The 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a multi-event

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

championship for single-seat

open wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

formula racing cars that is held across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The championship features drivers competing in two-litre Formula Three racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, for the championship. It is the fifth edition of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Felix Rosenqvist was the defending drivers' champion, but was unable to defend his title, because of a new rule which determined that drivers could spend no more than three years in the category. His team,

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

, were the defending winners of the teams' championship. 2016 was the final season that the

Dallara F312 The Dallara F312 is an open-wheel racing car developed by Italian manufacturer Dallara for use in all Formula Three categories. The car has proved to be one of the most popular Formula 3 Chassis ever, with over 53 of the original type having been p ...

chassis package, which débuted in the 2012 season, was used in competition, as a brand new chassis package was introduced for

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed during the 2016 season:

Driver changes

;Joining FIA European Formula 3 * 2015 Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron entered the series with

. *

Ben Barnicoat Ben Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a British racing driver who currently serves as a McLaren factory racing driver, while also competing in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship for Project 1 Motorsport. He has previously raced in the ...

, who came fourth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joined the series with HitechGP, after an initial deal with Prema Powerteam fell through. *

David Beckmann David Alexander Beckmann (born 27 April 2000) is a German racing driver currently racing in the Formula 2 with Van Amersfoort Racing. Career Karting Beckmann began karting in 2008, collecting major karting wins in 2009, 2012 and 2014. He rem ...

, who raced in

ADAC Formula 4 ADAC Formula 4 (german: ADAC Formel 4) is a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014. History Gerhard Berger and ...

, continued his collaboration with Mücke Motorsport into the championship, but missed the first two rounds on account of his age. * Nick Cassidy, who raced for Prema Powerteam in two rounds of the 2015 season, raced full-time with the team. *ADAC Formula 4 runner-up Joel Eriksson, brother of GP3 driver

Jimmy Eriksson Jimmy Eriksson (born 14 March 1991 in Tomelilla) is a Swedish race car driver who drove in the GP2 Series for Arden International in the 2016 GP2 Series Career Karting Eriksson made his karting debut in 2005, at the age of fourteen. In 2008 he ...

, joined the series with

Motopark Motopark Academy (raced under Lotus moniker from 2012 to 2014) is an auto racing team based in Oschersleben, Germany, next to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben race track. In 2013, the team competed in the GP2 Series under the name Russian Time ...

. * Anthoine Hubert, who finished fifth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joined the series with

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Cha ...

. *2015 SMP F4 champion and Red Bull Junior driver Niko Kari joined the series with Motopark. *

Nikita Mazepin Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin ( rus, Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, p=nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian professional auto racing, racing driver who competes in rally ...

joined the series with HitechGP. *

Harrison Newey Harrison Newey (born 25 July 1998) is a British racing driver and the son of Formula One engineer Adrian Newey. He made his ADAC Formula 4 debut in 2015 with Van Amersfoort Racing. He also competed in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship The GB ...

, son of F1 engineer Adrian Newey and runner-up in

BRDC Formula 4 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seate ...

, made his debut in the series with

. *

Pedro Piquet Pedro Estácio Leão Piquet Souto Maior (born 3 July 1998) is a Brazilian former racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet and younger half brother of Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr. He is known for ...

, son of three time

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

champion Nelson Piquet and two-time Brazilian Formula Three champion, stepped up to the series with Van Amersfoort Racing. * 2015 Italian F4 runner-up

Guanyu Zhou Zhou Guanyu (, pronounced ; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Alfa Romeo. He is the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for UNI-Vir ...

joined the championship with

. ;Changing Teams * Maximilian Günther, who raced for Mücke Motorsport for most of 2015 before switching to Prema Powerteam during the last round, stayed with Prema in 2016. *

Raoul Hyman Raoul Joshua Hyman (born 12 May 1996) is a South African racing driver scheduled to compete in the 2023 Super Formula Championship, Super Formula Championship for B-Max Racing. He is the 2022 Formula Regional Americas Championship, 2022 Formula R ...

switched from Team West-Tec F3 to Carlin. * Callum Ilott, who raced for Carlin in 2015, switched to Van Amersfoort Racing. *

Zhi Cong Li Zhi Cong "Peter" Li (, born 23 August 1993 in Guangzhou) is a racing driver from China. He formerly competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Li is best known for his involvement in a serious accident at a Formula 3 meeting at the Re ...

switched from Fortec Motorsports to Carlin. * Alessio Lorandi, who raced for Van Amersfoort in 2015, switched to Carlin. * Arjun Maini, switched from Van Amersfoort Racing to T-Sport. * George Russell, who raced for Carlin in 2015, switched to HitechGP. ;Leaving Formula 3 *

Jake Dennis Jake Dennis (born 16 June 1995) is a British racing driver who lives in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He currently competes in the Formula E World Championship with Avalanche Andretti Formula E. Early career Karting Dennis began his racing career i ...

Tatiana Calderón Tatiana Calderón Noguera (born 10 March 1993) is a Colombian racing driver who currently drives the No. 11 Dallara-Chevrolet car part-time for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2022 IndyCar Series. Calderón previously drove for the Drago Corse ...

and Santino Ferrucci, who finished third, 27th and 11th in the 2015 season, stepped up to GP3 with Arden International and DAMS respectively. *Rookie champion Charles Leclerc and

Alexander Albon Alexander Albon Ansusinha ( th, อเล็กซานเดอร์ อัลบอน อังศุสิงห์; , , born 23 March 1996) is a Thai-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Williams Racing, under th ...

, who finished fourth and seventh in 2015 respectively, left the series to compete in GP3 with ART Grand Prix. *2015 runner-up

Antonio Giovinazzi Antonio Maria Giovinazzi (; born 14 December 1993) is an Italian racing driver who currently serves as the reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was the 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship runner-up and race ...

stepped up to GP2 with

. * Pietro Fittipaldi, who finished 17th in 2015, stepped up to Formula V8 3.5 with Fortec. *2015 champion Felix Rosenqvist was ruled out of returning to the series due to a new rule, which said that drivers could spend no more than three years in the category. He joined the Indy Lights with

Belardi Auto Racing Belardi Auto Racing was an American racing team in the Indy Lights series. The team was owned by Brian Belardi, who competed in SCCA. Belardi was previously located in Illinois before moving to Brownsburg, Indiana. Indy Lights 2011-2013 Jorge ...

Team changes

*After making two appearances in the 2015 season, HitechGP returned full-time to the series, in collaboration with ART Grand Prix. *

Double R Racing Double R Racing is a motor racing team, which races in Formula Three and other junior levels of formula racing including the MSA Formula Championship for the 2016 season. The team was formed in November 2004 as Räikkönen Robertson Racing by th ...

, Signature Team, EuroInternational,

Team West-Tec Team West-Tec F3 is a motor racing team owned by Gavin Wills and John Miller based in Corby in the United Kingdom, the most successful team in the history of the European F3 Open Championship, it also won two drivers championships in the ASCAR ...

and

Artline Engineering ArtLine Engineering (russian: АртЛайн Инжиниринг) is a racing team and race car manufacturer based in Russia and Georgia and specialized on design and production of single seater race cars named ArtTech. The team was estab ...

withdrew.

Calendar

A provisional ten-round calendar was announced on 2 December 2015.

Results

Championship standings

;Scoring system

Drivers' championship

Rookies' Championship

Teams' championship

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

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship FIA Formula 3 European Championship FIA Formula 3 European Championship

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...