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).[1] 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.[2] 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
[edit]The car
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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.[3][4] 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.[5] Teams were required to enter three cars.[6]
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[a] | 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[b] | 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 |
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:[6][7][8][9][10] |
Team entries
[edit]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,[7] while Carlin, Hitech Grand Prix and Prema Racing were chosen from the Formula 3 European Championship.[7] Both Carlin and Prema Racing held entries in the championship's sister series Formula 2, as did Charouz Racing System.[7] 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.[7] Formula 2 and GP3 regulars Arden International decided against entering Formula 3,[11] while Motopark—who competed in the Formula 3 European Championship—were unsuccessful in their application and instead entered the Euroformula Open Championship.[12]
Driver entries
[edit]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.[13][14][15] FIA Formula 3 European Championship race winners and Ferrari juniors Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwartzman continued their collaboration with Prema Racing into the championship.[16][17] Jehan Daruvala, who raced in Formula 3 European Championship with Carlin, also joined Prema Racing.[18]
Honda promoted F4 Japanese champion and Red Bull Junior, Yuki Tsunoda to the category with Jenzer Motorsport.[19] Artem Petrov joined the team from the Formula 3 European Championship and Andreas Estner from ADAC Formula 4.[20][21] Red Bull Junior Jüri Vips, who also raced in the Formula 3 European Championship, moved to the new championship with Hitech Grand Prix.[22] 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.[23][24]
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.[25][26][27] 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.[28][29][30]
Keyvan Andres Soori, who raced in European Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing, joined the championship with HWA Racelab.[31] 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.[32][33] After racing with them in GP3, Richard Verschoor joined MP Motorsport alongside Simo Laaksonen and reigning TRS champion and Red Bull Junior, Liam Lawson.[34][35][36]
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.[37] 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.[38][39][40]
- 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.[41][42][43] Carrara was replaced with Federico Malvestiti for the Silverstone round.[44] Carrara returned to the seat in Hungary.[9] Hon Chio Leong replaced Carrara for the season finale at Sochi Autodrom.[45]
Following an accident at the Monza round that left him with fractured vertebrae, Alex Peroni missed the final race at Sochi.[46] He was replaced with David Schumacher, son of Formula One race winner Ralf Schumacher.[47]
David Beckmann withdrew from the final race of the championship for personal reasons.[48]
Calendar
[edit]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:[49] |
Season report
[edit]This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2020) |
Round 1: Spain
[edit]For the first race of the season it was Robert Shwartzman who took pole with Christian Lundgaard second.[50]
Results and standings
[edit]Season summary
[edit]
Scoring system
[edit]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
[edit]
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Notes:
- † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Teams' championship
[edit]
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Notes:
- † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Raoul Hyman is a South African driver competing under a British licence.
- ^ Giorgio Carrara is an Argentine driver competing under a Swiss licence.
- ^ Christian Lundgaard won the race, but was subsequently issued with a five-second time penalty for a virtual safety car (VSC) infringement.[52]
- ^ Felipe Drugovich set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Yuki Tsunoda was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Christian Lundgaard set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jake Hughes was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Robert Shwartzman won the race, but was subsequently issued with a five-second time penalty for a collision with Marcus Armstrong.
- ^ Logan Sargeant set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jehan Daruvala was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Jüri Vips set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Richard Verschoor was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
References
[edit]- ^ Simmons, Marcus (22 September 2017). "FIA confirms new single-make Formula 3 category for 2019". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
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- ^ "The Car". fiaformula3.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
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- ^ a b c d e Simmons, Marcus (12 October 2018). "Mercedes partner HWA for new FIA F3 series". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
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Horner told Motorsport.com that the team has already decided not to continue in the third tier, but it will continue in F2.
- ^ Simmons, Marcus (2 April 2019). "Motopark takes Red Bull pair to Euroformula Open". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ^ "Carlin announce title partner 'Buzz' and Natori in 2019 FIA Formula 3". carlin.co.uk. Carlin Motorsport. 11 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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- ^ "Logan Sargeant confirmed at Carlin Buzz Racing in 2019". 18 February 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (4 December 2018). "Ferrari junior Armstrong joins Prema in new F3 series". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
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Honda has also placed another of its junior drivers, 18-year-old Yuki Tsunoda, into the new FIA F3 series that replaces GP3 on the F1 support bill next season.
- ^ "Artem Petrov to race with Jenzer Motorsport in 2019". February 19, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ Allen, Peter (April 10, 2019). "Jenzer Motorsport completes FIA F3 grid with Andreas Estner signing". FormulaScout. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ Allen, Peter (5 December 2018). "Red Bull finalises Dan Ticktum's Super Formula move, Honda junior tie-up". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ "Pulcini and Hitech GP together for 2019 season". fiaformula3.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 4 February 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Ye Yifei joins Hitech Grand Prix for 2019 season". February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "David Beckmann to race with ART Grand Prix 2019". fiaformula3.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (23 January 2019). "Renault protege Lundgaard secures ART F3 drive". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "Lundgaard and Fewtrell join ART Grand Prix". fiaformula3.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.[permanent dead link ]
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- ^ "Jake Hughes completes HWA RACELAB 2019 line-up". February 20, 2019. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "Richard Verschoor to race with MP Motorsport". 10 March 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Simo Laaksonen joins MP Motorsport". 28 February 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Liam Lawson joins MP Motorsport for debut FIA F3 campaign". 10 March 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Sauber Junior Team by Charouz reveal 2019 line-up". February 19, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "Pedro Piquet back with Trident for 2019 FIA F3 challenge". February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "Niko Kari joins Trident". February 20, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "Devlin DeFrancesco completes Trident's 2019 line-up". February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ "Giorgio Carrara joins Jenzer Motorsport". fiaformula3.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 25 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
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- ^ "Schumacher to make F3 debut as Peroni stand-in". Motorsport.com. 24 September 2019.
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- ^ "FIA announces 2019 calendars for F2 and F3". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ "Barcelona F3: Shwartzman bags first pole of 2019". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- ^ "F3 Fastest laps". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
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