2016 FIA European Formula 3 Championship

2016 FIA European Formula 3 Championship
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The 2016 FIA European Formula 3 Championship will be a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that will be held across Europe. The championship will feature drivers competing in two-litre Formula Three racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, for the championship. It will be the fifteenth edition of the FIA European Formula Three Championship and the fifth edition after the European Formula Three Championship merged with the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Felix Rosenqvist will be the defending drivers' champion.^[1] His team, Prema Powerteam, will be the defending winners of the teams' championship.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers are scheduled to compete during the 2016 season:^[2]

Team No. Driver Status Engine Rounds Prema Powerteam[3] 1 Lance Stroll[3] Mercedes 1–2 2 Nick Cassidy[4] 1–2 16 Ralf Aron[5] R 1–2 17 Maximilian Günther[6] 1–2 Carlin[7] 3 Ryan Tveter[7] Volkswagen 1–2 4 Alessio Lorandi[8] 1–2 18 Zhi Cong Li[9] 1–2 19 Raoul Hyman[10] 1 Van Amersfoort Racing[11] 5 Pedro Piquet[11] Mercedes 1–2 6 Callum Ilott[12] 1–2 20 Harrison Newey[13] R 1–2 21 Anthoine Hubert[14] R 1–2 kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport 7 Mikkel Jensen[15] Mercedes 1–2 8 David Beckmann[16] R TBA Motopark[17] 9 Sérgio Sette Câmara[17] Volkswagen 1–2 10 Niko Kari[17] R 1–2 22 Joel Eriksson[18] R 1–2 23 Guanyu Zhou[19] R 1–2 HitechGP[20] 11 Nikita Mazepin[21] R Mercedes 1–2 12 George Russell[22] 1–2 24 Ben Barnicoat[23] R 1–2 25 TBA TBA Threebond with T-Sport[24] 14 Arjun Maini[24] NBE 2 15 Threebond 1

Icon Legend R Rookie Cup

Driver changes

Joining FIA European Formula 3

• 2015 Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron will enter the series with Prema Powerteam.^[5]
• Ben Barnicoat, who came fourth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, will join the series with HitechGP, after an initial deal with Prema Powerteam fell through.^[23]
• David Beckmann, who raced in ADAC Formula 4 will continue his collaboration with Mücke Motorsport into the championship, but will miss the first two rounds on account of his age.^[16]
• Nick Cassidy, who raced for Prema Powerteam in two rounds of the 2015 season, will race full-time with the team.^[4]
• ADAC Formula 4 runner-up Joel Eriksson, brother of GP3 driver Jimmy Eriksson, will join the series with Motopark.^[18]
• Anthoine Hubert, who finished fifth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joins the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.^[14]
• 2015 SMP F4 champion and Red Bull Junior driver Niko Kari will join the series with Motopark.^[17]
• Nikita Mazepin will join the series with HitechGP.^[21]
• Harrison Newey, son of F1 engineer Adrian Newey and runner-up in BRDC Formula 4, will made his debut in the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.^[13]
• Pedro Piquet, son of three time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet and two-time Brazilian Formula Three champion, will step up to the series with Van Amersfoort Racing.^[11]
• 2015 Italian F4 runner-up Guanyu Zhou joins the championship with Motopark.^[19]

Changing Teams

• Maximilian Günther, who raced for Mücke Motorsport for most of 2015 before switching to Prema Powerteam during the last round, will stay with Prema in 2016.^[6]
• Raoul Hyman will switch from Team West-Tec F3 to Carlin.^[10]
• Callum Ilott, who raced for Carlin in 2015, will switch to Van Amersfoort Racing.^[12]
• Zhi Cong Li will switch from Fortec Motorsports to Carlin.^[9]
• Alessio Lorandi, who raced for Van Amersfoort in 2015, with switch to Carlin.^[8]
• Arjun Maini, will switch from Van Amersfoort Racing to T-Sport.^[24]
• George Russell, who raced for Carlin in 2015, will switch to HitechGP.^[22]

Leaving Formula 3

• Jake Dennis, Tatiana Calderón and Santino Ferrucci, who finished third, 27th and 11th in the 2015 season, will step up to GP3 with Arden International and DAMS respectively.
• Rookie champion Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon, who finished fourth and seventh in 2015 respectively, will leave the series to compete in GP3 with ART Grand Prix.^[25]
• 2015 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi will step up to GP2 with Prema Powerteam.
• Pietro Fittipaldi, who finished 17th in 2015, will step up to Formula V8 3.5 with Fortec.
• 2015 champion Felix Rosenqvist is ruled out of returning to the series due to a new rule, which says drivers can spend no more than three years in the category. He will be joining the Indy Lights with Belardi Auto Racing.^[26]

Team changes

• After making two appearances in the 2015 season, Hitech GP will return full-time to the series, in collaboration with ART Grand Prix.
• Double R Racing, Signature Team, EuroInternational, Team West-Tec and Artline Engineering withdrew.

Calendar

A provisional ten-round calendar was announced on 2 December 2015.^[27]

R.	RN	Circuit	Date	Supporting
1	1	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	2 April	World Touring Car Championship
	2
	3		3 April
2	4	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	22–24 April
	5
	6
3	7	Circuit de Pau-Ville, Pau	13–15 May	Pau Grand Prix
	8
	9
4	10	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	20–22 May	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
	11
	12
5	13	Norisring, Nuremberg	24–26 June
	14
	15
6	16	Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort	15–17 July
	17
	18
7	19	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps	28–30 July	Blancpain Endurance Series
	20
	21
8	22	Nürburgring, Rhineland-Palatinate	9–11 September	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
	23
	24
9	25	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola	30 September–2 October	European Touring Car Cup FFSA GT Championship
	26
	27
10	28	Hockenheimring, Baden-Württemberg	14–16 October	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
	29
	30

Results

R.	RN	Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Rookie winner
1	1	Circuit Paul Ricard	Lance Stroll	Lance Stroll	Lance Stroll	Prema Powerteam	Ben Barnicoat
	2		Maximilian Günther	Nick Cassidy	Callum Ilott	Van Amersfoort Racing	Guanyu Zhou
	3		Maximilian Günther	Joel Eriksson	Maximilian Günther	Prema Powerteam	Joel Eriksson
2	4	Hungaroring	Maximilian Günther	Joel Eriksson	Ralf Aron	Prema Powerteam	Ralf Aron
	5		Maximilian Günther	Maximilian Günther	Maximilian Günther	Prema Powerteam	Ralf Aron
	6		Maximilian Günther	Lance Stroll	Ben Barnicoat	Hitech GP	Ben Barnicoat
3	7	Circuit de Pau-Ville
	8
	9
4	10	Red Bull Ring
	11
	12
5	13	Norisring
	14
	15
6	16	Circuit Park Zandvoort
	17
	18
7	19	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
	20
	21
8	22	Nürburgring
	23
	24
9	25	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
	26
	27
10	28	Hockenheimring
	29
	30

Championship standings

Scoring system

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

Drivers' championship

Pos. Driver LEC HUN PAU RBR NOR ZAN SPA NÜR IMO HOC Points 1 Maximilian Günther 5 Ret 1 5 1 Ret 70 2 Lance Stroll 1 Ret 5 4 8 3 66 3 Joel Eriksson 6 9 3 3 Ret 2 58 4 Nick Cassidy 2 2 2 Ret 16 9 56 5 Ralf Aron 7 Ret 7 1 2 DNS 55 6 Guanyu Zhou 14 3 8 8 3 4 50 7 Ben Barnicoat 4 Ret 11 9 10 1 40 8 Callum Ilott 10 1 12 Ret 9 6 36 9 Sérgio Sette Câmara 16 5 19 7 5 5 36 10 Mikkel Jensen 13 4 4 10 7 11 31 11 George Russell 3 11 18 Ret 4 Ret 27 12 Alessio Lorandi 12 6 9 6 6 12 26 13 Niko Kari 8 16 15 2 Ret 8 26 14 Anthoine Hubert 17 8 6 Ret 13 14 12 15 Ryan Tveter 15 7 Ret 11 11 DNS 6 16 Pedro Piquet 11 14 Ret 13 14 7 6 17 Harrison Newey 9 Ret 14 12 12 10 3 18 Raoul Hyman 18 10 13 1 19 Nikita Mazepin 19 12 10 EX Ret 13 1 20 Arjun Maini Ret 13 16 14 15 15 0 21 Zhi Cong Li 20 15 17 15 Ret 16 0

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Rookies' Championship

Pos.	Driver	LEC			HUN			PAU			RBR			NOR			ZAN			SPA			NÜR			IMO			HOC			Points
1	Joel Eriksson	6	9	3	3	Ret	2																									91
2	Guanyu Zhou	14	3	8	8	3	4																									90
3	Ben Barnicoat	4	Ret	11	9	10	1																									83
4	Ralf Aron	7	Ret	7	1	2	DNS																									80
5	Anthoine Hubert	17	8	6	Ret	13	14																									58
6	Niko Kari	8	16	15	2	Ret	8																									56
7	Harrison Newey	9	Ret	14	12	12	10																									46
8	Nikita Mazepin	19	12	10	EX	Ret	13																									34

Teams' championship

Prior to each round of the championship, two drivers from each team – if applicable – were nominated to score teams' championship points.

Pos	Team	Points
1	Prema Powerteam	158
2	Motopark	131
3	HitechGP	102
4	Carlin	79
5	kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport	68
6	Van Amersfoort Racing	53
7	Threebond with T-Sport	12

References

1. Allen, Peter (27 September 2015). "Rosenqvist is European F3 champion after Nurburgring hat-trick". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
2. "2016 FIA FORMULA 3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: General Entry List" (PDF). March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
3. Allen, Peter (3 November 2015). "Lance Stroll to stay in F3 with Prema in 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
4. "Cassidy completes Prema's European F3 line-up". 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
5. Allen, Peter (15 December 2015). "Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron makes F3 step with Prema". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
6. Allen, Peter (22 December 2015). "Maximilian Gunther gets Prema F3 deal for 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
7. Allen, Peter (16 December 2015). "Carlin retains Ryan Tveter for European F3 in 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
8. "Lorandi moves to Carlin for second European F3 season". January 19, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
9. "FIA F3 EC announces initial entries – final deadline pushed back". European Formula 3 Championship. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
10. "2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Provisional Entry List Paul Ricard" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
11. Allen, Peter (11 November 2015). "Pedro Piquet signs with Van Amersfoort for European F3 move". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
12. Allen, Peter (6 January 2016). "Callum Ilott moves to Van Amersfoort for 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
13. Chokhani, Darshan (13 January 2016). "Harrison Newey confirms F3 move with Van Amersfoort". motorsport.com. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
14. Allen, Peter (29 February 2016). "Anthoine Hubert lands F3 seat with Van Amersfoort Racing". Retrieved 29 February 2016.
15. Bosley, Jacob (2 February 2016). "Mikkel Jensen continues with Mucke Motorsport in European F3". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
16. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (18 December 2015). "Beckmann secures F3 move, gets Red Bull backing". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
17. "New names injected into the Red Bull Junior Team for 2016". Red Bull Junior Team. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
18. Simmons, Marcus (19 January 2016). "Joel Eriksson moves up to European F3 with Motopark". Autosport (Haymarket Media Group). Retrieved 19 January 2016.
19. Simmons, Marcus (15 February 2016). "Ferrari protege Guan Yu Zhou gets Motopark European Formula 3 seat". Autosport (Haymarket Media Group). Retrieved 15 February 2016.
20. Simmons, Marcus (December 1, 2015). "ART Grand Prix to return to Formula 3 in support of Hitech GP". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
21. Allen, Peter (18 December 2015). "Nikita Mazepin steps up to F3 with Hitech GP". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
22. Klein, Jamie (11 December 2015). "Russell joins Hitech for sophomore F3 season". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
23. Simmons, Marcus (14 January 2016). "Ben Barnicoat seals Hitech European Formula 3 Championship deal". Autosport (Haymarket Media Group). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
24. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (21 December 2015). "Maini switches to T-Sport for second European F3 campaign". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
25. "Fortec guarda alla Open F.3 Double R ferma il programma FIA (Fortec F3 Open looks at Double R stops the FIA program)". February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016. The passage of two young talented rookies like Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon GP3, when they could go for the title in the FIA Formula 3 this year, is a significant message to the Federation who thought he had charted a new course for all unbeatable
26. "Belardi Auto Racing confirms Felix Rosenqvist for Indy Lights". Indy Lights. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
27. Allen, Peter (2 December 2015). "No British round for FIA F3 European Championship in 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 2 December 2015.

External links

• Official website