2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship


The 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship is the eleventh season of the third-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also second season under the moniker of FIA Formula 3 Championship, a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat open-wheel formula racing cars. The championship features drivers competing in three-point-four litre Formula 3 racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, of the championship. It is due to run in support of the Formula 1 World Championship and its sister series, Formula 2. It serves as the third tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway.
Robert Shwartzman is the reigning drivers' champion, having won the title at the final round of the 2019 championship in Russia. Prema Racing are the reigning teams' champions.

Season report

At the first race in Austria it was Sebastián Fernández who took pole position. In race 1, Fernández and Oscar Piastri collided at the first turn, forcing Fernández into retirement. Piastri went on to win the race on his FIA Formula 3 debut, with Logan Sargeant and Alex Peroni completing the top three. Liam Lawson claimed his maiden victory in race 2 ahead of Richard Verschoor and reverse grid pole sitter Clément Novalak.
At the second round one week later, Frederik Vesti took pole and victory in race 1 followed by the Trident pair of Lirim Zendeli and David Beckmann. The race was curtailed by heavy rain, being red-flagged after multiple incidents on lap 15 of 24. As a result, only half points were awarded. Lawson and reverse-grid pole sitter Jake Hughes collided whilst battling for the lead late in race 2, forcing both into retirement and allowing Théo Pourchaire to claim his first Formula 3 victory. He was followed by Sargeant in second and Beckmann collected his second podium of the weekend with third.
Aleksandr Smolyar took pole for the first race at the Hungaroring, but was one of many drivers eliminated in a first corner incident with Sargeant. Pourchaire achieved back-to-back wins, while Piastri and Bent Viscaal completed the podium. Viscaal crossed the finished line first in race 2, but was demoted after receiving two separate five-second time penalties. David Beckmann inherited the race win, Piastri was second and Dennis Hauger collected his maiden podium in third. \
Sargeant took his first pole for the first race at Silverstone, but converted it only to the third place on the finish. Lawson broke his series of three non-finishes with the win ahead of series leader Piastri. In the sprint race the situation repeated for Beckmann. He was recognized as a race winner after a penalty for Smolyar for changing direction more than one time on the straight.

Entries

The following teams and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2020 championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams compete with an identical Dallara F3 2019 chassis and a bespoke tyre compound developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a naturally-aspirated V6 engine developed by Mecachrome.

In detail

Reigning champion Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala left Prema Racing and the championship to graduate to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, competing for Prema, ART Grand Prix and Carlin Racing, respectively. Logan Sargeant switched from Carlin Buzz Racing to join the outfit and was joined by reigning Formula Regional European and Formula Renault Eurocup champions Frederik Vesti and the Renault-backed Oscar Piastri.
David Beckmann and Max Fewtrell left ART Grand Prix, with Beckmann moving to Trident and Fewtrell to Hitech Grand Prix. Christian Lundgaard graduated to ART's FIA Formula 2 outfit. Their seats were taken by reigning ADAC Formula 4 champion Théo Pourchaire, 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup third-place finisher Aleksandr Smolyar, and Sebastián Fernández, who moved from Campos Racing.
Joining Fewtrell at Hitech were Red Bull Junior Team drivers Liam Lawson, who switched from MP Motorsport, and reigning Italian F4 champion Dennis Hauger. As a result, Leonardo Pulcini, Jüri Vips and Ye Yifei all left the team, with Pulcini and Vips moving to the International GT Open and Super Formula series respectively.
Jake Hughes remained with HWA Racelab while Bent Viscaal and Keyvan Andres left the team, with the former switching to MP Motorsport and being joined by 2019 Euroformula Open third place finisher Lukas Dunner. Their seats were filled by 2019 Formula Regional European Championship runner-up Enzo Fittipaldi and 2019 F3 Asian Championship runner-up Jack Doohan.
Yuki Tsunoda and Andreas Estner left Jenzer Motorsport, with Tsunoda graduating to FIA Formula 2. They were replaced by Euroformula Open racer Calan Williams and 2019 Formula 4 UAE champion Matteo Nannini. Federico Malvestiti, who raced for Jenzer at the fourth round of the 2019 season as a replacement driver, joined the team full-time.
Reigning Toyota Racing Series champion Igor Fraga and David Schumacher, who finished fourth in the 2019 Formula Regional European Championship, joined the series with Charouz Racing System, with whom Schumacher had previously raced with at the previous year's Macau Grand Prix. Schumacher had previously made an appearance in the 2019 season finale with Campos Racing. They were joined at Charouz by Niko Kari, who switched from Trident. Raoul Hyman, Fabio Scherer and Lirim Zendeli all left Charouz, with Scherer joining the DTM series and Zendeli moving to Trident. Pedro Piquet left Trident and graduated to FIA Formula 2, whilst Devlin DeFrancesco remained with the team who also acquired Formula Regional graduate Olli Caldwell, who had raced with the Italian outfit at Macau the previous year.
Alex Peroni and Alessio Deledda will return with Campos Racing. Peroni's re-signing also marked his return to competition, having been forced to miss the final round of the 2019 championship with a back injury. Sophia Flörsch completes Campos line-up.
Along with Sargeant, Felipe Drugovich and Teppei Natori left Carlin Buzz Racing to compete in FIA Formula 2 and Super Formula Lights respectively. Their seats were filled by inaugural Formula 4 US champion Cameron Das and BRDC British Formula 3 champions Enaam Ahmed and Clément Novalak.
Ahead of the delayed Red Bull Ring season opener, David Beckmann was drafted into the Trident line-up in place of Devlin DeFrancesco, Charouz Racing System replaced Niko Kari with Roman Staněk, and Carlin Buzz Racing replaced Enaam Ahmed with Ben Barnicoat for 1st Silverstone round.

Calendar

The following ten rounds are scheduled to take place as part of the 2020 championship. The series was to hold its opening round at the Bahrain International Circuit for the first time, and the Circuit Paul Ricard round was to be replaced by a round at Circuit Zandvoort. However, the championship was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw several rounds postponed. A revised calendar was published in June 2020, which included two events at the Red Bull Ring and two at the Silverstone Circuit.

Regulation changes

Sporting regulations

The championship will change the grid and point systems for the second race. The top ten finishers in the first race will all score points and will have their places reversed on the grid of the second race.

Results and standings

Season summary

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in both races, but with fewer points available during race 2. The pole-sitter in race 1 also receives four points, and two points are 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 ten drivers having their positions reversed.
;Race 1 points
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole FL
Points25181512108642142

;Race 2 points
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th FL
Points15121086543212

Drivers' championship

Notes:
Notes: