The lower-level series, the ATS Formel 3 Cup, subsequently operated in Germany, but it folded after the end of the 2014 season.

The first few years of Formula Three in Germany were inevitably subject to the effects of the country's post-war geo-political situation, which resulted in the existence of two separate championships.

Bernd Schneider (1987) and Joachim Winkelhock (1988) went on to make F1 appearances and became champions at the highest levels of touring car racing.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen competed against Schumacher (sharing the runner-up position in 1989), and later became a winner of three Grands Prix.

Schumacher's championship successor, Tom Kristensen from Denmark, embarked on a sportscar career that peaked with a record number of eight Le Mans wins.

During the 1990s, two more future Grand Prix winners graduated from the German F3 Championship – Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli – together with many other notable drivers that include Alexander Wurz, Jos Verstappen, Norberto Fontana, Nick Heidfeld and Christijan Albers.

In 2002, the motorsport governing bodies of France and Germany collaborated to revive the concept of a European F3 championship.

However, the German championship had more entrants, many of whom had concerns about the inevitable cost increase that a pan-European event calendar would entail.

After a 2014 season in which grid numbers ranged between nine and 14 cars, the series' organisers rejected a proposed merger with the British Formula 3 Championship with the intention of continuing the F3 Cup in 2015 under the name German Formula Open in order to circumvent FIA rules on national F3 championships which stipulate that they can hold no more than one round outside their home country (the organisers were planning to hold races at three meetings abroad as part of the support package for the ADAC GT Masters championship).

[12] Despite the fact that F3 is still an open formula for which any chassis builder or engine tuner can supply a product provided that it meets the technical regulations, most championships have just one de facto choice of chassis supplier – usually Dallara – and two or three popular engine suppliers – usually Mugen-Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Spiess-Opel, or TOM's-Toyota.

It is being built by Spiess and is based on the company's Opel engine, but with some technical changes to lengthen the service interval and reduce running costs.