MRF F2000 an indicator for FIA Formula 3?

Is Harrison Newey’s domination and Mick Schumacher’s lacklustre performance a preview of what we can expect from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship this year?

The first two rounds of the 2016-2017 season of the MRF Challenge were held in Bahrain and Dubai. The F2000 cars returned to the Buddh International Circuit, in Greater Noida for the first time since 2013 for the third round, before concluding at the MMRT in Chennai.

After all four rounds were concluded, Harrison Newey and Joey Mawson were tied in the championship standings with 277 points each. However, Newey dominated the season and claimed the championship crown. Mawson lost out on the title in the very last race in Chennai despite looking favourite all season when he finished third, following a battle with Schumacher.

The very final race of the season was the championship decider. Mawson started from pole along side Schumacher. But going into turn 1, Schumacher lost a place to Newey as the safety car was summoned when Ralf Aron collided with Neil Verhagen at the start of the race. At the restart, Mawson held on to his lead over Newey and Schumacher. However, a mistake on lap 11 was enough for Newey to get past and take the lead. Due to Mawson’s mistake, Schumacher was able to close in the gap and eventually get past into second place. This was the final nail in the coffin for Mawson’s championship run as a tie in the championship standing gave Newey the title.

Out of the total of 16 races, Mawson finished every one of them and classified outside the podium only four times. Mawson went into the final round in Chennai leading the championship. Despite winning the second race, Mawson was announced as runner-up for the title, as Newey had more race wins to his name.

Schumacher won four races all season and finished on the podium five times. But his somewhat aggressive driving style would eventually come around to bite him. During the second round in Dubai, Schumacher collided with Juri Vips in race 3 forcing him to retire from the race, followed by a puncture which ended his final attempt in Dubai. Schumacher also suffered a crash in the final race of round three after a collision with Brazilian driver, Felipe Drugovich. His challenge for the title was terminated when he lost control of his car and crashed during the third race in Chennai at the final round of the season. Though Schumacher has had some success in other formats like Formula 4, he has never claimed a championship title in the open wheeler category, missing out every time by narrow margins.

Schumacher, Mawson and Newey have confirmed to compete in the upcoming FIA Formula 3 European Championship season this year. Also competing in the series is Indian driver, Jehan Daruvala, who will make his switch from Formula Renault 2.0 this year as well.

With Newey dominating the MRF F2000 season and Schumacher struggling to match him or Mawson in terms of results, we have a feeling that this could lead to an interesting season in the European F3 series.