2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship

The 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship was the inaugural season of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat open-wheel formula racing cars. The championship featured drivers competing in 3.4-litre Formula 3 racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, of the championship. It ran in support of the Formula 1 World Championship and its sister series, the FIA Formula 2 Championship. It serves as the third tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The championship was formed by the merger of the GP3 Series and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2018, which brought the two championships under the umbrella of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The Formula One theme song composed by Brian Tyler, which debuted in the 2018 F1 season, would be used in Formula 3 broadcasts.

Prema Racing driver Robert Shwartzman won the championship title with one race to spare after collecting three race wins with six other podium finishes. Shwartzman dominated from the first race of the season, losing the drivers' championship lead only for one race to his teammate Jehan Daruvala. Daruvala, who finished third overall, was victorious at Barcelona and Le Castellet. Marcus Armstrong, another Prema driver, finished second and won races at Hungaroring, Spa and Sochi. He passed Daruvala by one point in the drivers' championship just in the final race of the season. Prema Racing became the inaugural teams' champions after the second Spa-Francorchamps race.

Regulation changes

The car

For the championship's inaugural season, all teams were supplied with a new chassis package, named the Dallara F3 2019. It was still powered by a fuel-efficient 3.4 litre (207 cu in) naturally-aspirated direct-injected V6 engine developed by Mecachrome that also powered the GP3/16 chassis which was used in the championship's predecessor, the GP3 Series from 2016 to 2018. The chassis used tyres supplied by Pirelli and also featured the "halo" cockpit protection device used in the championship's sister series Formula One and Formula 2.

Technical regulations

The championship introduced a rule restricting the amount of downforce available during a race. Teams were free to run as much downforce as they choose during free practice and qualifying in order to find the ideal car setup, but the minimum and maximum allowable angle of the rear wing was specified by stewards ahead of the race.

Use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) was unrestricted, whereas the championship's predecessor, GP3, restricted its use to six in the feature race and four in the sprint race.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2019 championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams competed with an identical Dallara F3 2019 chassis and a bespoke tyre compound developed by Pirelli. Each car was powered by a 3.4 L (207 cu in) naturally-aspirated V6 engine developed by Mecachrome that was previously used in the Dallara GP3/16. Teams were required to enter three cars.

Entrant	No.	Driver name	Rounds
ART Grand Prix	1	David Beckmann	All
	2	Max Fewtrell	All
	3	Christian Lundgaard	All
MP Motorsport	4	Liam Lawson	All
	5	Simo Laaksonen	All
	6	Richard Verschoor	All
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	7	Lirim Zendeli	All
	8	Fabio Scherer	All
	9	Raoul Hyman	All
HWA Racelab	10	Bent Viscaal	All
	11	Jake Hughes	All
	12	Keyvan Andres	All
Jenzer Motorsport	14	Yuki Tsunoda	All
	15	Artem Petrov	1
		Giorgio Carrara	3, 5–7
		Federico Malvestiti	4
		Charles Leong	8
	16	Andreas Estner	All
Trident	17	Devlin DeFrancesco	All
	18	Pedro Piquet	All
	19	Niko Kari	All
Hitech Grand Prix	20	Leonardo Pulcini	All
	21	Jüri Vips	All
	22	Yifei Ye	All
Campos Racing	23	Alex Peroni	1–7
	23	David Schumacher	8
	24	Alessio Deledda	All
	25	Sebastián Fernández	All
Prema Racing	26	Marcus Armstrong	All
	27	Jehan Daruvala	All
	28	Robert Shwartzman	All
Carlin Buzz Racing	29	Teppei Natori	All
	30	Felipe Drugovich	All
	31	Logan Sargeant	All
Source:

Team entries

The merging of the GP3 Series and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship saw the FIA open up a tender process to prospective entrants. ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Jenzer Motorsport, MP Motorsport and Trident were selected from the GP3 Series entrants, while Carlin, Hitech Grand Prix and Prema Racing were chosen from the Formula 3 European Championship. Both Carlin and Prema Racing held entries in the championship's sister series Formula 2, as did Charouz Racing System. Charouz later formed a partnership with Sauber Motorsport, which currently runs Alfa Romeo's team in Formula 1. The final entry was awarded to HWA Racelab, who joined the series after Mercedes-Benz withdrew from the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters touring car championship. Formula 2 and GP3 regulars Arden International decided against entering Formula 3, while Motopark—who competed in the Formula 3 European Championship—were unsuccessful in their application and instead entered the Euroformula Open Championship.

Driver entries

Teppei Natori, who placed second in the 2018 F4 Japanese Championship, joined the series with Carlin Buzz Racing along with Euroformula Open champion Felipe Drugovich and Eurocup Formula Renault race winner Logan Sargeant. FIA Formula 3 European Championship race winners and Ferrari juniors Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwartzman continued their collaboration with Prema Racing into the championship. Jehan Daruvala, who raced in Formula 3 European Championship with Carlin, also joined Prema Racing.

Honda promoted F4 Japanese champion and Red Bull Junior, Yuki Tsunoda to the category with Jenzer Motorsport. Artem Petrov joined the team from the Formula 3 European Championship and Andreas Estner from ADAC Formula 4. Red Bull Junior Jüri Vips, who also raced in the Formula 3 European Championship, moved to the new championship with Hitech Grand Prix. Leonardo Pulcini and Yifei Ye, who raced in GP3 with Campos Racing and Formula Renault with Josef Kaufmann Racing respectively, also joined Hitech Grand Prix.

After racing in the GP3 Series with Jenzer Motorsport and Trident, David Beckmann signed with ART Grand Prix, who also took on Renault Sport Academy members Max Fewtrell and Christian Lundgaard. Sebastián Fernández, Alex Peroni and Alessio Deledda joined Campos Racing after competing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Motopark, Formula Renault Eurocup with MP Motorsport and Italian F4 with Technorace respectively.

Keyvan Andres Soori, who raced in European Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing, joined the championship with HWA Racelab. He was partnered with Bent Viscaal, who was the runner-up in the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship driving for Teo Martín Motorsport, and Jake Hughes, who raced in GP3 with ART. After racing with them in GP3, Richard Verschoor joined MP Motorsport alongside Simo Laaksonen and reigning TRS champion and Red Bull Junior, Liam Lawson.

The Sauber Junior Team by Charouz entered the championship fielding reigning ADAC Formula 4 champion Lirim Zendeli, European Formula 3 racer Fabio Scherer and reigning F3 Asian champion Raoul Hyman. After scoring two race wins with them in the 2018 GP3 Series, Pedro Piquet reunited with Trident and was joined by Niko Kari and Devlin DeFrancesco, both of whom switched from MP Motorsport.

Mid-season changes

Artem Petrov ended his campaign after the first round due to lack of funding. His replacement at Jenzer Motorsport was Giorgio Carrara, however the Argentine could only start participating from the Spielberg round due to visa issues. Carrara was replaced with Federico Malvestiti for the Silverstone round. Carrara returned to the seat in Hungary. Hon Chio Leong replaced Carrara for the season finale at Sochi Autodrom.

Following an accident at the Monza round that left him with fractured vertebrae, Alex Peroni missed the final race at Sochi. He was replaced with David Schumacher, son of Formula One race winner Ralf Schumacher.

David Beckmann withdrew from the final race of the championship for personal reasons.

Calendar

A schedule of eight rounds was made to take place as part of the 2019 championship. The eight rounds were drawn from the 2018 GP3 Series calendar as the series was run on the Formula 1 support bill whereas the Formula 3 European Championship did not. The ninth round held at the Yas Marina Circuit in 2018 was omitted from the Formula 3 calendar to allow drivers the opportunity to compete in the 2019 Macau Grand Prix, which was announced during the season to be a non-championship round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, as all teams and cars were at the event.

Round	Circuit	Race 1	Race 2
1	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	11 May	12 May
2	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	22 June	23 June
3	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	29 June	30 June
4	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	13 July	14 July
5	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	3 August	4 August
6	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	31 August	1 September
7	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	7 September	8 September
8	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	28 September	29 September
NC	Guia Circuit, Macau	16 November	17 November
Source:

Season report

Round 1: Spain

For the first race of the season it was Robert Shwartzman who took pole with Christian Lundgaard second.

Results and standings

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya	Robert Shwartzman	Christian Lundgaard	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	Report
1	R2	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya		Jehan Daruvala	Jehan Daruvala	Prema Racing	Report
2	R1	Circuit Paul Ricard	Jake Hughes	Felipe Drugovich	Jehan Daruvala	Prema Racing	Report
2	R2	Circuit Paul Ricard		Marcus Armstrong	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	Report
3	R1	Red Bull Ring	Marcus Armstrong	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
3	R2	Red Bull Ring		Christian Lundgaard	Jake Hughes	HWA Racelab	Report
4	R1	Silverstone Circuit	Jüri Vips	Logan Sargeant	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
4	R2	Silverstone Circuit		Robert Shwartzman	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
5	R1	Hungaroring	Christian Lundgaard	Christian Lundgaard	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	Report
5	R2	Hungaroring		Marcus Armstrong	Marcus Armstrong	Prema Racing	Report
6	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Jehan Daruvala	Pedro Piquet	Pedro Piquet	Trident	Report
6	R2	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps		Marcus Armstrong	Marcus Armstrong	Prema Racing	Report
7	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Christian Lundgaard	Robert Shwartzman	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	Report
7	R2	Autodromo Nazionale Monza		Jüri Vips	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	Report
8	R1	Sochi Autodrom	Robert Shwartzman	Jake Hughes	Marcus Armstrong	Prema Racing	Report
8	R2	Sochi Autodrom		Marcus Armstrong	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
NC	QR	Guia Circuit	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
NC	MR	Guia Circuit	Jüri Vips	Jake Hughes	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	Report
Sources:

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in Race 1, and to the top 8 classified finishers in Race 2. The pole-sitter in Race 1 received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in Race 2 as the grid for Race 2 is based on the results of Race 1 with the top eight drivers having their positions reversed.

Race 1 points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pole	FL
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	4	2

Race 2 points

Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers, excluding the fastest lap points which are given to the top ten classified finishers.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	FL
Points	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	2

Drivers' championship

Pos.	Driver	CAT		LEC		RBR		SIL		HUN		SPA		MNZ		SOC		Points
Pos.	Driver	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Points
1	Robert Shwartzman	1	4	2	1	5	3	5	2	5	Ret	2	3	1	8	2	3	212
2	Marcus Armstrong	3	5	6	6	3	19	3	4	8	1	8	1	21	14	1	2	158
3	Jehan Daruvala	7	1	1	3	4	2	2	28†	11	7	3	5	2	13	5	14	157
4	Jüri Vips	6	2	4	17	1	6	1	15	4	4	5	21	Ret	11	8	1	141
5	Pedro Piquet	26	16	3	2	6	15	6	27†	Ret	27	1	6	5	5	6	Ret	98
6	Christian Lundgaard	2	6	Ret	15	26	17	7	5	1	5	4	4	13	9	14	9	97
7	Jake Hughes	17	Ret	Ret	7	7	1	9	Ret	3	3	21	Ret	6	3	7	4	90
8	Leonardo Pulcini	20	21	Ret	12	9	5	4	1	7	2	7	7	10	6	4	16	78
9	Yuki Tsunoda	10	9	7	9	16	11	14	7	9	6	6	2	3	1	12	25†	67
10	Max Fewtrell	5	8	Ret	18	2	4	19	12	2	24	9	Ret	14	21	11	11	57
11	Liam Lawson	NC	17	9	5	14	25	8	3	16	9	12	19	7	2	18	8	41
12	Niko Kari	8	3	18	24†	11	8	18	19	14	12	19	Ret	Ret	15	3	5	36
13	Richard Verschoor	19	19	14	4	10	12	17	21	27†	17	17	11	4	4	10	7	34
14	David Beckmann	4	7	10	Ret	15	10	11	6	28†	19	10	12	Ret	28†			20
15	Bent Viscaal	13	13	5	20	13	Ret	22	20	19	10	20	14	17	27†	Ret	17	10
16	Felipe Drugovich	11	10	19	10	12	14	13	10	6	Ret	18	9	16	12	25	15	8
17	Fabio Scherer	27	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	23	16	8	15	13	27	18	8	7	Ret	Ret	7
18	Lirim Zendeli	14	11	Ret	16	8	7	15	9	Ret	20	22	22†	Ret	18	DNS	DNS	6
19	Logan Sargeant	15	14	12	8	22	26	26	13	10	8	13	Ret	9	10	15	10	5
20	Alex Peroni	12	24	8	14	21	Ret	10	Ret	26	16	Ret	15	Ret	DNS			5
21	Yifei Ye	22	Ret	13	22	20	Ret	12	11	18	22	15	10	Ret	19	13	6	4
22	Raoul Hyman	21	Ret	17	13	19	16	Ret	18	22	25	26	Ret	15	17	9	13	2
23	Simo Laaksonen	9	Ret	20†	Ret	18	18	24	24	17	18	24	Ret	20	20	17	Ret	2
24	Teppei Natori	24	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	22	25	16	20	Ret	11	8	11	29†	20	19	1
25	Devlin DeFrancesco	23	20	21†	21	17	9	27	17	12	11	29	Ret	12	16	23	12	0
26	Andreas Estner	25	22	11	11	23	20	23	22	21	15	23	17	22	24	24	18	0
27	Sebastián Fernández	16	12	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	20	14	13	23	25	13	18	26	16	24†	0
28	Keyvan Andres	28	18	DNS	19	27	13	21	26	23	14	14	16	19	22	19	23	0
29	Alessio Deledda	Ret	23	16	23	25	24	Ret	25	24	26	28	20	23	25	21	22	0
30	Giorgio Carrara					28	21			25	21	16	Ret	Ret	23			0
31	Artem Petrov	18	Ret															0
32	David Schumacher															22	20	0
33	Charles Leong															Ret	21	0
34	Federico Malvestiti							Ret	23									0
Pos.	Driver	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Points
Pos.	Driver	CAT		LEC		RBR		SIL		HUN		SPA		MNZ		SOC		Points
Sources:

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position point(s)
Italics	Fastest lap point(s)

Notes:

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

Pos.	Team	No.	CAT		LEC		RBR		SIL		HUN		SPA		MNZ		SOC		Points
Pos.	Team	No.	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Points
1	Prema Racing	26	3	5	6	6	3	19	3	4	8	1	8	1	21	14	1	2	527
		27	7	1	1	3	4	2	2	28†	11	7	3	5	2	13	5	14
		28	1	4	2	1	5	3	5	2	5	Ret	2	3	1	8	2	3
2	Hitech Grand Prix	20	20	21	Ret	12	9	5	4	1	7	2	7	7	10	6	4	16	223
		21	6	2	4	17	1	6	1	15	4	4	5	21	Ret	11	8	1
		22	22	Ret	13	22	20	Ret	12	11	18	22	15	10	Ret	19	13	6
3	ART Grand Prix	1	4	7	10	Ret	15	10	11	6	28†	19	10	12	Ret	28†			174
		2	5	8	Ret	18	2	4	19	12	2	24	9	Ret	14	21	11	11
		3	2	6	Ret	15	26	17	7	5	1	5	4	4	13	9	14	9
4	Trident	17	23	20	21†	21	17	9	27	17	12	11	29	Ret	12	16	23	12	134
		18	26	16	3	2	6	15	6	27†	Ret	27	1	6	5	5	6	Ret
		19	8	3	18	24†	11	8	18	19	14	12	19	Ret	Ret	15	3	5
5	HWA Racelab	10	13	13	5	20	13	Ret	22	20	19	10	20	14	17	27†	Ret	17	100
		11	17	Ret	Ret	7	7	1	9	Ret	3	3	21	Ret	6	3	7	4
		12	28	18	DNS	19	27	13	21	26	23	14	14	16	19	22	19	23
6	MP Motorsport	4	NC	17	9	5	14	25	8	3	16	9	12	19	7	2	18	8	77
		5	9	Ret	20†	Ret	18	18	18	24	17	18	24	Ret	20	20	17	Ret
		6	19	19	14	4	10	12	17	21	27†	17	17	11	4	4	10	7
7	Jenzer Motorsport	14	10	9	7	9	16	11	14	7	9	6	6	2	3	1	12	25†	67
		15	18	Ret			28	21	Ret	23	25	21	16	Ret	Ret	23	Ret	21
		16	25	22	11	11	23	20	23	22	21	15	23	17	22	24	24	18
8	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	7	14	11	Ret	16	8	7	15	9	Ret	20	22	22†	Ret	18	DNS	DNS	15
		8	27	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	23	16	8	15	13	27	18	8	7	Ret	Ret
		9	21	Ret	17	13	19	16	Ret	18	22	25	26	Ret	15	17	9	13
9	Carlin Buzz Racing	29	24	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	22	25	16	20	Ret	11	8	11	29†	20	19	14
		30	11	10	19	10	12	14	13	10	6	Ret	18	9	16	12	25	15
		31	15	14	12	8	22	26	26	13	10	8	13	Ret	9	10	15	10
10	Campos Racing	23	12	24	8	14	21	Ret	10	Ret	26	16	Ret	15	Ret	DNS	22	20	5
		24	Ret	23	16	23	25	24	Ret	25	24	26	28	20	23	25	21	22
		25	16	12	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	20	14	13	23	25	13	18	26	16	24
Pos.	Team	No.	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Points
Pos.	Team	No.	CAT		LEC		RBR		SIL		HUN		SPA		MNZ		SOC		Points
Sources:

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position point(s)
Italics	Fastest lap point(s)

Notes:

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.