedsport → Carlin Motorsport Warren Carway: Rowan Racing → SpeedSport F3 Marc Hynes: Promatecme UK → Manor Motorsport Tiago Monteiro: Signature Team → ASM Fina Peter Sundberg Venturini Racing → Prema Powerteam Entering/Re-Entering British Formula 3 Julien Beltoise: Championnat de France Formule Renault & Formula Renault Europe (Mygale) → Fortec Motorsport John Bender: British Formula Renault Winter Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Carlin Motorsport Jenson Button: British Formula Ford Championship (Haywood Racing) → Promatecme UK Doug Bell: British Formula Renault Championship & Formula Renault Europe (Manor Motorsport) → S.S. Sport Aluizio Coelho: British Formula Renault Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Promatecme UK Matthew Davies: Championnat de France Formule Renault & Formula Renault Europe (Mygale) → ASM Fina Nick Eliades: Debut → SpeedSport F3 Patrick Friesacher: Formula Renault Campus France → Opel Team BSR Charles Hall: Sabbatical → Rowan Racing Gavin Jones: British Formula Renault Championship (Haywood/Eiger) → Rowan Racing Andrew Kirkaldy: Formula Opel Europe → Paul Stewart Racing Walter van Lent: Formula Ford Zetec Benelux → JB Motorsport Juan Manuel López: Sabbatical → Prema Powerteam Yves Olivier: German Formula Three Championship (JB Motorsport) → JB Motorsport Giorgio Pantano: Karting → Target Racing Toby Scheckter: Formula Opel Europe → SpeedSport F3 Takuma Sato: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Dome Project) → Diamond Racing Stephen Shanly: Debut → Rowan Racing Jeremy Smith: Debut → Jeremy Smith Racing Tor Sriachavanon: British Formula Renault Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Manor Motorsport Gabriele Varano: Sabbatical → RC Motorsport Leaving British Formula 3 Enrique Bernoldi: Promatecme UK → International Formula 3000 (Red Bull Junior/RSM Marko) Mark Boost: Speedsport → British Formula Renault Championship (Haywood) Sébastien Bourdais: La Filière → French Formula Three Championship (La Filière) Ben Collins: Intersport Racing → Indy Lights (Johansson Motorsports) David Cook: DC Cook Motorsport → Retirement Paula Cook: DC Cook Motorsport → British Touring Car Championship (DC Cook Motorsport) Marcel Fässler: La Filière → German Formula Three Championship (Bemani F3 Team) Gabriele Gardel: Team Ghinzani → German Formula Three Championship (KMS Benetton Junior Team) Mario Haberfeld: Paul Stewart Racing → International Formula 3000 (West Competition) Steve Hayr: Tarry Falcon Racing → Retirement Warren Hughes: Portman Arrows Racing → MGF Cup Mike Kirkham: Speedsport → Retirement Darren Manning: Speedsport → All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM'S) Ricardo Mauricio: Alan Docking Racing → International Formula 3000 (Super Nova Racing) Lei Kit Meng: Carlin Motorsport → Sabbatical Andrej Pavicevic: Fortec Motorsport → International Formula 3000 (Fortec Motorsport) Mikael Santavirta: Alan Docking Racing → Sabbatical Philip Scifleet: Rowan Racing → Sabbatical Topi Serjala: Portman Arrows Racing → Formula Palmer Audi Jamie Spence: Martin Donnelly Racing → Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan (Glückmann Racing) Benoît Tréluyer: Signature → French Formula Three Championship (Signature) Stephen White: Tarry Falcon Racing → Sabbatical Adam Wilcox: TOM'S → Formula Palmer Audi Results Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team Class B Winner 1 Donington Park 21 March Jenson Button Marc Hynes Marc Hynes nowrap Manor Motorsport Jeremy Smith 2 Silverstone 28 March Kristian Kolby Kristian Kolby Marc Hynes Manor Motorsport nowrap Martin O'Connell 3 Thruxton 11 April Andrew Kirkaldy Luciano Burti Jenson Button Promatecme UK Martin O'Connell 4 Brands Hatch 25 April Narain Karthikeyan Narain Karthikeyan Luciano Burti Stewart Racing Martin O'Connell 5 nowrap Narain Karthikeyan nowrap Narain Karthikeyan nowrap Narain Karthikeyan Carlin Motorsport Martin O'Connell 6 Oulton Park 3 May Luciano Burti Luciano Burti Luciano Burti Stewart Racing Martin O'Connell 7 Croft 6 June Marc Hynes Luciano Burti Marc Hynes Manor Motorsport Martin O'Connell 8 Brands Hatch 20 June Luciano Burti Narain Karthikeyan Narain Karthikeyan Carlin Motorsport John Bender 9* Silverstone 10 July Marc Hynes Jenson Button Marc Hynes Manor Motorsport Takuma Sato 10 Snetterton 25 July Luciano Burti Luciano Burti Luciano Burti Stewart Racing Martin O'Connell 11 Pembrey 15 August Kristian Kolby Jenson Button Kristian Kolby Fortec Motorsport Martin O'Connell 12 Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Button Promatecme UK Martin O'Connell 13 Donington Park 5 September Marc Hynes Marc Hynes Marc Hynes Manor Motorsport John Bender 14 nowrap Spa-Francorchamps nowrap 26 September Jenson Button Christijan Albers Luciano Burti Stewart Racing Takuma Sato 15 Silverstone 10 October Luciano Burti Jenson Button Jenson Button Promatecme UK Takuma Sato 16 Thruxton 17 October Luciano Burti Kristian Kolby Luciano Burti Stewart Racing Martin O'Connell Round 9 was held as part of the British Grand Prix weekend, and was thus held on a Saturday Standings Pos Driver DON SIL THR BRH OUL CRO BRH SIL SNE PEM DON SPA SIL THR Pts Class A 1 Marc Hynes 1 1 3 3 6 10 1 4 1 2 6 4 1 2 3 4 213 2 Luciano Burti 3 3 Ret 1 3 1 2 2 3 1 3 8 3 1 DSQ 1 209 3 Jenson Button 2 6 1 8 7 5 Ret 6 2 11 2 1 2 4 1 Ret 168 4 Kristian Kolby 5 2 4 7 13 2 12 7 4 4 1 3 6 3 5 2 153 5 Matt Davies Ret 5 5 Ret 4 3 14 5 6 3 5 2 8 Ret 2 6 113 6 Narain Karthikeyan 4 Ret Ret 2 1 13 3 1 5 7 12 7 Ret 12 6 Ret 104 7 Andrew Kirkaldy 9 7 2 Ret 16 4 11 3 12 Ret 8 11 5 9 7 Ret 64 8 Michael Bentwood 7 Ret 8 6 8 8 7 10 9 Ret 4 5 9 13 15 Ret 50 9 Aluizio Coelho 8 Ret 9 11 10 7 5 8 NS Ret 13 Ret 13 5 4 9 45 10 Tim Spouge 10 Ret 10 13 11 9 4 Ret 8 8 11 6 7 11 Ret 5 42 11 Alex Yoong 6 5 2 6 11 37 12 Toby Scheckter Ret 10 11 9 12 14 Ret 12 7 Ret 10 12 4 10 NS 7 27 13 Doug Bell 6 8 Ret 9 11 10 6 Ret Ret 10 14 22 14 Tor Sriachavanon Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 18 6 9 14 Ret 7 9 Ret Ret 12 12 17 15 Yudai Igarashi 11 9 NS 10 9 12 8 Ret 13 Ret NS NS Ret 20 10 14 16 Warren Hughes 3 12 17 Warren Carway 12 11 13 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 15 9 Ret 13 11 Ret 11 13 7 18 Yves Olivier 6 6 19 Tiago Monteiro 7 4 20 Julien Beltoise 8 3 21 Christijan Albers 25 1 22 Giorgio Pantano 15 0 23 align=left nowrap Walter Van Der Lent 16 0 24 Juan Manuel López 17 0 25 Patrick Friesacher 21 0 26 Peter Sundberg 23 0 27 Gabriele Varano 24 0 Sebastien Dumez Ret 0 Class B 1 Martin O'Connell Ret 4 7 4 5 11 10 5 9 10 Ret 19 9 8 241 2 John Bender Ret 14 14 13 18 15 14 12 Ret 13 10 140 3 Jeremy Smith 13 12 12 15 15 17 13 16 NS 111 4 Takuma Sato 16 10 14 Ret 18 8 11 103 5 Gavin Jones 16 14 17 45 6 Nick Eliades 14 Ret 14 14 35 7 Stephen Shanly 15 19 22 8 Charles Hall Ret 22 12 9 John Ingram Ret 20 8 Pos Driver DON SIL THR BRH OUL CRO BRH SIL SNE PEM DON SPA SIL THR Pts Points System: 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 for first 10 finishers, with 1 point awarded for fastest lap. References https://web.archive.org/web/20050414124527/http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=BF3&Y=1999