The series originated from the Spanish Formula Renault Championship, which ran from 1991 to 1997. It was founded as Open Fortuna by Nissan in 1998 and was primarily based in Spain, though it also visited other countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil. RPM Comunicacion, founded by Jaime Alguersuari Tortajada, handled the organization. The series frequently changed its name, often adopting the name of its main sponsor, and was also informally known as "Formula Nissan".
In its initial years, the series utilized Coloni chassis (type N1/C983) powered by a 2.0 L Nissan SR20 engine developed by Nissan Motorsports Europe, producing 250bhp. This positioned the series between Formula Three and Formula 3000. By 2002, a new format was adopted, featuring chassis supplied by Dallara and an upgraded VQ30 engine. The series also became more international, with over half of its races held outside Spain.
Renault launched the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup in 2003 as a support series for Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends. This series used Tatuus chassis and a Nissan 3.5 L V6 engine.
In 2005, Renault departed the Super Racing Weekend and established the World Series by Renault, which included the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. This merged the World Series by Nissan, whose engine contract had concluded, and the Renault V6 Eurocup. The Dallara chassis was retained, and the Renault V6 engine was enhanced to produce 425 PS. The Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy also joined as support series for the main FR3.5 series in 2005.
At the end of July 2015, Renault Sport announced its withdrawal of support for the Formula Renault 3.5 from 2016 onwards, transferring control to co-organizer RPM. Renault Sport indicated it would continue the World Series by Renault with the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Consequently, RPM renamed the series Formula V8 3.5. In December 2016, the series' name was further changed to World Series Formula V8 3.5 to enhance championship recognition.
On November 17, 2017, it was announced that due to a lack of entries, the series would not proceed in 2018, with a possibility of a future relaunch.
From 2008 to 2011, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series used the Dallara T08 chassis and a 3.5-liter V6 Nissan VQ35 engine, delivering 480 bhp with an 8500 rpm rev limit. The gearbox was a 6-speed semi-automatic Ricardo unit with steering wheel paddle shift, and the car's total dry weight was 600 kg.
Beginning with the 2012 season, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series adopted the Dallara T12 chassis, powered by a 3.4-liter V8 engine producing 530 BHP at 9250 rpm, developed by Zytek. These cars had 50 more horsepower and were 15 kg lighter than their predecessors. A Drag Reduction System, similar to the one used in Formula One, was also implemented.
Specifications for the series included a 3.4 L DOHC V8 engine, a 6-speed paddle shift gearbox with reverse, a weight of 623 kg, a power output of 530 hp, and a torque output of 330 lb⋅ft. The cars used Elf LMS 102 RON unleaded fuel with a capacity of 29 US gallons (110 litres), fuel injection, and normally-aspirated aspiration. The dimensions were 5,070 mm in length, 1,930 mm in width, and a 3,125 mm wheelbase, with power-assisted rack and pinion steering.
1998–2001: Primarily a Spanish-based series, also known as Formula Nissan, with a 2.0L engine.
2002–2004: An international series featuring a V6 engine.
Marc Gené (1998: Champion, 2003: 12th) competed in Formula One for Minardi and Williams.
Fernando Alonso (1999: Champion) competed in Formula One for Minardi, McLaren, Ferrari, and Alpine, and was a two-time world champion with Renault. He currently competes in Formula One for Aston Martin.
Giorgio Pantano (1999: 21st) competed in Formula One for Jordan.
Franck Montagny (2001: Champion, 2002: 2nd, 2003: Champion) competed in Formula One for Super Aguri and with Andretti in Formula E.
Ricardo Zonta (2002: Champion) competed in Formula One for BAR, Jordan, and Toyota.
Justin Wilson (2002: 4th) competed in Formula One for Minardi and Jaguar, and in IndyCar for Dale Coyne and Andretti Autosport.
Narain Karthikeyan (2002: 9th, 2003: 4th, 2004: 6th) competed in Formula One for Jordan and HRT in 2011.
Heikki Kovalainen (2003: 2nd, 2004: Champion) competed in Formula One for Renault, McLaren, Caterham, and Team Lotus.
Enrique Bernoldi (2003: 6th, 2004: 3rd) competed in Formula One for Arrows.
Stéphane Sarrazin (2003: 7th) competed in Formula One for Minardi and currently races with SMP Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Tiago Monteiro (2004: 2nd) competed in Formula One for Jordan and Midland/Spyker. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) with Munnich Motorsport.
Robert Kubica (2005: Champion) competed in Formula One for BMW Sauber, Renault, Williams F1, and Alfa Romeo Racing.
Markus Winkelhock (2005: 3rd) had a one-off Formula One drive for Spyker in 2007.
Kamui Kobayashi (2005 Eurocup: 1st) competed in Formula One for Toyota, Sauber, and Caterham.
Karun Chandhok (2005: 29th) competed in Formula One for HRT and Lotus.
Pastor Maldonado (2005: 25th; 2006: 3rd) competed in Formula One for Williams and Lotus.
Sebastian Vettel (2006: 15th, 2007: 5th) competed in Formula One for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Ferrari, and Aston Martin, and was a four-time Formula One world champion with Red Bull Racing.
Giedo van der Garde (2007: 6th, 2008: Champion) competed in Formula One for Caterham.
Jaime Alguersuari (2009: 6th) competed in Formula One for Toro Rosso.
Daniel Ricciardo (2010: 2nd; 2011: 5th) competed in Formula One for HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Renault, McLaren, AlphaTauri, and RB.
Jean-Éric Vergne (2010: 8th; 2011: 2nd) competed in Formula One for Toro Rosso and currently races for DS Penske in Formula E.
Robin Frijns (2012: Champion) was a Formula One reserve driver for Caterham in 2014.
Jules Bianchi (2012: 2nd) last competed in Formula One with Marussia. He passed away on July 17, 2015.
Will Stevens (2012: 12th; 2013: 4th; 2014: 6th) competed in Formula One for Caterham and Marussia.
Sergey Sirotkin (2013: 8th) competed in Formula One for Williams.
Kevin Magnussen (2013: Champion) competed in Formula One with McLaren, Renault, and Haas.
Stoffel Vandoorne (2013: 2nd) competed in Formula One for McLaren and currently races for DS Penske in Formula E.
Roberto Merhi (2014: 3rd; 2015: 14th) competed in Formula One for Marussia.
Carlos Sainz Jr. (2014: Champion) competed in Formula One for Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari. He currently competes in Formula One for Williams.
Alfonso Celis Jr. (2014: 27th; 2015: 16th; 2016: 11th; 2017: 3rd) was a development driver in Formula One for Force India from 2016 to 2017.
Esteban Ocon (2014: 23rd) competed in Formula One for Force India, Renault, and Alpine. He currently competes in Formula One for Haas.
Pierre Gasly (2014: 2nd) competed in Formula One for Scuderia Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, and AlphaTauri. He currently competes in Formula One for Alpine.
Pietro Fittipaldi (2017 Champion) competed in Formula One for Haas F1 Team and was a reserve/development driver for Haas F1 Team in 2023.
Nyck de Vries (2015: 3rd) competed in Formula One for Williams and AlphaTauri and currently races for Mahindra in Formula E.
Andy Priaulx (2001: 18th) was the 2004 European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) Champion and the 2005, 2006, and 2007 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) World Champion.
Matteo Bobbi (2001: 11th, 2002: 6th) was the 2003 FIA GT Champion.
Alex Lloyd (2005: 40th) was the 2007 Indy Lights champion.
Simon Pagenaud (2005: 16th) was the 2006 Atlantics Champion and the 2016 IndyCar champion.
Davide Valsecchi (2006: 10th, 2007: 16th) was the 2012 GP2 Series Champion.
Will Power (2005: 7th) is a two-time IndyCar champion (2014, 2022).
Miloš Pavlović (2005: 17th; 2006: 11th; 2007: 3rd) won the 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
Tom Dillmann (2015: 7th, 2016 Champion) is a champion in multiple categories, including the 2022 Le Mans Cup - LMP3, 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2, and winner of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2.
Alex Palou (2017: 10th) is a four-time IndyCar champion (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025).
Álvaro Parente (2006: 5th; 2007: 1st) is a GP2 Series winner and has driven for several teams, including Super Nova Racing, Ocean Racing Technology, Scuderia Coloni, and Racing Engineering.
Esteban Guerrieri (2008: 8th, 2009: 19th, 2010: 3rd) was the 2011 and 2012 Indy Lights runner-up for Sam Schmidt Motorsports and the 2019 WTCR runner-up.
World Series by Renault races were broadcast live on the pan-European Eurosport channel, its sister stations Eurosport2 and British Eurosport, as part of a package of combined open-wheel and touring car races. Eurosport also sold broadcast rights to non-European networks, reaching as far as Southeast Asia and Oceania. Estonia's Kanal 12 and Spain's Aragon TV also carried the races live. Abbreviated highlights were shown by various other networks, including Sky Sports, MotorsTV, RTL 7 in the Netherlands, ESPN Star Sports in Asia, Speed in South America, and Esporte Interativo in Brazil.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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