 | |
| Category | One-makeopen-wheel single-seater Formula auto racing |
|---|---|
| Country | International |
| Inaugural season | 2019 |
| Chassis suppliers | Dallara |
| Engine suppliers | Mecachrome |
| Tyre suppliers | Pirelli |
| Drivers' champion |  Rafael Câmara |
| Teams' champion |  Campos Racing |
| Official website | fiaformula3.com |
 Current season | |
TheFIA Formula 3 Championship (FIA F3) is a third-tier internationalsingle-seater racing championship organised by theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for theFIA Formula 1 World Championship andFIA Formula 2 Championships. It was the result of a merger between two third-tiersingle-seater racing championships, theGP3 Series and theFIA Formula 3 European Championship. This championship is part of theFIA Global Pathway consolidation project plan. Unlike its co-predecessor, the Formula 3 European Championship, the series runs exclusively in support of Formula One races.
On 13 March 2017 it was announced that theGP3 Series would merge with the FIA and DMSB'sFIA Formula 3 European Championship and as such, both bodies would merge their both third-tier open-wheel single seater formula racing series, theGP3 Series andFIA Formula 3 European Championship respectively, with plans to début in 2019.[1] On 1 September 2017 the merger committee announced thatWorld Motor Sport Council were selected to develop the name, logo and identity of the new series.[2] The reveal date for the new series was 10 March 2018 at the FIA headquarters at Paris, France. GP3 Series CEOBruno Michel announced the new sanctioning body would be sanctioned by FIA from 2019 season and thus becomeFormula One's sole support Grand Prix weekends mostly in Europe. FIA PresidentJean Todt then announced the new FIA Formula 3 Championship title and logo later in October 2018.[3]
Pit stops are optional if there is a major event like a change in weather conditions, tyre puncture, front or rear wing damage or others.[4]
On Friday, there is one Free Practice session of 45 minutes and one Qualifying session of 30 minutes.
On Saturday, one Sprint Race will take place and will consist of 40 minutes + one lap. The starting grid will be determined by reversing the top 12 finishers of Friday's Qualifying session.
On Sunday, the Feature Race will take place ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix and will consist of 45 minutes + one lap.
The top 10 finishers in the Sprint Race receive points as follows:
| Point system for Sprint Race | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
The top 10 finishers in the Feature Race receive points as follows:
| Point system for Feature Race | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
The driver who qualified in pole position for the Feature race during Friday's qualifying session receives an additional 2 points.
In each race, one point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap time, provided the driver was in the top 10 positions of the final race classification.
The maximum number of points a driver can score at any round will be 39.
A count-back system is used to decide places of drivers with equal points in the championship with the driver with most wins ranking highest of those with equal points totals. If there is still a tie, the most second-place finishes, then the most third-place finishes, etc., is used to split the tied drivers. This count-back system is applied at all stages of the championship.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship car is used by all of the teams, and features a Dallara carbon-fiber monocoque chassis powered by a Mecachromenaturally-aspirateddirect-injectedV6 engine andPirelli dry slick and rain treaded tyres.[5]
The F3 Championship will use the 2019 specificationF3 2019 car which has been designed by Dallara Automobili. The new FIA Formula 3 Championship chassis material is Carbon/aluminium honeycomb structure and also Carbon Aramid honeycomb bodywork structure. The new FIA Formula 3 Championship car's front wings are slightly wider and also wider-lower rear wing.
The series will remain using the 3.4-litre V6 naturally-aspirated direct-injected engines supplied byMecachrome until at least the 2024 season due to FIA Formula 3 Championship not being interested in a turbocharged engine. The horsepower would be scaled down from 400 to 380 hp (298 to 283 kW).
Mecachrome V634 F3 V6 engines were crated and shipped to all FIA Formula 3 Championship teams on a serial-number basis as determined by the FIA to ensure equality and fairness in distribution and sells for up to over €60,000 per unit by leasing and rebuilding.
All Formula 3 cars currently use ordinary unleaded racing gasoline as fuel (similar to commercial vehicle unleaded street gasoline), which has been thede facto standard in third tier single-seater formula racing since the introduction ofGP3 Series in 2010. Since 2019,Elf has continued to be the exclusive provider of the LMS 102 RON unleaded fuel and alsoElf HTX 840 0W-40 lubricants for all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars until 2022.
In 2023,Aramco became the official fuel and lubricant partner and supplier of all FIA Formula 3 Championship entrants.[6]
The currentgearbox has been manufactured by Hewland and features an 8-position barrel with ratchet body and software upgrades as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection. Currently, the FIA Formula 3 Championship gearbox uses a 6-speed sequential gearbox configuration with electro-hydraulic control via paddle-shifters, with reverse operated by a reverse button on the steering wheel. The clutches of all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars are supplied byAP Racing with the multi-plate clutch operated by a hand-paddle lever.
O.Z. Racing exclusively supply wheel rims for all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars.
Pirelli will continue supplying tyres for all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars as they have done since theGP3 Series era. The tyre size of all cars will still remain the same as in theGP3 Series. The tyre sizes are 250/575-R13 on the fronts and 290/590-R13 on the rears. The compounds of Pirelli Formula 3 tyres are currently three dry compounds (red soft, yellow medium and white hard) carrying the "P Zero" brand and one wet compound (blue wet) carrying the "Cinturato" brand.
Brembo supplies monoblocbrake calipers and disc bells, which are exclusive to the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Carbone Industrie also supplies carbon brake discs and pads for the championship.
The suspension of all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars is upper and lower steel wishbones, pushrod operated, coupled with twin Koni dampers and torsion bars suspension (front) and spring suspension (rear) similar to currentFormula One car suspension.
From the 2019 season, all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars will utilize the all-new XAP Single-seat Formula 2451 S3 steering wheel with a larger dash screen and also three new rotary switches (similar to the currentFIA Formula E andFIA Formula 2 steering wheel).
The current safety innovation of FIA Formula 3 Championship is the top priority. Front, side, rear and steering column impact tests are the FIA safety standards. All of the FIA Formula 3 Championship cars include front and rear roll hoop, impact structures and monocoque push tests. Anti-intrusion survival cell protection panels are also featured since 2019. Wheel retainer safety cables are also featured to avoid wheel flying similar toFormula One,IndyCar Series (known as SWEMS) and other single-seater Formula racing series. The seat belts of all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars are supplied bySabelt with 6-point seat belt configuration similar toFormula One. From 2019 onwards the “halo” cockpit protection system was added.
All FIA Formula 3 cars carry a Magneti Marelli-providedelectronic control unit as well as Magneti Marelli power supply management unit. Livetelemetry is used only for television broadcasts, but the data can be recorded from the ECU to the computer if the car is in the garage and not on the track.
Rear view mirrors for all FIA Formula 3 cars are mandated for easy viewing of opponents behind.
The aerodynamics of current FIA Formula 3 Championship cars are resembling the Formula One 2017-style aerodynamic with wider and curved front wing and also lower rear wing with parallelogram rear wing plate. Side winglets are also banned. The undertrays of all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars are grounds-effect underbody as opposed to flat-bottom underbody that usually utilized in Formula One.
Since2017 GP3 Series season, theDrag Reduction Systems (DRS) were introduced in a purpose for overtaking maneuver assist by tilting the upper-element rear wing while approaching the opponent less than a second away by activating theDRS paddle behind the steering wheel. The upper-element rear wing angle of FIA Formula 3 car rear wing is the same angle asFormula One car which has over 40 degrees of angle. In an event of rainy conditions,Drag Reduction Systems are automatically deactivated for safety reasons.
The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degasser, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets.
Formula 3 cars have a top speed around 300 km/h, and can accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 3 seconds.[7] These straight-line acceleration figures are similar to high-end road-going sports cars. However, their cornering and braking capabilities far exceed road cars, with peak lateral acceleration of 2.6 g and peak deceleration of 1.9 g.
Consequently, while Formula 3 cars lap considerably slower thanFormula One andFormula 2, they are still much faster than most categories based on road cars. As a point of comparison, the fastest lap for the2023 Melbourne Formula 3 round was 1:34.405, roughly 14 seconds per lap slower than the fastest lap of 1:20.235 in the2023 Australian Grand Prix. The premier domestictouring car racing category in Australia,Supercars, also held support races; the fastest qualifying time (likely faster than the fastest race lap) was 1:49.317, 15 seconds slower.[8]
While intended as a comparatively low cost development series, the absolute costs of competing in the championship are well beyond the personal financial means of most individuals.
One estimate puts the cost of competing in the FIA Formula 3 championship at approximately US$1.2 million per season.[9] This is approximately half the cost of competing in the F2 championship. Typically, most of these costs must be paid by the driver, through personal sponsorship, or personal or family wealth.
A number of cost control measures were introduced by the FIA for the 2021 season.[10]
The inaugural season of the FIA Formula 3 Championship consisted of 16 races held across eight rounds atEuropean circuits, beginning on 11 May at theCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and ending on 29 September at theSochi Autodrom.[11] 2019 marked the debut of the newDallara F3 2019 chassis, powered by anaturally-aspirated 3.4LV6 engine developed byMecachrome, the same engine used in the car'sGP3 Series predecessor theDallara GP3/16.[12] This also marked the debut of thehalo safety device, bodywork that had been introduced in Formula 1 and Formula 2 in2018.[13]
Prema Racing won the teams' championship, scoring over twice as many points as runners-upHitech Grand Prix and extending their streak to seven consecutive teams' championships from the predecessorFIA Formula 3 European Championship.[14] The three Prema Racing drivers finished in the top three positions in the drivers' championship.Robert Shwartzman finished the season as champion, having finished third in the predecessor series the year prior. He took three race wins and secured the championship with one race remaining.Marcus Armstrong finished as runner-up withJehan Daruvala in third.[15]
The 2020 championship was due to begin at theBahrain International Circuit on 21 March, withCircuit Paul Ricard being dropped from the calendar in favour ofCircuit Zandvoort. However, the first three rounds of the championship were postponed in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic. A revised calendar was published in June, consisting of 18 races across nine rounds held alongside the first nine races of theFormula One World Championship. The season began at theRed Bull Ring on 4 July and concluded at theMugello Circuit on 13 September.[16]
Prema Racing secured their eighth consecutive teams' championship with three races to go. Prema Racing driver and series debutantOscar Piastri ended the season as champion, securing the title at the final race having claimed two race victories. He finished three points ahead ofART Grand Prix driverThéo Pourchaire, with Prema Racing'sLogan Sargeant one point further behind in third place.
As a cost-cutting measure, the 2021 championship calendar was reduced to seven rounds with each round consisting of three races, featuring twenty-one races in total, in line with changes made to the2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship. The rounds atSilverstone Circuit,Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and Mugello Circuit were dropped from the calendar, and the rounds at Circuit Paul Ricard and Circuit Zandvoort returned, having been cancelled in 2020. The championship began on 8 May at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The season was initially intended to conclude on 24 October at theCircuit of the Americas, however this was cancelled and replaced with a round at the Sochi Autodrom, ending on 26 September.[17]
The Drivers' Championship was won by Prema Racing'sDennis Hauger in his second year in the series; he took four race victories and claimed the title with two races remaining.Trident driversJack Doohan andClément Novalak finished second and third respectively. Trident ended Prema Racing's streak of Teams' Championship victories, claiming the title at the final race by a margin of four points.
The series took returned to its pre-2021 race format with two races per round,[a] and featured nine rounds. The rounds at Silverstone and Monza returned to the calendar, whilst the rounds at Circuit Paul Ricard and Sochi were removed. The calendar featured two new venues, with Bahrain andImola Circuit hosting races for the first time. The scoring format was also changed, reducing the number of points on offer for sprint races, fastest laps and pole positions. The series' first team change took place in 2022;HWA Racelab left the championship and was replaced byVan Amersfoort Racing. The championship began in Bahrain on 19 March and concluded at Monza on 11 September.
ART Grand Prix driverVictor Martins, who finished fifth the previous year, took two race victories on his way to winning the Drivers' Championship. He clinched the title at the final race, prior to which there were six drivers mathematically in title contention. Runner-up was Trident'sZane Maloney followed by Prema Racing driverOliver Bearman. Prema Racing reclaimed the Teams' Championship ahead of second-placed Trident.
For 2023, Circuit Zandvoort was removed from the calendar and two new rounds were added; the category returned to theCircuit de Monaco for the first time since2005 and made its debut at theAlbert Park Circuit supporting theAustralian Grand Prix. The championship was thus set to feature ten rounds, however the round at Imola Circuit was cancelled along with theEmilia Romagna Grand Prix aftersevere flooding in the area. Two teams changed ownership for 2023.New Zealand-based car manufacturer Rodin Cars became the majority shareholder inCarlin and the team was renamedRodin Carlin.Charouz Racing System sold their operation toPHM Racing whilst continuing to support the entry under the namePHM Racing by Charouz. The season began in Bahrain on 4 March and concluded at Monza on 3 September.
Trident driver and FIA Formula 3 rookieGabriel Bortoleto sealed the Drivers' Championship with two races remaining, becoming the first South American driver to win the title and first to win with Trident. Prema Racing driversZak O'Sullivan andPaul Aron were second and third respectively. Prema Racing secured their fourth Teams' Championship in the category at the final race, ahead of Trident.
Imola Circuit returned to the schedule after its cancellation in 2023, bringing the calendar back to ten rounds. The season began in Bahrain on 1 March and concluded at Monza on 1 September. Rodin Cars completed their takeover of Carlin and the team becameRodin Motorsport. PHM Racing now operated independently of Charouz Racing System, but the team was acquired byDubai-based finance firm AIX Investment Group early in the season and was rebranded toAIX Racing.
Trident'sLeonardo Fornaroli won the Drivers' Championship; he clinched the title at the final race and won without taking any race victories over the season. Prema Racing driverGabriele Minì finished second andHitech Pulse-Eight'sLuke Browning was third. Prema Racing secured the Teams' Championship at the penultimate round, taking their fifth title in the category, with Trident in second place.
The 2025 season began in Australia on 15 March and is set to conclude at Monza on 7 September.Jenzer Motorsport, which had raced in the championship since its inception and had competed in the predecessor GP3 Series since2010, left the series to focus on itsFormula 4 operations. Their place was taken byDAMS, which competes in Formula 2 but had not raced at Formula 3 level since2017.
Trident won their third consecutive Drivers' Championship in the series withRafael Câmara, who clinched the title at the penultimate round at Hungary, taking four wins and five poles throughout the season.Nikola Tsolov,Mari Boya andTasanapol Inthraphuvasak finished second, third and seventh forCampos Racing respectively, allowing them to win the Team's Championship at the final round over Trident, their first in the category.
| Season | Driver | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | % points achievable | Clinched | Margin | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 |  Robert Shwartzman |  Prema Racing | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 212 | 55.208 | 2019 Sochi Feature Race | 54 | [18] |
| 2020 |  Oscar Piastri | Prema Racing | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 164 | 39.188 | 2020 Mugello Sprint Race | 3 | [19] |
| 2021 |  Dennis Hauger | Prema Racing | 3 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 205 | 46.804 | 2021 Sochi Sprint Race 1 | 26 | [20] |
| 2022 |  Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 139 | 39.601 | 2022 Monza Feature Race | 5 | [21] |
| 2023 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 164 | 46.724 | 2023 Monza Sprint Race[b] | 45 | [22] |
| 2024 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 153 | 39.231 | 2024 Monza Feature Race | 23 | [23] |
| 2025 | Rafael Câmara | Trident | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 166 | 46.369 | 2025 Hungaroring Feature Race | 42 | [24] |
| Season | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | % points achievable | Clinched | Margin | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Prema Racing | 4 | 8 | 24 | 7 | 527 | 63.956 | 2019 Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race | 304 | [18] |
| 2020 | Prema Racing (2) | 4 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 470.5 | 52.453 | 2020 Monza Feature Race | 209 | [19] |
| 2021 | Trident | 2 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 381 | 39.895 | 2021 Sochi Feature Race | 4 | [20] |
| 2022 | Prema Racing (3) | 0 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 355 | 44.320 | 2022 Monza Sprint Race | 54 | [21] |
| 2023 | Prema Racing (4) | 1 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 327 | 40.824 | 2023 Monza Sprint Race | 19 | [22] |
| 2024 | Prema Racing (5) | 2 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 352 | 39.551 | 2024 Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race | 71 | [23] |
| 2025 | Campos Racing | 3 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 314 | 38.386 | 2025 Monza Feature Race | 11 | [24] |
| Driver | Formula 3 | Formula 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasons | Races | Wins | Podiums | Best pos. | Seasons | First team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Points | |
 Yuki Tsunoda | 2019 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 9th | 2021–2025 | AlphaTauri | 109 | 0 | 0 | 119 |
| Oscar Piastri | 2020 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 1st | 2023–2025 | McLaren | 68 | 9 | 24 | 755 |
 Logan Sargeant | 2019–2021 | 54 | 3 | 10 | 3rd | 2023–2024 | Williams | 36 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Liam Lawson | 2019–2020 | 34 | 3 | 8 | 5th | 2023–2025 | AlphaTauri | 33 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
 Oliver Bearman | 2022 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 3rd | 2024–2025 | Ferrari | 25 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
 Franco Colapinto | 2022–2023 | 36 | 4 | 10 | 4th | 2024–2025 | Williams | 24 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Jack Doohan | 2020–2021 | 38 | 4 | 7 | 2nd | 2024–2025 | Alpine | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 2023 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 1st | 2025 | Sauber | 22 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Isack Hadjar | 2022 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 4th | 2025 | Racing Bulls | 21 | 0 | 1 | 51 |
| Number | Countries, rounds | Circuits | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona Formula 3 round | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | 2019–2025 |
| 2 | Le Castellet Formula 3 round | Circuit Paul Ricard | 2019, 2021 |
| 3 |  Spielberg Formula 3 round | Red Bull Ring | 2019–2025 |
| 4 | Silverstone Formula 3 round | Silverstone Circuit | 2019–2020, 2022–2025 |
| 5 |  Budapest Formula 3 round | Hungaroring | 2019–2025 |
| 6 |  Spa-Francorchamps Formula 3 round | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 2019–2025 |
| 7 | Monza Formula 3 round | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | 2019–2020, 2022–2025 |
| 8 | Sochi Formula 3 round | Sochi Autodrom | 2019, 2021 |
| 9 | Mugello Formula 3 round | Mugello Circuit | 2020 |
| 10 |  Zandvoort Formula 3 round | Circuit Zandvoort | 2021–2022 |
| 11 |  Sakhir Formula 3 round | Bahrain International Circuit | 2022–2025 |
| 12 | Imola Formula 3 round | Imola Circuit | 2022, 2024–2025 |
| 13 | Melbourne Formula 3 round | Albert Park Circuit | 2023–2025 |
| 14 |  Monte Carlo Formula 3 round | Circuit de Monaco | 2023–2025 |