World Series Formula V8 3.5 is the latest in a long line of championships and races that have lived a finite existence.

In 2015 out went Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, with the Masters of Formula 3 doing the same a year later. After 2018, European Formula 3 and GP3 will follow suit.

As it stands now, the only junior single-seater championships at F3 level or above going into 2019 with more than 20 uninterrupted years of existence are Japanese F3, Indy Lights and FIA Formula 2, which previously existed as GP2, International F3000 and European F2, the name it ran under when originally conceived in 1967.

Technically, the current F2 has only been in existence for one season, and even then, the FIA ?prefix? was little more than a branding feature until this year.

Championships have to evolve, be replaced, or die, so new ones can come and flourish in their place.

Would the current BRDC British F3, nee BRDC F4, have flourished had the ?original? British F3 not have died in 2014?

It is sad to see a championship end, especially one which had established a large fan base thanks to its old tack of charging fans nothing to attend races, but it’s the way of life.

There are many championships in junior single-seaters, and while one may mourn their favourite, they’ll more likely than not eventually be gushing over the latest that motorsport has to offer.

Races from years gone by can be found on YouTube and motorsport subreddits, and anyone who still wants to see the Dallara T12 car or any of its predecessors in action can attend a round of the BOSS GP championship.

FV8 3.5, a former powerhouse in single-seaters, did burn out though, and it did so for a number of reasons.

Think back to October 2011. Carlin team-mates Robert Wickens and Jean-Eric Vergne were both fighting it out for the Formula Renault 3.5 title, as it was then known, and headed into the final round of the season at Barcelona separated by two points.

After a near double win for Alexander Rossi in the opening round at Aragon, the championship became a two-horse race between the Marussia-backed Wickens and Red Bull junior Vergne.

At the second round of the season at Spa-Francorchamps they took a first and a second each, with Vergne’s win being earned after the Frenchman closed down a gap his team-mate had built up, and then overtaking the Canadian at Les Combes in a move that left millimetres to spare.

Wickens had to lock up both front wheels to avoid contact, but showed no bad blood towards Vergne, and high fived his team-mate after the race.

Both struck problems at Monza, but Vergne still left the weekend with a win and the championship lead, which came off the back of a thrilling battle with fellow Red Bull junior Daniel Ricciardo. Vergne won the race with half of his front wing scraping against the ground, although the trophy only became his four months later at Paul Ricard after a penalty for cutting Monza’s Roggia chicane was overturned.

The overturning of the penalty tightened up the championship battle, as Wickens had a weekend to forget in France. His 34-point lead, which he had procured through a double win at Silverstone, one at the Nurburgring and a further two podiums, was reduced to two points.

Wickens had let the overturning of the penalty “get under my skin”, and finished second to Vergne in the first race. A restless Wickens qualified down in seventh for the second encounter, and finished 19th after getting a puncture from contact.

The Barcelona season finale was full of drama, and meant the title fell safely into Wickens’s hands.

In the first race Vergne qualified ninth after using the mandated low drag setup, but finished in second, albeit over 20 seconds behind his team-mate. With the points gap between the pair increased once again, Vergne went into the final race with the sole intention of taking his sixth win of the season.

A fast-starting Anton?Nebylitskiy led to a cautious Wickens braking early into turn one on the first lap, which helped Vergne slip down the inside. Vergne’s front left wheel slammed into Wicken’s sidepod, but most of the damage was inflicted upon his own trackrod. A second similar impact a turn later from Wickens did the same, and Wickens’ out-of-control machine had then knocked Nathanael Berthon into an aerial roll.

Both retired, although Vergne made it further into the race before being spun out, and the title was Wickens’.

Vergne was obviously frustrated with the outcome of the championship, but he still maintains a relationship with Wickens, who looks back on his time in FR3.5 very fondly.

Meanwhile in GP2, former Renault Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean had already wrapped up the title, marking the end of a career in the championship that started in 2008.

Second place in the standings seemed to be one of the most undesired positions, with a number of highly rated drivers throwing away their chance, and for some, a headstart for a future F1 career.

Through came Luca Filippi, in his sixth season of GP2, and with the backmarker Scuderia Coloni team.

He won three of the last eight races, having only scored points twice in the first ten, and ended up beating Jules Bianchi, Sam Bird, Dani Clos and Giedo van der Garde to name but a few.

GP2 was not an all-out bore every weekend, but the level of competition at the front was simply deficient, and it’s no wonder that Wickens still gushes about his time in FR3.5 to this day [see box].

Robert Wickens on his 2011 FR3.5 title battle with Jean-Eric Vergne When me and Vergne were team-mates in FR3.5 at Carlin in 2011, it was insane what levels we bought each other to to beat each other. There?s no question that Carlin obviously had a very good car that year, but I honestly think that me and JEV pushing each other every session to be better than each other in every session [made the difference], because were both at such a high level all year. I would be driving well, he would be driving well. You?re never faster than your team-mate in every corner. You?re always taking something. We were both looking at data. He?s one of the very few drivers I?ve come across that could see your data, then the next session replicate exactly what you were doing. So if you had an advantage in one turn, the next session it wasn?t there anymore. I don?t know how many poles we got at Carlin that year, I want to say it was something like 13 or 14 out of the 17 races. I had seven. It was just a crazy, crazy year. We won five races each. 10 of the 17. It was crazy. Interview by Tom Errington

All championships have good seasons and dud ones, but this was a time when 3.5 really was the better of the two primary F1 feeders.

Helmut Marko, head of the Red Bull Junior Team, has had a general reluctance to place his proteges in GP2, and of his 16 drivers he put in FR3.5 between 2006-17, eight of them finished in the top three in standings and/or made it to F1 with Red Bull backing. Of them, only Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley then spent time in GP2 before making the step up to F1.

DAMS also announced their interest in re-entering the championship in 2011, having entered for a sole season in 2005 with little success, and did so with the intention of making it a feeder team to their GP2 squad. Of the seven drivers that raced for the FR3.5 team between 2012-’15, two won the championship and went straight to F1, and none continued with the French team to GP2.

Wickens didn’t make it to F1, but when you hear about Carlin boss Trevor Carlin describing Vergne as one of the very best drivers he ever had, you know that the Canadian must have been performing at an extraordinary level.

FR3.5 may not have been on the F1 support bill, but it worked it to its advantage for a long time, as it sat at the top of the World Series by Renault circus that travelled the world and became one of the rare sellout events for many circuits.

The champion also received a prize test in an F1 car, something GP2/F2 has never promised, and Renault occasionally utilised the championship leader for their Roadshow, which normally included F1 demos.

Most successful World Series Formula V8 3.5 graduates (FV8 3.5 stats in italics)

Sebastian Vettel, Germany – 2010, ’11, ’12 & ’13 Formula 1 world champion, 5th in 2007, 15th in 2006

Fernando Alonso, Spain – 2005 & ’06 Formula 1 world champion, 1999 champion

Will Power, Australia – 2014 IndyCar champion, 7th in 2005

Simon Pagenaud, France – 2016 Indycar champion, 2006 Atlantic champion,?16th in 2005

Daniel Ricciardo, Australia – 3rd in 2014 & ’16 Formula 1,?2nd in 2010, 5th in 2011,?34th in 2009

Justin Wilson, Britain – 2nd in 2006 & ’07 Champ Car,?4th in 2002

Edoardo Mortara, Italy – currently 4th in 2017-18 Formula E, 2009 & ’10 Macau GP winner, 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series champion, GP2 racewinner,?24th in 2009

Robert Kubica, Poland – 4th in 2008 Formula 1, 2008 Canadian GP winner, 2nd in 2005 Macau GP,?2005 champion

Heikki Kovalainen, Finland – 7th in 2007 & ’08 Formula 1, 2008 Hungarian GP winner, 2nd in 2005 GP2, 2004 champion,?2nd in 2003

Sam Bird, Britain – currently 1st in 2017-18 Formula E, 2nd in 2013 GP2,?3rd in 2012

Alexander Rossi, USA – 7th in 2017 IndyCar, 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, 2nd in 2015 GP2,?3rd in 2011, 11th in 2012

Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain – 9th in 2017 Formula 1,?2014 champion, 19th in 2013

This created a lot of publicity for Renault, which actually only branded the engines used in FR3.5 rather than make them themselves. Publicity costs money though, and it was no easy job for Renault Sport to make WSR profitable.

It was the publicity that initially attracted the French manufacturer, which previously ran in Eurosport’s popular early 2000s ‘Super Racing Weekends’, an umbrella title for a calendar shared between the FIA’s GT and European Touring Car championships, with the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, which counted Jose Maria Lopez and Giorgio Mondini as its champions.

In 2005, Renault signed its own exclusive contract with Eurosport, and took over the World Series by Nissan championship, that had been running to broadly similar rules to the V6 Eurocup since 2002.

The WSR bill included the renamed FR3.5 series, the FR2.0 Eurocup and the Megane Eurocup Trophy, and was immediately popular, with all three grids amassing 20 cars with ease.

Although Nissan and championship promoter RPM Racing had started to internationalise the calendar in 2002, it was still a primarily Spanish-based championship before Renault took over. The 2005 calendar was a huge step up, with trips to two contemporary F1 circuits, including Monaco, and a never before attempted street race in Bilbao.

The Bilbao round was scrapped after one year, but grid sizes continued to hold strong, with some averaging in the mid-20s.

In 2010, Renault added a fourth championship to the WSR paddock. Formula 4 Eurocup 1.6, which is now known as French F4, initially held the slot, but was replaced by the Eurocup Clio championship from 2011 onwards.

All-time World Series Formula V8 3.5 statistics