FIA confirms international F3 series for 2019

The World Motor Sport Council has approved the creation of a new international FIA Formula 3 Championship that will feature on the Formula 1 support bill from 2019.

Plans to add an F3 series to the F1 race weekend have been in the works for some time, with the newly-announced championship set to replace the GP3 Series that started in 2010.

The creation of an international F3 series completes the FIA's planned re-runging of the junior motorsport ladder, allowing drivers to work their way up from Formula 4 to F3, and then to Formula 2 before graduating to F1.

"The international championship will be hosted on the FIA Formula One World Championship platform and feature an all-new car, with a single supplier for chassis, engines and tyres to be selected by the FIA in collaboration with Formula 1," a statement reads.

"The introduction of this new FIA Formula 3 Championship will benefit both competitors and fans, providing the unparalleled platform of F1 for young drivers working their way up the FIA’s single-seater pyramid, which now spans the full spectrum of the discipline from karting to FIA-certified Formula 4, FIA-certified regional Formula 3, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1."

The series looks set to replace both GP3 and the current European Formula 3 Series, with new regional F3 championships in Asia and the Americas set to rank just below on the single-seater ladder.

“The FIA has been refining the single-seater pyramid with great care over recent years, and the new FIA Formula 3 Championship achieves an important goal of putting the top three FIA single-seater competitions on the same platform," FIA Single-Seater Commission president Stefano Domenicali said.

"This has great advantages for fans and competitors alike, as graduates of FIA-certified national and regional competitions have a clear first step into international racing, while spectators and viewers watching Formula One will be able to see a broader spectrum of future stars on their way to the pinnacle of our sport.

"Formula 3 has a long and rich heritage as a key category where the skills to reach the top are developed, and now with Formula 1 as the promoter, I’m sure it will continue to flourish."

F1 managing director (motorsport) Ross Brawn added: "We are pleased to have been entrusted with the organisation of the FIA Formula 3 Championship as from 2019.

"While race fans can enjoy the spectacle of drivers battling it out at the pinnacle of motor sport, which is the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, one of our objectives is to also provide them with the opportunity of discovering new talent and watching them progress along a clearly defined and high-level pathway.

"Already, since 2017, this has led to the creation of the FIA Formula 2 Championship and, as from 2019, the Grand Prix weekends will also feature another step on the FIA’s racing ladder, in which the best young drivers from national and regional categories will be able to race on the greatest and most prestigious race tracks of the world, on the same programme as those they might be racing against in F1 in the future."