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Criticism refuted: 'As a driver, you're never guaranteed the best car'

19:01, 29 Dec

byLudo van Denderen

Bruno Michel, the CEO of Formula 2 and Formula 3, has hit back at criticism over the new generation F3 cars.

"Ultimately, I am convinced: if you put an excellent driver in a car, they will do a proper job. I have no doubt about it."

- Bruno Michel

Formula 1 teams are facing significant technical changes for the 2026 season, but the teams and drivers in Formula 3 have just experienced their own widespread changes over the past season - with mixed opinions about the new formula.

Not every team understood the new F3 car

Dutchman Laurens van Hoepen hoped to compete for the title with the new generation of F3 cars, but his vastly experienced team ART, never struggled to dial-in the car's performance. The result was a season full of frustrations and only a few highlights.

The situation was even more difficult for a driver like Van Hoepen as some observers only see the published results and do not understand how the complexities of the rule changes. Van Hoepen knows that results could potentially make a difference for a team when deciding whether or not to hire a driver.

In this regard, it is crucial how well a team can set up a race car, as that plays a role in a young driver's career opportunities.

Rafael Camara won the Formula 3 title - Photo: RacePictures

'As a driver, you never have certainty'

However, Michel, the CEO of Formula 2 and Formula 3, does not subscribe to that point of view that a young driver could be overlooked - just because a team cannot manage to set up a career correctly at each circuit. When asked about the issue, he rejected the any possible criticism of the team's new generation of race car. "This is motorsport. I'm afraid that you're not going to be able to assure a driver that his team is going to have the best car," the Frenchman said in an exclusive interview with GPblog.

"At the end of the day, the F3 car is not a very complicated car. Not at all. The F2 car probably needs a bit more work. But F3 is the driver's championship. It really is."

Michel acknowledges that ART, and also Prema, had a challenging season. However, he believes these teams will figure out their shortcomings eventually. "I'm not worried about Prema or ART. These guys are really good and they will do their job.

"But ultimately, I am convinced: if you put an excellent driver in a car, they will do a proper job. I have no doubt about it."

Bruno Michel is satisfied with the F3 season - Photo: RacePictures

'The F3 car really did well'

All in all, Michel is satisfied with the first year of the new generation F3 cars, which bodes well for F1's new regulations. He said:"They've been producing really good racing, which is the most important thing for us.

"When you launch a new car, you want to make sure that it is a technological evolution compared to the previous one, especially because all the systems are moving so fast and also the safety standards are moving so fast as well.

"So on this side, we knew it was going to be good because that was part of the DNA of the car.

"But what you always need to wait to see is how the racing is going to be, how the cars can follow each other, and how the cars can overtake each other. And it's been good. It's been really, really good. We're happy. Performance-wise, reliability-wise, everything went okay. So, it's a good first year."

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