After a seven-week wait since his win in Bucharest, Stefan came to Donington hoping to finish the F3 season on a high note. But the weekend proved frustrating, thanks to a combination of circumstances mostly beyond his control.

In Saturday's first qualifying session, with his car strangely off the pace, Stefan could only manage fourth place in the National Class. Later, the weather began to deteriorate and by the start of second qualifying a light drizzle was beginning to fall. With the track only slightly damp, everyone started the session on slick tyres, but Stefan's were brand new and he couldn't get enough grip. Then, as the drizzle got heavier, all the drivers had to switch to wet-weather tyres, and Stefan was one of several who were unable to improve their lap times. Again, he qualified fourth.

Sunday, by contrast, was warm and sunny, and Donington Park provided a beautiful setting for the final rounds of the F3 championship. While Oliver Turvey, Jaime Alguersuari and Brendon Hartley battled it out for the F3 title, Stefan - his faint hopes of finishing second in the National Class all but gone - was keen to at least get on the podium. When the red lights went out for race one, he made a flying getaway from 18th on the grid, overtaking a bunch of cars and crossing the line 13th at the end of lap one. That gave him the chance to challenge his team-mate and championship winner Jay Bridger for second place in the National Class. But all was not well. Stefan's engine was clearly down on power and, despite driving as hard as he could, he was losing time, particularly on the straight. Soon, most of the cars he'd overtaken earlier re-passed him, and he gradually fell back from the car ahead of National Class newcomer Adriano Buzaid. He finished the race in fourth place, 15th overall.

Afterwards the team checked the engine and changed the injectors, and the car proved much more competitive in race two. Stefan again made a good getaway, dicing with Buzaid as they both gained several places. With the National Class top three a long way ahead, there was no chance for either of them to win, but they still went at it hammer and tongs, racing side by side down through the Craner Curves. Eventually Buzaid got the upper hand to go fourth, but they continued to battle throughout the race and crossed the finishing line less than a second apart.

In the overall championship, Alguersuari won both races at Donington to become, at 18 years of age, the youngest ever champion in British F3.

Stefan finished in fourth place in the National Class standings, with four race wins and two further podiums to his credit. "It's been a steep learning curve," was his verdict on the season. "We've had a lot of different problems - like the brake duct coming off at Spa and the driveshaft breaking at Monza - but towards the end of the season we were winning races. We won four races and it could have been more. It's been a very valuable year and I've learnt a lot. Now I've got to look to next year, and all that I've learnt should help me be a lot more competitive. I'll keep working on my fitness, and hopefully I can get into a good car next year and make a good impression."