FIA Formula 3 Championship


The FIA Formula 3 Championship is a third-tier international single-seater racing championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and FIA Formula 2 Championships. It was the result of a merger between two third-tier single-seater racing championships, the GP3 Series and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. This championship is part of the FIA Global Pathway consolidation project plan. Unlike its co-predecessor, the Formula 3 European Championship, the series runs exclusively in support of Formula One races.

Origins and history

On 13 March 2017 it was announced that the GP3 Series would merge with the FIA and DMSB's FIA Formula 3 European Championship and as such, both bodies would merge their both third-tier open-wheel single seater formula racing series, the GP3 Series and FIA Formula 3 European Championship respectively, with plans to début in 2019. On 1 September 2017 the merger committee announced that World Motor Sport Council were selected to develop the name, logo and identity of the new series. The reveal date for the new series was 10 March 2018 at the FIA headquarters at Paris, France. GP3 Series CEO Bruno Michel announced the new sanctioning body would be sanctioned by FIA from 2019 season and thus become Formula One's sole support Grand Prix weekends mostly in Europe. FIA President Jean Todt then announced the new FIA Formula 3 Championship title and logo later in October 2018.

Race weekend

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.
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.

Points system

The top 10 finishers in the Sprint Race receive points as follows:
The top 10 finishers in the Feature Race receive points as follows:
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.

Car

The FIA Formula 3 Championship car is used by all of the teams, and features a Dallara carbon-fiber monocoque chassis powered by a Mecachrome naturally-aspirated direct-injected V6 engine and Pirelli dry slick and rain treaded tyres.

Chassis

First-generation (fourth-generation overall — 2019–2024)

The F3 Championship will use the 2019 specification F3 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.

Second-generation (fifth-generation overall — 2025 onwards)

Engine

First generation (second-generation overall — 2016–present)

The series will remain using the 3.4-litre V6 naturally-aspirated direct-injected engines supplied by Mecachrome 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.
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.

Fuel and lubricants components

All Formula 3 cars currently use ordinary unleaded racing gasoline as fuel, which has been the de facto standard in third tier single-seater formula racing since the introduction of GP3 Series in 2010. Since 2019, Elf has continued to be the exclusive provider of the LMS 102 RON unleaded fuel and also Elf 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.

Transmission, gearbox and clutches

The current gearbox 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 by AP Racing with the multi-plate clutch operated by a hand-paddle lever.

Wheels and tyres

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 the GP3 Series era. The tyre size of all cars will still remain the same as in the GP3 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 carrying the "P Zero" brand and one wet compound carrying the "Cinturato" brand.

Brakes

supplies monobloc brake 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.

Suspension

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 and spring suspension similar to current Formula One car suspension.

Steering wheel

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.

Safety

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 to Formula One, IndyCar Series and other single-seater Formula racing series. The seat belts of all FIA Formula 3 Championship cars are supplied by Sabelt with 6-point seat belt configuration similar to Formula One. From 2019 onwards the “halo” cockpit protection system was added.

Other components

All FIA Formula 3 cars carry a Magneti Marelli-provided electronic control unit as well as Magneti Marelli power supply management unit. Live telemetry 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.

Aerodynamics

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.

Drag Reduction Systems (DRS)

Since 2017 GP3 Series season, the Drag Reduction Systems 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 the DRS paddle behind the steering wheel. The upper-element rear wing angle of FIA Formula 3 car rear wing is the same angle as Formula One car which has over 40 degrees of angle. In an event of rainy conditions, Drag Reduction Systems are automatically deactivated for safety reasons.

Other parts

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.

Specifications

2019—2024

Formula 3 cars have a top speed around 300 km/h, and can accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 3 seconds. 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 than Formula One and Formula 2, they are still much faster than most categories based on road cars. As a point of comparison, the fastest lap for the 2023 Melbourne Formula 3 round was 1:34.405, roughly 14 seconds per lap slower than the fastest lap of 1:20.235 in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. The premier domestic touring car racing category in Australia, Supercars, also held support races; the fastest qualifying time was 1:49.317, 15 seconds slower.