ART Grand Prix
ASM had already competed in European and French Formula Renault 2.0 before expanding its operations to include the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2003. In 2004, the team dominated, with drivers Jamie Green and Alexandre Prémat finishing first and second in the drivers' championship – the latter also winning the 2004 Macau Grand Prix. The trend continued after ART was formed: the team won five straight teams' titles from the award's inauguration in 2005 to 2009, and won the drivers' championships in these years with Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hülkenberg and Jules Bianchi respectively. Future Formula One drivers Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Kamui Kobayashi also achieved success with the team. In 2010, ART's stranglehold on the championship was broken by French rivals Signature, who fielded Edoardo Mortara to victory in a Volkswagen-powered car, ahead of ART's lead driver Valtteri Bottas, who was the lead Mercedes-powered driver. At the end of the season, ART withdrew from the F3 Euroseries to concentrate on the GP and GP3 Series.
2009 European Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes won the last race in the championship, 4 weeks previously in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He qualified 4th on the grid and won the race in dominating style to take his first race victory since the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton's win also marked the first victory for a car equipped with KERS. Kimi Räikkönen earned second place, his best result of the season. This however was only his second podium and his fourth points scoring finish of the season. Mark Webber finished third, Jenson Button finished 7th, and Rubens Barrichello came 10th while Sebastian Vettel retired because of suspension damage.
Felipe Massa dominated the 2008 race, leading 50 of 57 laps from pole and setting the fastest lap in the process. Former European Grand Prix winners Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso were also racing, though Massa is the only winner at Valencia.