The 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the eighth championship year of the Formula 3 Euro Series. It began on 10 April at Circuit Paul Ricard and finished on 17 October at Hockenheim after eighteen races at nine meetings. Grids for the 2010 season were substantially down on the previous season; with a maximum of sixteen drivers taking part in any of the season's meetings, after teams Manor Motorsport, SG Formula, Carlin Motorsport, HBR Motorsport and Kolles & Heinz Union all pulled out to focus on other series.
On track, series veteran Edoardo Mortara returned to the formulae after a season competing for Arden International, and with seven victories – all coming in the Saturday, higher points-awarding races – during the season, Mortara took the championship at the wheel of his Signature-run Dallara-Volkswagen, giving Volkswagen their first Euro Series championship. Second place was not resolved until the final round, as Mortara's teammate Marco Wittmann and ART Grand Prix's Valtteri Bottas battled over the placing. Bottas had to win the final race to deny Wittmann of second place, but could only finish third and thus Wittmann completed the Signature 1–2, taking a single victory during the season at the first Hockenheim meeting. Bottas finished third for the second consecutive season, after his first two Euro Series wins – although he had previously won two successive Masters of Formula 3 events at Zandvoort, which is a non-championship race – at the Norisring and Oschersleben.
Bottas' teammate Alexander Sims also matched his final 2009 placing, taking fourth place with one victory once again, winning the opening sprint race of the season at Paul Ricard but took four further podium finishes to confirm fourth. Mücke Motorsport's Roberto Merhi completed the top five, taking his first Euro Series win in the first Hockenheim sprint race. Other sprint race victories included four for the Motopark Academy squad, including three successive for top rookie finisher – seventh in the championship – António Félix da Costa who won at the Nürburgring, Zandvoort and Brands Hatch having started each from the front row due to the series' reverse-grid system for the top eight finishers from the previous day's race. Kevin Magnussen, on a one-off outing from his usual commitments in the German Formula Three championship, also claimed a sprint race victory for Motopark at Valencia. Daniel Juncadella won the final race of the season at Hockenheim, while Jim Pla, ART's third driver, took the other victory at Oschersleben. Signature's 1–2 championship finish allowed the team to claim their respective championship, while the Nations Cup was won by Italy through Mortara.
Prize tests
The top drivers in the championship standings at the end of the year were rewarded with a wide range of prize tests in various other racing categories. The top three drivers – Mortara, Wittmann and Bottas – all received a Formula Renault 3.5 Series test.
A nine-round calendar was announced on 18 December 2009.[18] The calendar was reduced to eight rounds on 29 January 2010 after the Euro Series decided to skip the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters events at Lausitz and the second Hockenheim round.[19] However, the series did add a season-closing round at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.[19] This was later removed, in place of a round at Paul Ricard in support of the Le Mans Series, with the second Hockenheim round returning.[20]
^Schneider, Fabian (23 February 2011). "Bottas absolviert Test für Mercedes". Motorsport Magazin (in German). Adrivo Sportpresse GmbH. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
^ ab"First match point for Edoardo Mortara". Formula 3 Euro Series. ITR e.V. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2010. And the Portuguese da Costa will contest the home event of his squad with two new team-mates: the 21-year-old German Tobias Hegewald will make his Formula 3 Euro Series debut for the Oschersleben based team and Renger van der Zande is going to make his comeback, at the wheel of a Motopark Academy racer.
