Tatuus iMagazine

by Jacopo Rubino I n 2021, British F3 became the GB3 Championship as the series promoted by MSV transitioned from past to future. On one hand, there was the naming change, which happened during the season. On the other, the completion of a technical cycle started in 2016. From next season, the GB3 series will see on‐track a new car, also designed by Tatuus, to maintain the spot of highest‐rated developmental series in the UK. The final championship featuring the Tatuus MSV F3‐016 model, which was updated to BF‐020 specs in 2020, saw rookie Zak O'Sullivan prevail. The Carlin driver held the lead of the points standings since the very start and soon became unstoppable, claiming seven wins and seven more podium finishes. Like happened for his predecessors, Clement Novalak and Kaylen Frederick, O’Sullivan was awarded the chance to enter the collective FIA Formula 3 test ahead of making the step there for 2022. The battle for the runner‐up spot saw four drivers covered by only 21 points, an impressive result considering the points system used in the 33 GB3 series. In the final round held at Donington Park, Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons eventually prevailed. The experienced British driver was followed by Australian Christian Mansell (Carlin), American of Japanese heritage Reece Ushijima (Hitech), and Brazilian Roberto Faria (Fortec). At the start of the year, Ushijima seemed set to become O’Sullivan’s main rival. With the weekend featuring race 3 with a complete reversal of the starting grid compared to qualifying, many drivers had the chance to stand out. Ten of them went on to win at least one race, with special mentions for Roman Bilinski, who made his debut in round 3 but quickly gained the chemistry needed. The highest step of the rostrum also featured Mikkel Grundtvig, Luke Browning, and Oliver Bearman, who entered one event of the UK series alongside the Italian and German ones before entering the Ferrari Driver Academy. The reverse grid highlighted the ability to recover from the back which was backed by bonus points to match the number of spots gained. In total, 28 drivers competed this season, and some of them will be at the start of the 2022 season with the new Tatuus MSV‐022 racecar.