A stunning trio of races at Silverstone last weekend highlighted the success of the new FIA Formula 3 European Championship, with drivers and team bosses praising the work of FIA Single Seater Commission President Gerhard Berger.

Now in its second season, round two of the series saw a grid of 30 drivers take part in three races supporting the FIA World Endurance Championship. Drivers from three different teams – Harry Tincknell, Felix Rosenqvist and Raffaele Marciello – shared the wins, highlighting the competitive nature of the racing.

Felix Rosenqvist, who competes for the Kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport team, was one of the stars of the weekend after a brilliant move to overtake Harry Tincknell for the lead in race two. “The series is as good as it could be at F3 level, I think everything that happened was positive,” said Rosenqvist, who lies second in the championship. “There’s a wider range of tracks, a much bigger field, better drivers and better teams.”

Team owner Trevor Carlin runs four cars in the championship, including that of Tincknell who set pole for two races at Silverstone and claimed his first victory in the series in race one. Trevor Carlin said Gerhard Berger had done a great job, adding: “We see this as the premier Formula 3 series in the world and we want to support it.”

Speaking at Silverstone, Berger said that restructuring junior single seater racing was not an easy task and could not be achieved overnight. After the success of the 2012 season and the strength of the first two rounds of 2013, however, he added: “I was hoping, but not expecting, such a strong grid. We did not know where we were going to come out and we have a very high quality of drivers and teams, so today Formula 3 is one of the best formula on the way to Formula 1.”

Raffaele Marciello, who races for the Prema Powerteam squad and is supported by Ferrari Driver Academy, currently leads the championship standings with 106.5 points ahead of the next round at Hockenheim on 4-5 May.