The first Formula Three championship in the UK was the Autosport F3 series of 1951, won by Eric Brandon. By 1954 the championship had formalised as a national-level series organised by the British Racing and Sports Car Club, using the 500cc engine formula that characterised early Formula Three. That formula remained active in Britain until 1959, after which the category transitioned into Formula Junior.
The FIA reintroduced Formula Three in 1964 using a one-litre engine formula, and two competing F3 championships ran in Britain that year. Through the early 1970s, three regional series — the Lombard North, John Player, and Forward Trust championships — ran concurrently, and it was common for drivers to compete across multiple series. By 1979, the BARC and BRDC merged their series into a single Vandervell British F3 Championship, which was later renamed the Marlboro British F3 Championship and subsequently the Lucas British F3 Championship.
The engine capacity was raised to two litres in 1974 and remained at that level until the championship ended. In 1984 a B class for older chassis was introduced, helping to expand grids significantly through the 1980s. This was later renamed the Scholarship class and then the National class.
In 2004 the SRO organisation took over the running of the series, aligning it with the British GT Championship calendar. Despite this, the arrival of high-spending engine manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen in the late 2000s inflated costs, while the revival of the FIA-backed European Formula Three Championship in 2012 drew entries away from British F3. Grids dropped to the mid-teens by 2012. A reduced calendar of four meetings was run in 2013, rising again to seven in 2014, but grids remained very small — sometimes with as few as five cars in a race. A planned merger with the German Formula Three Championship fell through, and the 2014 season was confirmed as the last. The series' full title at the close was the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.
Like other Formula Three series, British F3 permitted multiple chassis manufacturers, though in practice the Italian company Dallara became overwhelmingly dominant after entering the series in 1993. Prior to Dallara's arrival, Ralt and Reynard were the leading chassis, with March widely used through much of the 1970s. Challengers to Dallara from TOM'S, Mygale, and Lola achieved little sustained success.
Control tyres were supplied by Avon Tyres from 1982 onwards; from 2009 these were rebranded as Cooper Tires when Cooper became the championship's title sponsor. The two principal engine suppliers at the time of the series' closure were AMG-Mercedes, tuned by HWA, and Volkswagen. Mugen-Honda, tuned by Neil Brown Engineering, had been the dominant engine of the 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s before Mercedes entered in 2006.
The British Formula Three Championship produced an exceptional roster of future grand prix drivers. Jackie Stewart and Emerson Fittipaldi were among the early champions. Nelson Piquet won the title in 1978. Ayrton Senna took the championship in 1983 with a dominant campaign. Mika Hakkinen won in 1990 and Rubens Barrichello in 1991. Takuma Sato was champion in 2001, and Daniel Ricciardo won in 2009. Helio Castroneves was also among those who took the title before pursuing careers in other disciplines. Kimi Raikkonen's path was notable for a different reason: after winning the British Formula Renault championship he moved directly to Formula One without passing through British F3.
For roughly four decades the British Formula Three Championship served as one of the most reliable indicators of future grand prix talent in European motorsport. Its combination of competitive machinery, experienced teams, and quality circuits provided a rigorous environment in which young drivers could develop the racecraft and technical understanding required for progression to Formula Two and Formula One. The decline caused by rising costs and the competition from a reinstated FIA European series illustrated the vulnerability of national-level championships to regulatory and commercial pressures from governing bodies.