2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship


The 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula 3 cars that was sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The championship was the thirteenth season of Formula 3 racing and the fourth season run under the FIA Formula 3 Championship moniker. It was an open-wheel racing category that served as the third tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category was run in support of selected rounds of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Trident entered the championship as the reigning teams' champion, having secured their title at the last race of the 2021 season. In 2022 however, they were bested by Prema Racing, who won their third teams' championship.
Victor Martins, driving for ART Grand Prix, won the drivers' championship, ahead of Zane Maloney and Oliver Bearman.

Entries

As the championship was a spec series, all teams and drivers that competed in the championship ran the same car, the Dallara F3 2019. For the 2022 season, a new chassis was to be introduced, but this change had been halted by the cost-cutting measures introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team changes

joined the series after purchasing HWA Racelab's assets in October 2021.

Driver changes

2021 teams' champions Trident saw two of its drivers graduate to Formula 2, Jack Doohan and Clément Novalak signing with Virtuosi Racing and MP Motorsport respectively. They were replaced by Red Bull Junior Jonny Edgar, who moved from Carlin after achieving 18th in the 2021 season, and 2019 British F4 champion Zane Maloney, who came 4th in the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship. David Schumacher moved to DTM and was replaced by Roman Staněk, returning for his third year in the series after driving with Hitech Grand Prix in 2021.
Prema Racing's Dennis Hauger left Formula 3 after winning the championship in 2021 and joined Formula 2 with the team. His seat was taken by Ferrari-backed ADAC and Italian F4 champion Oliver Bearman. Alongside him, Prema signed Jak Crawford, moving over from Hitech Grand Prix to replace Olli Caldwell, who stepped up to Formula 2 with Campos Racing.
ART Grand Prix also promoted one driver to the higher rank, with Frederik Vesti graduating to the outfit's Formula 2 team. His teammate Alexander Smolyar left the team and was replaced by reigning Formula Regional European champion Grégoire Saucy. Vesti's seat was filled by Victor Martins, who moved over from MP Motorsport for his second season.
MP Motorsport signed 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 runner-up Kush Maini to replace Tijmen van der Helm, who moved to endurance racing full-time. Maini was joined by Alexander Smolyar, who switched from ART Grand Prix for his third year in the series, swapping teams with Victor Martins.
Charouz Racing System lined up László Tóth, moving from Campos Racing, with whom he came 32nd in 2021. He replaced Logan Sargeant, who would compete in Formula 2 with Carlin. Tóth was partnered by Francesco Pizzi, graduating from the Formula Regional European Championship, where he came 20th in 2021, and GB3 Championship runner-up Ayrton Simmons, who already competed for the team in the 2021 season finale. They replaced Hunter Yeany, who left for Campos Racing, and Zdeněk Chovanec.
Hitech Grand Prix driver Ayumu Iwasa also graduated to Formula 2 after signing for DAMS. His replacement was new Red Bull Junior Isack Hadjar, fifth place in the Formula Regional European Championship. Jak Crawford and Roman Staněk also left the team, joining Prema Racing and Trident, respectively. They were replaced by Kaylen Frederick, moving over from Carlin, and Nazim Azman, graduating from the Euroformula Open.
Campos Racing fielded an all-new driver lineup as László Tóth moved to Charouz Racing System, Amaury Cordeel joined new team Van Amersfoort Racing in Formula 2 and Lorenzo Colombo left the series after one year to compete in Prema's WEC programme. The team hired Pepe Martí, who raced for Campos' Spanish F4 team in 2021. He was partnered by Hunter Yeany, who switched from Charouz Racing System, and David Vidales, who joined the series after coming tenth in the Formula Regional European Championship.
Jenzer Motorsport drivers Calan Williams and Filip Ugran signed with Trident in Formula 2 and Van Amersfoort Racing in the Euroformula Open, respectively. Williams was replaced by former Carlin driver Ido Cohen. The team also signed Formula Regional European Championship podium finisher William Alatalo, and later announced the return of Niko Kari to the series for the first round of the season.
Carlin saw their three drivers Jonny Edgar, Kaylen Frederick and Ido Cohen move to Trident, Hitech and Jenzer, respectively. The team promoted GB3 champion and new Williams junior Zak O'Sullivan from their GB3 division, and Brad Benavides and 2021 F4 UAE champion Enzo Trulli from their Euroformula Open team.
Van Amersfoort Racing signed Rafael Villagómez, rejoining the team after racing for them in the Euroformula Open and for HWA Racelab in Formula 3 in 2021, as well as rookies Franco Colapinto, a race winner in the Formula Regional European Championship and the European Le Mans Series, and Reece Ushijima, who came fourth in the GB3 Championship.

Mid-season changes

Multiple driver changes took place for the second round at the Imola Circuit. Trident driver Jonny Edgar pulled out of the championship after being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and was replaced by former HWA Racelab driver Oliver Rasmussen. Federico Malvestiti returned to the championship after a year's absence, replacing Niko Kari at Jenzer Motorsport. Charouz Racing System driver Ayrton Simmons vacated his seat and was replaced by David Schumacher, who previously raced with the team in 2020. ART Grand Prix fielded only two cars at Imola, as Juan Manuel Correa was forced to miss the event due to a foot injury.
Lirim Zendeli returned to the championship, having last competed in 2020, to replace David Schumacher at Charouz Racing System for the third round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Schumacher prioritised competing in the clashing DTM round at the Lausitzring. Juan Manuel Correa returned to his seat at ART Grand Prix after recovering from his injury.
Jonny Edgar returned to Trident for the fourth round at Silverstone Circuit after his health improved. Charouz Racing System again changed the driver of their number 15 car, with Lirim Zendeli replaced by Zdeněk Chovanec, who last competed for the team in the final three rounds of 2021. MP Motorsport's Alexander Smolyar was unable to obtain a British visa to attend the Silverstone round and was replaced by Filip Ugran, who last raced in the championship in 2021 with Jenzer Motorsport. Smolyar returned to MP Motorsport for the fifth round at the Red Bull Ring.
Euroformula Open leader Oliver Goethe stood in for Hunter Yeany at Campos Racing for the sixth round at the Hungaroring. Yeany had broken his wrist in an accident at the previous round. Goethe's Euroformula championship rival Christian Mansell became the fifth driver in the Charouz Racing System number 15 car when he replaced Zdeněk Chovanec at the Hungaroring round.
David Schumacher returned to Charouz Racing System for the Zandvoort weekend, replacing Christian Mansell who prioritised his Euroformula Open campaign. Also prioritising Euroformula was Campos Racing's Oliver Goethe. As Hunter Yeany was not yet fully recovered from his injury, the team drafted in Formula Regional European Championship racer Sebastián Montoya.
Both Campos Racing and Charouz Racing System updated their lineups again for the season finale at Monza. Campos' Hunter Yeany returned from injury after a two-month absence as Sebastián Montoya reverted his focus to the Formula Regional European Championship. David Schumacher had to vacate his Charouz seat once more to attend his DTM commitments and was replaced by former FREC racer Alessandro Famularo, who became the sixth different driver to drive the #15 car in just nine rounds.

Race calendar

A provisional nine-round calendar was announced on 15 October 2021:

Calendar changes

After changing the weekend format to three races per weekend in 2021, the format was reverted to more race weekends with two races each in 2022. As in Formula 2, the race weekends featured a sprint race and a feature race, with the latter being longer and worth more points.
  • The Bahrain International Circuit featured on the calendar for the first time as the season opener.
  • The Imola Circuit also featured on the calendar for the first time.
  • The rounds at Silverstone and Monza returned after not featuring in the 2021 season.
  • The rounds at Paul Ricard and Sochi were not featured on the calendar after appearing in 2021.

    Regulation changes

Sporting changes

The race weekend format returned to a similar format to the seasons before 2021. On Saturday, only one race was held, with the grid still formed by reversing the top twelve drivers from qualifying, while the Sunday race was started in qualifying order.
The championship scoring format was reprofiled. The points for pole position and fastest lap were each cut in half; now awarding 2 points for pole, and 1 for the fastest lap in each race. The points for the sprint race were changed significantly, with 10 points being awarded for the winner, 9 points for 2nd, then 8 for 3rd, descending all the way to 1 point for 10th. These changes were also applied to Formula 1's other feeder series, the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Season report

Round 1: Bahrain

The season began at the Bahrain International Circuit where newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing and rookie driver Franco Colapinto set the fastest time in their first FIA Formula 3 qualifying session, taking pole position for the feature race. Zak O'Sullivan started the sprint race on reverse-grid pole position after qualifying twelfth, but was overtaken in the early laps by Oliver Bearman and eventually dropped to sixth place. Bearman crossed the finish line first but received a five-second time penalty for track limits violations, handing Isack Hadjar the race victory.
Pole-sitter Colapinto held the lead for much of the feature race but was passed by Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc, who started thirteenth. A track-limits time penalty later dropped Colapinto to fifth place. Martins' victory put him at the top of the drivers' championship standings at the end of the first round, one point ahead of Leclerc.