2025 Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup

The 2025 Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup was the 44th Austrian Formula 3 Cup season and the seventh season since Drexler-Automotive took over the title sponsoring of the series.^[1]

The 2025 season was held over seven race weekends across Europe.^[2] It began in April at Monza Circuit and concluded in October at Misano World Circuit. The championship continued its cooperation with the F2000 Italian Formula Trophy, with the two series sharing grids and race slots for multiple rounds.

Jo Zeller Racing's Sandro Zeller took his eighth title in the championship's highest class, the Formula 3 Cup. Team Hoffmann Racing's André Petropoulos was victorious in the Formula 3 Trophy, while STAC's Jérémy Clavaud became the inaugural Formula Regional Class winner and LRT's Michael Fischer claimed the Formula Light Cup title.

The 2025 season saw the introduction of a Formula Regional Class, open for Tatuus F3 T-318 cars using Renault or Alfa Romeo engines. The other three classes remained the same: The Formula 3 Cup and Formula 3 Trophy classes divided the entered Formula 3 cars based on their age and power output, while the Formula Light Cup remained open for Formula Renault and Formula 4 cars.^[3]

The 2025 calendar was announced on 9 January 2025.^[2] The series made its debut on two tracks, the Automotodróm Slovakia Ring and the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Three tracks left the calendar in the Lausitzring, the Red Bull Ring and Vallelunga Circuit, meaning the series downsized from eight to seven rounds and did compete in Austria for the first time in its history, despite its original name being the Austrian Formula 3 Cup.

The 2025 season commenced in April at Monza Circuit. In the primary F3 Cup class, Franz Wöss Racing's Benjámin Berta and Jo Zeller Racing's Sandro Zeller took a win and a second place apiece, with Berta taking an early lead in the standings as his win came in the higher-rewarding feature race. Wins in the F3 Trophy went to Jo Zeller Racing's Lee Cunningham and Facondini Racing's Oliver Kratsch, while STAC's Jérémy Clavaud became the championship's inaugural Formula Regional class winner before following that up with a second victory in race two. Viola Formula Racing driver Luis Aguiar meanwhile claimed two wins on his debut in the Formula Light Cup to also establish an early lead.^[11]

Mugello Circuit hosted round two, where the battle between Zeller and Berta continued. Berta won race one, before the pair collided in race two. That saw Viola Formula's Andrea Benalli inherit victory as Berta retired and Zeller finished fourth in class to take the championship lead despite incurring a 20-second penalty for the collision with Berta. All three other classes saw unchallenged double victories, with Clavaud and Aguiar doubling up on their round one performances to grow their win streaks in Formula Regional and Formula Light, while Nannini Racing's Davide Pedetti took victory ahead of Team Hoffmann Racing's André Petropoulos in both races in the F3 Trophy.^[12]

The field for all four classes shrunk for the series' third round at the Hockenheimring. The F3 Cup was dominated by Berta, who was fastest in both qualifying sessions before doubling up and leading Zeller in both races to reclaim the championship lead. Clavaud did not travel to Germany to try to sustain his Formula Regional win streak, leaving Neri Autosport's Luca Iannacone to take two wins as the sole competitor in class. Similarly, Aguiar was absent in the Formula Light Cup, leaving LRT's Michael Fischer to dominate the field with a double win. Wins in the F3 Trophy were shared between Jo Zeller Racing's Marcel Tobler and Petropoulos, with Cunningham taking the standings lead in class.^[13]

Round four saw the series debut at the Slovakia Ring, but only 13 cars entered across all classes. Berta crucially was not among them, handing Zeller the lead in the F3 Cup on a silver platter - only half points were awarded for both races, though, as only two cars entered the class. Iannacone and Fischer continued their win streaks in Formula Regional and Formula Light, with the former once again the only competitor in his class and the latter now level on points with early season dominator Aguiar. Only three cars entered the F3 Trophy class, where APE Racing's Nikolay Takev and Jo Zeller Racing's Urs Rüttimann took a win each as none of the drivers topping the standings entered the event.^[14]

Berta returned to the field for round five at Brno Circuit in dominant fashion: he swept the weekend by setting pole position in both qualifying sessions before winning both races overall and in class, leading Zeller, closing the gap to the Swiss in the F3 Cup standings once again. The F3 Trophy saw the return of frontrunners Petropoulos and Cunningham, with the pair taking a race win each to end the weekend level on points. The Formula Regional class finally saw some competition for Iannacone, with Puresport's Christof Ledermann wining both races on his return to the category, while Fischer notched up two more wins in Formula Light to build his streak up to six and take the lead in the class.^[15]

The penultimate round at Imola Circuit delivered the next twist in the F3 Cup title battle. Berta claimed pole position in qualifying, but Zeller beat him in both races to take two more victories and move closer to securing the title. The F3 Trophy saw a multi-car crash in the first race that eliminated Petropoulos, with Sud Motorsport's Giuseppe Marinaro taking the win, before the German bounced back with victory in race two to move back into the championship lead. Neri's Sebastien Banchereau won race one in Formula Regional, before Clavaud was back on top in race two as Fischer's Formula Light streak was broken by Speed Motor's Karim Sartori, but the Austrian still wrapped up the title.^[16]

Three of the four class championships were yet to be decided in the final round at Misano. The F3 Cup title was decided in anticlimactic fashion when Berta retired with a mechanical issue in the first race, handing victory and the title to Zeller. The same issues prevented Berta from taking part in the second race, which was won by his teammate Victor Smialek on his return to the series. With Ledermann and Clavaud both absent, Puresport's Mattia Bagioni won both races in Formula Regional, while Petropoulos took the title in the F3 Trophy by coming second twice behind Kratsch. Sartori meanwhile took both victories in the Formula Light Cup to cement his second place in the standings.^[17]

Championship veteran Zeller claimed his eighth series title after two years of finishing behind Berta, but the picture might have been different had Berta not skipped the round in Slovakia and had he not suffered mechanical problems in the final round. Both took six victories each, but with Berta retiring twice, Zeller had the advantage. Title battles in the other classes were all shaped by high entry fluctuation, with no driver in the F3 Trophy and none of the race winners in Formula Light competing for the whole season. The newly-introduced Formula Regional class lastly suffered from low entry numbers all season long, with the high point of six cars from the opening round never reached again afterwards.

The scoring system was overhauled in 2025. The shorter, first race of each weekend was designated the Sprint Race, where classified drivers scored the following points:

The second race of each weekend, the longer Feature Race, awarded more points:

Points were awarded per class. If less than three cars entered in a class, half points were awarded for the race.^[18]

• Website of the AFR Cups [German]