The FIA Formula 3 championship is back on racing after waiting for eight months since their last race in Austin as they’re ready to kick the first round of the 2021 season in Barcelona this weekend.
Seven drivers from the 2020 season have graduated to the FIA Formula 2 Championship. There are sixteen new additions on the grid, with four graduates from the Formula Renault championship, including their reigning champion Victor Martins.
The first round of the season will start this Friday with the new race format, and here’s everything you need to know about the newest FIA Formula 3 Championship this year.
The calendar
In 2020 the FIA Formula 3 has nine rounds with eighteen races in total separated by the feature and sprint race in one weekend, but this year the FIA Formula 3 agreed on being a part of a wider cost-cutting program.
There will be three races per round through this agreement for the season, having a target of 21 races. In comparison, there are three races more than the season in 2019 and 2020 by having three events in a week for seven rounds.
Six rounds will be held in Europe starting from this week’s event in Jerez before continuing their next race in Le Castellet on June 25-27. The next destination is in Spielberg, just a week later before the actions occur in Budapest, marking the first week of August.
The battle will continue to perform in Spa-Francorchamps on August 27-29, with their following schedule in Monza taking the first week of September. The season will conclude overseas as they’re going to race in the US at the end of the season.
The New Format
Supported by the cost-cutting measure that involved the FIA Formula 3 championship, they reveal the new format and changes throughout the race weekends.
There will be only one practice session consist of 45 minutes and one qualifying session that lasts for 30 minutes. Two races will be running on Saturday as the third race will start ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Each race will be forty minutes long, just a few minutes shorter than usual.
With three races included in one weekend, the new regulations decided that the final classification from Friday’s qualifying session will determine the starting grid for Race 3 over the weekend.
While Friday’s qualifying session will determine the starting grid from Race 1, and Race 2 will take the result from the top 12 finishers of Race 1 in reverse.
Teams and drivers
Thirty drivers and ten teams are competing inside the championship, with 16 rookies and four graduates from Formula Renault fighting for the title from one of the most competitive racing serious on the planet in search of the next stars.
Prema Racing
Featured Image Credit: Prema Racing official Instagram
Three times team champion Prema Racing introduced their new driver lineup with Dennis Hauger, Arthur Leclerc, and Olli Caldwell for the 2021 season. The Italian team’s aim to keep the championship title running for three years was apparent as Prema Racing keeps it upbeat with the arrival of the most competitive drivers on the grid.
The Ferrari Driver Academy driver Arthur Leclerc remains with the team after successfully performing his first season as a Prema Racing driver in Formula Regional last time, where he finished second in the championship. Looking back at his pre-season test results in Spielberg, the Monegasque driver managed to finish 13th as his highest positions out of all sessions. Even with the struggle, he has to deal with, Arthur Leclerc is firm that there are more things to discover as he talked through his debut in the championship.
The Norwegian driver Dennis Hauger is ready to make his comeback this weekend after he finished 17th on the championship standings last season with Hitech. Despite the rough season he had last year with the team, it was time for the 18-year-old driver to be one of the strongest championship contenders. Both sides from Prema and Dennis Hauger see a point where they shared the same passion in driving for the champions.
Along with Arthur Lecler and Dennis Hauger, Olli Caldwell completed the team’s lineup this season as he got back with Prema Racing. Having competed in the 2018 Formula 4 Championship and 2019 Formula Regional European Championship with the Italian team, he said this year it was time for them to continue their story in competing inside the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
The team keeps it positive as Team Principal Rene Rosin believed in Olli Caldwell’s quality, knowing that they’ve worked together in the past and how Olli is a good fit for Prema Racing in 2021. Expectations are big inside the red team, but Prema Racing is always the one’s to watch.
ART Grand Prix
Featured Image Credit: ART official Instagram
ART Grand Prix will aim to have a higher performance this year after delivering a promising showcase from the team last season, where they finished third in the championship. Two wins and seven podiums with the domination from Theo Pourchaire weren’t enough for the French team to impress the championship title, and this year the French team is setting their eye for redemption.
With the switch over Prema Racing to ART Grand Prix, Frederik Vesti raised a few eyebrows when it was first announced, but Vesti believed that his potential to shine is still there. Looking at George Russell move a few years ago before his Formula One days as one of the Mercedes Junior Driver competing with ART Grand Prix inspired the Danish driver to follow a similar pathway.
New challenges are something that Frederik Vesti wanted to try, especially with the ambition for the team to keep on winning, and Vesti wants to be a part of the team’s success. As one of the title favourites based on his impressive rookie season last year with three wins and a podium, Frederik Vesti believed that ART Grand Prix has the right platform for him to be at the front.
Alexander Smolyar was the first driver to be announced from the French team as he signed for a second season with ART Grand Prix. Finishing 11th in his rookie campaign last season, the Russian driver is preparing for more robust performance in 2021. Smolyar proved his capability in driving for the team as he managed to top the first day of the pre-season test in Spielberg.
Juan Manuel Correa brought the inspirational return as his name made an appearance after the tragic accident in 2019. The Ecuadorian-American driver decided to get back on track just 16 months after the crash after several surgeries and many rehabilitation processes.
The 21-year-old driver remained optimistic that he can arrive at the grid as one of the most competent drivers. Despite the physical limitations, ART Grand Prix believed in fighting for wins and podiums this season.
HWA Race Lab
Featured Image Credit: HWA Racelab official Instagram
HWA finished fifth in the championship last season, and an improvement was expected in their 2021 campaign having three talented drivers as their contenders for the year.
Matteo Nannini has a hectic schedule ahead of him, joining the German team as their driver in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year. The extraordinarily young driver has a reputable background in winning multiple Italian karting championships, and how he claimed his maiden podium last season with Jenzer Motorsport in Barcelona. HWA explained how Matteo Nannini is the perfect fit for their concept of talent based on his past experiences and his promising results coming from the pre-season test as he stayed inside the top 10.
Both rookies Oliver Rasmussen and Rafael Villagomez will start their debut this weekend with the German team. Rasmussen pulled out an impressive background with six wins and thirteen podiums last year in the Formula Regional Championship, as it shows his real potential to compete at this level. At the same time, Rafael Villagomez stepped his games up to the championship after he graduates from the French F4 Championship. Each driver’s determination convinced HWA to welcome another new talent into their journey in reaching for victory.
Campos Racing
Featured Image Credit: Campos Racing official Instagram
Campos is heading to their third season in the FIA Formula 3 independently without the team’s founder Adrian Campos who passed away in the first month of 2021, leaving his legacy to live by the team. Three Formula Renault graduates filled the seats in the Spanish team, with Laszlo Toth, Lorenzo Colombo, and Amaury Cordeel making their debut with Campos this year.
As a six-time Formula Renault Eurocup race- winner Lorenzo Colombo showed a different side from him where he keeps his goal to deliver everything that he got on the track to make the car run as fast as possible. Colombo looks forward to collecting good points and a decent result at the end of the season.
Amaury Cordeel, the first Campos Racing addition for this year’s Formula 3 campaign, was set to compete against the best. He said that it would help him improve as a driver and as one of the main reasons for him joining the championship. The only target for him is getting experiences and developing as much as possible without any specific targets. The same thing goes for Laszlo Toth in his first season competing inside the series.
Jenzer Motorsport
Featured Image Credit: Jenzer official Instagram
The Switzerland based team got their chances to rebuild the team’s performances after an uncompetitive season in 2020 as they hoped to see a major improvement through the season. Callan Williams extended his partnership with Jenzer Motorsport as he signed for his second campaign with the team. Having finished last in the previous season, Williams aims to get back stronger as he looks forward to things they can achieve together.
Pierre-Louis Chovet will race under number 27 this season. Last year he managed to perform with his best finish of sixth in Monza and finished 19th on the championship eventually, but those experiences earned him a lesson to work harder in proving his results with the team.
Jenzer’s rookie Filip Ugran continued his partnership to drive for the Swiss team this year after graduating from the Italian F4 Championship in 2020. With the dedication that the Romanian driver has in him to reach out for opportunities, he will need to be competitive in creating successes in the team.
Trident
Featured Image Credit: Trident official Instagram
As one of the most competitive team on the grid with a successful season in 2020, they finished second in the championship with six podiums and three wins. This year Trident has a slightly different lineup with two driver switch, welcoming Jack Doohan and David Schumacher into their time. In contrast, The two times podium winner Clement Novalak switched to Trident this year after competing with Carlin last year.
The Redbull Junior Team Driver, who is also the son of the famous MotoGP World Champion Mick Doohan, made his switch from HWA Racelab to join the Italian team’s outfit this year. The team was pleased to have him on the team, recognizing how fast he adapted to the car and the highly competitive results he could get for the Italian team as a consideration. There are high possibilities to get the title under his name as he’s one of the championships favourites.
Having a similar background as his teammate, David Schumacher, the former Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher joined the team as the first addition to Trident’s newest lineup. The 19-year-old driver closed the session in 28th last season with Charouz Racing System. David Schumacher is more prepared than ever to start his second season with complete positivity and confidence to lead to excellent results this season.
Hitech Grand Prix
Featured Image Credit: Hitech official Instagram
Hitech finished fourth last season with the help from Pierre-Louis Chovet after Max Fewtrell decided to leave the championship. Two rookies will be racing inside the team this season as Jack Crawford, and Ayumu Iwasa will be pairing up together along with Roman Stanek.
The first look of Jack Crawford joining the championship at the age of 15-year-old was quite surprising, but the youngsters won’t stop to surprise people there as he aims to create even bigger surprises in the future by taking podiums and winning races. He agreed with Red Bull’s idea of joining a championship as big as the FIA Formula 3 championship, but it was all are part of his plan to follow the big step to his dream.
The Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa, who’s also the Red Bull Junior driver, signed the new campaign for him. He joined the team together with Jack Crawford, and the pairing couldn’t be more exciting.
The most experienced driver out of all in Hitech’s lineup Roman Stanek feels like he’s ready to send it even with the struggle he has in finishing 21st in the previous FIA Formula 3 season. At this level, Roman Stanek will be learning from his experiences to improve many things in his situation and start to achieve more things in the future.
MP Motorsport
Featured Image Credit: MP Motorsport official Instagram
With three rookies completing MP Motorsport’s lineup, the Dutch team couldn’t be more positive. They have an exciting lineup with two champions and one promising driver from the Formula Renault Eurocup Championship.
The reigning champion of Formula Renault Victor Martins happily announced his next step in racing as he got to be announced together with the vice-champion Caio Collet who’s also his partner in the Alpine Academy.
Victor Martins himself is predicted to be one of the championship contenders as he finished the pre-season testing in Barcelona at the top of the leaderboard.
While his teammate Caio Collet stole the spotlight in breaking the F3 track record on the pre-season testing in Spielberg as he set the fastest time amongst the other 28 drivers. The Alpine Academy duo could be the next in line for the champion, but that doesn’t leave Tjimen Van Der Helm to be behind them with his target in competing against them.
Carlin Buzz Racing
Featured Image Credit: Carlin official Instagram
Carlin made a slight improvement on their performance in the eighth position out of ten teams on the grid compared to their first appearance on the championship in 2019, where they finished ninth. The British team hoped for some good results that they could deliver in 2021, with the announcement coming from Ido Cohen to join them for the season. The Israeli driver has proved his capability in reaching out for podiums based on his records in the Italian Formula 4 Championship and ADAC F4.
In his first year as a Formula 3 driver with Carlin this season, Johnny Edgar will be joining him on the team’s lineup as he looks forward to learning about the ropes and maximizing his potential from every last drop of experience that Carlin could get him.
The 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 reigning champion Kaylen Frederick is also confirmed to be joining the two brilliant drivers in building the team’s success. He will be the third American driver on the grid with Logan Sargeant and Jack Crawford on the side. There are possibilities where he could reach for at least a podium with his previous record in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with twelve podiums and nine wins in total that supported his way to the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year.
Charouz Racing system
Featured Image Credit: Charouz Racing official Instagram
After a long wait, Charouz finally revealed their contenders of the season with the arrival of Logan Sargeant and Enzo Fittipaldi joining the team at the last minute, just three days before the first round of the season.
Last year’s third runner up Logan Sargeant, decided to join the championship after the pre-season test in Barcelona and Spielberg with Charouz. He arrived at the grid with a bunch of experiences that could get him the title easily, knowing his incredible performances last year in the front battle with his former teammate Oscar Piastri.
Sargeant awaited another chance for him to join a higher championship. He set himself for another exciting battle this year along with Enzo Fittipaldi, who will be contesting his second year in the FIA Formula 3 championship with the switch over HWA to the Charouz Racing team.
Reshard De Gerus will make his debut in the FIA Formula 3 this year after he graduated from Formula Renault Eurocup Championship in 2020. Preparing for the most complicated season ever in motorsport history, as said by the owner of the Czech based team Antonin Charouz, they can’t wait to bounce back from where they finished last time. Charouz had a frustrating year with only five points given to the team at the end of the championship, but now they look forward in a more vital form from the preparation before the season started.
