The superlicence points system introduced by the FIA has put a new focus on how useful championships outside F1 are for preparing young drivers for grand prix racing.

And questions have been raised over whether some series are valued too low or too high in the points structure.

Which series has got closest to F1 performance levels – and which is losing out most in the FIA’s superlicence structure? Let’s see how their lap times compared in 2014.

Top single seaters

GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5 have been the top feeder series for promoting young drivers to F1 in recent years.

The Renault cars were overhauled in 2012 but the V8 engines the series is named after have around 80bhp less than GP2’s four-litre units. However the performance of the Formula Renault 3.5 cars is boosted by a lower weight (623kg versus 688kg) and upgraded aerodynamics which include powerful venturi tunnels under the cars.

The result is while both categories would stand a chance of beating F1’s 107% rule at Monaco, GP2 cars would also have been able to do that last year at some other circuits where engine performance is more of a deciding factor.

The addition of DRS to GP2 next year – something Formula Renault 3.5 has had for the last three seasons – is likely to add a further performance boost. However there is at least one other single-seater championship which gets closer to F1 performance levels than this.

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Data based on fastest weekend lap times at tracks in 2014 and 2013.

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Mid-level single seaters

When GP3 was introduced five years ago the performance of its cars was close to Formula Three levels. However the new GP3/13 car introduced last year has upped engine power to 400bhp, so that even though F3 cars are some 65kg lighter, the GP3 cars are decisively quicker.

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Data based on fastest weekend lap times at tracks in 2014.

Closed wheel racers

The World Endurance Championship is giving F1 a serious run for its money in terms of attracting manufacturers who want to develop high performance racing cars. Nissan are the latest to join alongside Audi, Porsche and Toyota.

The closed-wheel nature of the cars keeps a lid on aerodynamic performance but Toyota claim their TS040 produces 986bhp. As they are unencumbered by F1-style ‘designed to degrade’ tyres they are able to produce lap times not far off what GP2 cars are capable of.

Touring car championships are not considered worthy of superlicence points in the FIA’s eyes. But the performance of DTM cars is particularly eye-catching – despite weighing 1,120kg, their 500-plus bhp V8 engines gives them far superior performance to the FIA’s World Touring Car Championship, where the cars have around 24% less power.

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Which series is closest to F1?

The Japanese Super Formula SF14 car, which was introduced last year, may be the quickest racing car outside Formula One.

The only circuit the championship shares with the grand prix cars is Suzuka – undoubtedly a serious test of car performance. Last year Andre Lotterer lapped the track in 1’36.994, which would have put him 19th on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The cars use 2.0-litre four-cylinder inline engines supplied by Honda and Toyota, which produced around 542bhp. At 660kg it’s lighter than a GP2 car, and could certainly hold its own against the Caterham which Lotterer raced at Spa-Francorchamps last year.

Despite that, the FIA ranks six other championships, plus a to-be-announced Formula Two series, more highly than Super Formula when it comes to awarding F1 superlicence points. A total of 63 points are available in Super Formula compared to 173 in GP2.

Similarly, there are 93 points up for grabs in Formula Renault 3.5, whereas drivers can compete for the sane number of points driving much slower cars in GP3, or 124 points by driving even slower cars in European Formula Three. And forget about Auto GP – the FIA doesn’t award any points for that at all.

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But what about…

Making like-for-like comparisons such as this only works when the same cars can be compared on the same tracks.

IndyCar, for example, races in America, Canada and Brazil but doesn’t visit the Circuit of the Americas, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or Interlagos so there’s no potential for comparison.

However it’s clear these cars, which qualify at an average speed of 371kph on the daunting Indianapolis oval, are one of the closest matches for F1 machines out there. And with aerodynamic development returning to the championship this year, their lap times should fall too.

Newcomer Formula E has not yet raced on any circuits shared by other cars. It is scheduled to do so later this year, with events at Monaco and Long Beach, which are also used by Formula One and Indy Car respectively.

However in both cases FE will use slightly shorter versions of these tracks. Nonetheless sector times and trackside perspectives will give the best impression yet of just how wide the gap is between conventional and all-electric single-seater racing cars.

F1 set for a performance push

The gap between F1 and other championships closed up last year, largely due to the new engine formula F1 introduced. The shrinking performance margin may explain why we have seen younger and less experienced drivers such as Max Verstappen making the leap up to F1.

As teams develop their V6 turbo hybrids this year and beyond we should see F1 lap times fall. But in the meantime we have seen some single-specification categories introduced higher-performing cars, and manufacturers in series like the World Endurance Championship pushing ahead with racing car development outside of grand prix racing.

Formula One bosses are now agitating for a rapid increase in engine performance to 1,000bhp – a 20-25% increase on current power levels. As these figures show, it could be a timely shot in the arm for the F1 racing spectacle.

2015 F1 season