The 2003 season summed up what a highly popular and well respected series it is for aspiring F1 drivers and for drivers making their first moves in car racing. The fact that the champion Lewis Hamilton is on a long term McLaren-Mercedes contract and that 3 of the top 10 drivers were nominated for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, went a long way to confirming this. Grids of 30 cars were a regular sight, six drivers won races and the first female driver to stand on a British single seater podium in a decade were some of the highlights of a successful year for the formula.

The pre-season favourite by a mile was Lewis Hamilton, but he didn't get the season off to a very good start. Mike Conway, Alex Lloyd, Tom Sisley and James Rossiter all won the first four races before he finally got his first win at Silverstone in early June. He then went on a stunning run of success throughout the summer and ended up clinching the title at the penultimate meeting at Brands Hatch in August, taking wins number nine and ten that weekend. After being promoted to race in his Manor Motorsport team's Formula 3 car, he chose to sit out the final races at Oulton Park in September, which gave the rest of the field a chance to emerge from his shadow. A wet qualifying session really put the cat amongst the pigeons and the first race went to Team JVA's Paul Di Resta, who took his maiden win in his first year of car racing in front of his well known cousins Dario and Marino Franchitti. The second race saw Alex Lloyd go on to claim victory for Motaworld and he would end the year as McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, following in the footsteps of David Coulthard, Ralph Firman, Dario Franchitti, Jenson Button among others.

There were some glimpses of real talent throughout the rest of the field and even though they didn't win any races, Motaworld's Susie Stoddart - who claimed her first podium at Snetterton and Mike Spencer - who drove to an incredible 7th place from 30th on the grid in one race at Donington, Mark Burdett Motorsport's Alex Storckenfeldt - who gave Lewis Hamilton a real fight at Donington in September and Falcon Motorsport's John Byrne - who really impressed after only several car races, were just some of the names who caught the eye and will either be back in 2004 for a title challenge or will step up to F3.