The 2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series season is the 62nd British Formula 3 International Series season. The series, promoted by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, began on 6 April at Oulton Park and ended on 30 September at Donington Park after 29 races held at ten meetings. The first two poles of the season were claimed at Oulton Park by second-year driver Jack Harvey for the Carlin team, and he won the opening race of the year ahead of teammates Jazeman Jaafar and Carlos Sainz Jr. In the reverse-grid second race, Fortec Motorsports' Pipo Derani scored his first win in the series, while teammate Félix Serrallés won the third race of the weekend in his first Formula Three meeting. A week later at Monza, Serralles and Sainz claimed their first poles in Formula Three. Rain before the start of the first race forced drivers to change from slick tyres, and in effect, the race started from the pit lane. Sainz, Jr. left pit lane first and won his first race in the championship. Derani and Jaafar, who had left the pits seventh and eighth respectively, joined Sainz, Jr. on the podium, while Serralles finished tenth. Serralles won the second race held in torrential rain, ahead of Harvey and teammate Pietro Fantin, while Sainz, Jr. comfortably won the third race, almost seventeen seconds clear of Serralles, with Serralles' teammate Alex Lynn taking his first podium in third place. Regulation changes In a change to the 2011 season, all races award championship points on the same points system. Previously, the second race had awarded points on a reduced scale – 10 points for the winner and decreasing by one point down to tenth place – compared to races one and three. Drivers and teams For the Norisring event, drivers used different numbers in line with Formula 3 Euro Series regulations; each driver's Norisring race number is displayed in tooltips. Driver changes Changed Teams Pipo Derani, who finished in fifteenth place in 2011, moved from Double R Racing to Fortec Motorsports. Pietro Fantin switched from Hitech Racing to Carlin. After a season with Fortec Motorsports, Fahmi Ilyas joined Double R Racing. Harry Tincknell changed teams for his second season in British F3 moving from Fortec Motorsports to Carlin. Entering/Re-Entering British Formula Three British Formula Ford racers Spike Goddard and Nick McBride moved into the championship with T-Sport. Fellow Formula Ford compatriot