Driver changes;Joining FIA European Formula 3
- 2015 Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron entered the series with Prema Powerteam.
- Ben Barnicoat, who came fourth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joined the series with HitechGP, after an initial deal with Prema Powerteam fell through.
- David Beckmann, who raced in ADAC Formula 4, continued his collaboration with Mücke Motorsport into the championship, but missed the first two rounds on account of his age.
- Nick Cassidy, who raced for Prema Powerteam in two rounds of the 2015 season, raced full-time with the team.
- ADAC Formula 4 runner-up Joel Eriksson, brother of GP3 driver Jimmy Eriksson, joined the series with Motopark.
- Anthoine Hubert, who finished fifth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joined the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.
- 2015 SMP F4 champion and Red Bull Junior driver Niko Kari joined the series with Motopark.
- Nikita Mazepin joined the series with HitechGP.
- Harrison Newey, son of F1 engineer Adrian Newey and runner-up in BRDC Formula 4, made his debut in the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.
- Pedro Piquet, son of three time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet and two-time Brazilian Formula Three champion, stepped up to the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.
- 2015 Italian F4 runner-up Guanyu Zhou joined the championship with Motopark.
;Changing Teams
- Maximilian Günther, who raced for Mücke Motorsport for most of 2015 before switching to Prema Powerteam during the last round, stayed with Prema in 2016.
- Raoul Hyman switched from Team West-Tec F3 to Carlin.
- Callum Ilott, who raced for Carlin in 2015, switched to Van Amersfoort Racing.
- Zhi Cong Li switched from Fortec Motorsports to Carlin.
- Alessio Lorandi, who raced for Van Amersfoort in 2015, switched to Carlin.
- Arjun Maini, switched from Van Amersfoort Racing to T-Sport.
- George Russell, who raced for Carlin in 2015, switched to HitechGP.
;Leaving Formula 3
- Jake Dennis, Tatiana Calderón and Santino Ferrucci, who finished third, 27th and 11th in the 2015 season, stepped up to GP3 with Arden International and DAMS respectively.
- Rookie champion Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon, who finished fourth and seventh in 2015 respectively, left the series to compete in GP3 with ART Grand Prix.
- 2015 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi stepped up to GP2 with Prema Powerteam.
- Pietro Fittipaldi, who finished 17th in 2015, stepped up to Formula V8 3.5 with Fortec.
- 2015 champion Felix Rosenqvist was ruled out of returning to the series due to a new rule, which said that drivers could spend no more than three years in the category. He joined the Indy Lights with Belardi Auto Racing.
Team changes - After making two appearances in the 2015 season, HitechGP returned full-time to the series, in collaboration with ART Grand Prix.
- Double R Racing, Signature Team, EuroInternational, Team West-Tec and Artline Engineering withdrew.
Calendar
A provisional ten-round calendar was announced on 2 December 2015.ResultsChampionship standings;Scoring system
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | | Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Drivers' championshipRookies' ChampionshipTeams' championshipPrior to each round of the championship, two drivers from each team – if applicable – were nominated to score teams' championship points.
| Pos | Team | Points | | 1 | 
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