2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship

The 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship was the seventh and final season of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, a multi-event motor racing championship for third-tier single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that is held across Europe. The championship features drivers competing in two-litre Formula 3 racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, for the championship. Teams and drivers competed in ten rounds, running in support of a variety of European motorsport championships including the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

2018 FIA Formula 3
European Championship

Drivers' Champion: Mick Schumacher
Teams' Champion: Prema Theodore Racing
Rookies' Champion: Robert Shwartzman

Previous

2017

Next

2019 (FIA F3)

Parent series:
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Mick Schumacher won his first junior formulae title after achieving eight victories.

As the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and GP3 Series are merged to form the international FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2019, 2018 was the final year that the championship was run since its formation in 2012.^[1]

Mick Schumacher won the championship on his second season. He took the championship lead after win in the first Spielberg race and held it until the second Hockenheim race, where he clinched the title.^[2][3] Dan Ticktum was the championship leader after first Hungaroring race and from finish of the first Silverstone race till the finish of the first Spielberg race but he scored only 42 out of 150 possible points in the final two rounds, losing the title battle by 59 points. Robert Shwartzman won the rookies' championship and completed the top-three in the driver's standings ahead of another Ferrari Driver Academy members Marcus Armstrong and Guanyu Zhou. Armstrong was placed behind Jüri Vips in both Drivers' and Rookies' standings. While fellow Estonian driver Ralf Aron was behind Armstrong in the driver standings. Prema Theodore Racing successfully defended the teams' championship title, winning over Motopark with one round to spare, and maintaining their record of being the only team to have won the teams' championship since the FIA Formula 3 European Championship was launched in 2012.^[4]

Champion Mick Schumacher took eight wins: one each at Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone, and Misano, a hat-trick at the Nürburgring, and a double at the Red Bull Ring. Runner-up Dan Ticktum, Jüri Vips, and Ralf Aron each took four race wins. Guanyu Zhou, Enaam Ahmed, and Robert Shwartzman won two races. Marcus Armstrong, Sacha Fenestraz, Jehan Daruvala, and Nikita Troitskiy were also race-winners.

Entries

The following teams and drivers are currently competing in the 2018 championship:^[5]

Team Chassis[N 1] Engine No. Driver Status Rounds Prema Theodore Racing F315/004 Mercedes-Benz 1 Guanyu Zhou[7] All F318/002 4 Mick Schumacher[8] All F317/004 7 Ralf Aron[9] All F317/003 8 Marcus Armstrong[10][N 2] R All F314/015 10 Robert Shwartzman[12] R All Motopark F318/006[N 3] Volkswagen 3 Sebastián Fernández[13][N 4] R All F316/012 13 Fabio Scherer[14] R All F315/007 23 Jonathan Aberdein[15] R All F318/007 27 Dan Ticktum[16] All F314/018 33 Marino Sato[17][N 5] All F315/003 44 Jüri Vips[18] R All Fortec Motorsports F318/007[N 6] Mercedes-Benz 5 Petru Florescu[19] R 2–7 Carlin F312/010[N 7] Volkswagen 9 Jehan Daruvala[20] All F317/001 11 Sacha Fenestraz[21] R All F315/016 16 Nikita Troitskiy[22] R All F312/004 17 Devlin DeFrancesco[23] 1–4 Julian Hanses[24] R 9–10 F312/002[N 8] 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan[25][N 9] R All F317/020 62 Ferdinand Habsburg[29] All Van Amersfoort Racing F316/017 Mercedes-Benz 12 Artem Petrov[30] R All F317/018 15 Keyvan Andres[31][N 10] All F316/001 25 Sophia Flörsch[32] R 4–10 F316/010 30 Frederik Vesti[33] R 10 ma-con F312/019[N 11] Volkswagen 18 Julian Hanses[34] R 1–6 Hitech Bullfrog GP F316/018[N 12] Mercedes-Benz 39 Álex Palou[35] All F315/009[N 13] 65 Enaam Ahmed[36] R All F317/011 66 Charles Leong[37] R 6 F315/011[N 14] 77 Ben Hingeley[38] R All Source:[5]

Icon Meaning R Rookie Cup

Team changes

• ma-con and Fortec Motorsports, which have previously competed until the 2013 and 2015 seasons made their comeback to the championship after a four-year and two-year hiatus respectively.^[34][19]

Driver changes

• Italian F4 champion Marcus Armstrong made his Formula 3 debut with Prema Powerteam.^[10] He is partnered by Robert Shwartzman, who finished third in the 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.^[12] Callum Ilott, who raced for the team in 2017, moved to the GP3 Series.^[39] After a season with Hitech GP, Ralf Aron returned to Prema.^[9] Maximilian Günther, who finished third in 2017, stepped up to FIA Formula 2 Championship, leaving his Prema seat vacant.^[40]
• Fabio Scherer and Jonathan Aberdein, who finished fifth and ninth respectively in the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, moved up to the series with Motopark.^[14][15] They are joined by 2017 Italian F4 Championship driver Sebastián Fernández, 2017 Macau Grand Prix winner Dan Ticktum and 2017 ADAC Formula 4 champion Jüri Vips.^[13][16][18] David Beckmann, who raced with the team switched to GP3 Series.^[41] Joel Eriksson received 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drive with BMW, leaving his Motopark seat vacant.^[42]
• After competing in the selected rounds of the 2017 championship, Devlin DeFrancesco and Ameya Vaidyanathan made their full-time switch to European F3 with Carlin from Euroformula Open.^[23][25] 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion Sacha Fenestraz, who have competed Nürburgring round for Carlin in 2017 also made the full-time switch.^[21] They are joined by 2017 Euroformula Open Championship runner-up Nikita Troitskiy.^[22] Reigning champion Lando Norris graduated to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, leaving his Carlin seat vacant.^[43]
• Keyvan Andres switched from Motopark to Van Amersfoort Racing.^[31] He is joined by Italian F4 Championship graduate Artem Petrov.^[30] Harrison Newey left the team and the championship, moving to sports car racing with Rebellion Racing in the 2018 European Le Mans Series.^[44] Joey Mawson and Pedro Piquet left the team and the championship to join Arden International and Trident respectively in the GP3 Series.^[45][46]
• Julian Hanses, who finished eleventh in the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship is scheduled to graduate with series returnees ma-con, after missing three rounds he returned with Carlin at Spielberg.^[34][24]
• BRDC British Formula 3 champion Enaam Ahmed and his rival Ben Hingeley moved to European Formula 3, joining Hitech GP.^[36][38] They are joined by Álex Palou, who finished third in the 2017 All-Japan Formula Three Championship.^[35] Nikita Mazepin left Hitech after two consecutive seasons to join ART Grand Prix in the GP3 Series.^[47] Tadasuke Makino also left the team to join the FIA Formula 2 Championship.^[48]

Midseason changes

• Petru Florescu, who raced with Motopark in 2017, returned to the championship with Fortec Motorsports.^[19]
• Sophia Flörsch stepped up from ADAC Formula 4, joining Van Amersfoort Racing from round 4 onwards.^[32]
• China Formula 4 champion Charles Leong made his FIA F3 European Championship debut at Silverstone with Hitech Bullfrog GP.^[37]

Calendar

The following ten rounds are being contested as part of the 2018 championship:

Round	Circuit	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Supporting
1	Circuit de Pau-Ville, Pau	12 May	13 May	13 May	stand-alone event
2	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	2 June	3 June	3 June	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
3	Norisring, Nuremberg	23 June	24 June	24 June
4	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	14 July	14 July	15 July
5	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps	27 July	27 July	28 July	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
6	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	18 August	18 August	19 August	FIA World Endurance Championship
7	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico	25 August	26 August	26 August	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
8	Nürburgring, Rhineland-Palatinate	8 September	9 September	9 September
9	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	22 September	23 September	23 September
10	Hockenheimring, Baden-Württemberg	13 October	13 October	14 October

Calendar changes

The round at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza was replaced by a new round at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as the series continues to support the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The Pau Grand Prix replaced Monza as the opening round of the championship, with the Silverstone round held later in the season.^[49]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Rookie winner	Report
1	R1	Circuit de Pau-Ville	Dan Ticktum	Ralf Aron	Guanyu Zhou	Prema Theodore Racing	Sacha Fenestraz	Report
	R2		Sacha Fenestraz	Sacha Fenestraz	Sacha Fenestraz	Carlin	Sacha Fenestraz
	R3		Enaam Ahmed	Ralf Aron	Ralf Aron	Prema Theodore Racing	Enaam Ahmed
2	R1	Hungaroring	Dan Ticktum	Ferdinand Habsburg	Dan Ticktum	Motopark	Robert Shwartzman	Report
	R2		Dan Ticktum	Nikita Troitskiy	Enaam Ahmed	Hitech Bullfrog GP	Enaam Ahmed
	R3		Enaam Ahmed	Álex Palou	Enaam Ahmed	Hitech Bullfrog GP	Enaam Ahmed
3	R1	Norisring	Marcus Armstrong	Ferdinand Habsburg	Marcus Armstrong	Prema Theodore Racing	Marcus Armstrong	Report
	R2		Robert Shwartzman	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Motopark	Jüri Vips
	R3		Marcus Armstrong	Fabio Scherer	Dan Ticktum	Motopark	Jüri Vips
4	R1	Circuit Zandvoort	Guanyu Zhou	Marcus Armstrong	Ralf Aron	Prema Theodore Racing	Marcus Armstrong	Report
	R2		Dan Ticktum	Marcus Armstrong	Ralf Aron	Prema Theodore Racing	Marcus Armstrong
	R3		Dan Ticktum	Nikita Troitskiy	Nikita Troitskiy	Carlin	Nikita Troitskiy
5	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Jehan Daruvala	Jehan Daruvala	Jehan Daruvala	Carlin	Robert Shwartzman	Report
	R2		Mick Schumacher	Jonathan Aberdein	Dan Ticktum	Motopark	Fabio Scherer
	R3		Guanyu Zhou	Fabio Scherer	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman
6	R1	Silverstone Circuit	Sacha Fenestraz	Dan Ticktum	Dan Ticktum	Motopark	Sacha Fenestraz	Report
	R2		Fabio Scherer	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Jüri Vips
	R3		Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Motopark	Jüri Vips
7	R1	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli	Mick Schumacher	Jüri Vips	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Marcus Armstrong	Report
	R2		Jüri Vips	Enaam Ahmed	Jüri Vips	Motopark	Jüri Vips
	R3		Marcus Armstrong	Jüri Vips	Ralf Aron	Prema Theodore Racing	Jüri Vips
8	R1	Nürburgring	Robert Shwartzman	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman	Report
	R2		Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman
	R3		Mick Schumacher	Álex Palou	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman
9	R1	Red Bull Ring	Mick Schumacher	Marcus Armstrong	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman	Report
	R2		Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Prema Theodore Racing	Marcus Armstrong
	R3		Mick Schumacher	Robert Shwartzman	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman
10	R1	Hockenheimring	Guanyu Zhou	Guanyu Zhou	Guanyu Zhou	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman	Report
	R2		Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Jüri Vips	Motopark	Jüri Vips
	R3		Robert Shwartzman	Jüri Vips	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Theodore Racing	Robert Shwartzman

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten drivers. Guest drivers are not eligible to score points.

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

In order for the full points score to be awarded, the race must run for at least twenty-five minutes. In the event that less than twenty-five minutes elapse, half points are awarded.

Drivers' championship

Pos. Driver PAU[N 15] HUN NOR ZAN SPA SIL MIS NÜR RBR HOC Points R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 1 Mick Schumacher 15 10 7 4 7 3 5 9 15 3 Ret 13 4 Ret 1 Ret 1 5 1 3 5 1 1 1 1 1 2 12 2 2 365 2 Dan Ticktum 3 Ret 5 1 Ret 2 4 Ret 1 5 6 Ret 13 1 5 1 8 6 6 4 4 3 3 4 8 17† 4 5 7 4 308 3 Robert Shwartzman 8 9 6 3 5 Ret 6 Ret 7 8 7 11 5 4 2 8 9 10 3 9 7 2 2 2 2 3 1 2 5 1 294 4 Jüri Vips 10 17 12 6 18 4 7 1 2 6 8 15 6 Ret 4 4 2 1 5 1 2 Ret 18 6 6 4 8 3 1 9 284 5 Marcus Armstrong 5 3 Ret Ret 2 Ret 1 2 3 4 2 16 Ret 6 3 6 5 Ret 2 13 Ret 6 4 5 4 2 5 Ret Ret Ret 260 6 Ralf Aron 2 8 1 5 12 7 2 13 6 1 1 14 3 Ret 14 Ret 10 Ret 7 5 1 5 5 8 23 5 9 6 3 15 242.5 7 Álex Palou 7 2 19 12 3 Ret 11 4 Ret 10 4 6 2 11 9 7 11 7 8 2 6 Ret 6 3 3 Ret 10 4 8 3 204 8 Guanyu Zhou 1 12 13 2 4 5 9 12 4 2 3 2 Ret Ret 13 Ret 6 8 4 11 Ret 7 8 10 12 9 11 1 10 5 203 9 Enaam Ahmed 6 5 2 7 1 1 14 15 8 16 Ret 10 19 5 6 3 4 4 21 6 10 4 Ret 9 22 11 18 9 Ret 8 174 10 Jehan Daruvala Ret 6 3 13 6 11 3 6 5 12 Ret 3 1 3 11 9 15 12 9 Ret 9 Ret 14 13 10 18† 7 Ret 4 Ret 136.5 11 Sacha Fenestraz 4 1 20 8 9 6 Ret 8 Ret 17 12 18 11 7 15 2 7 2 11 8 12 12 9 7 11 16† Ret 7 Ret Ret 121 12 Jonathan Aberdein 12 19 8 17 14 8 16 14 Ret 7 11 8 Ret 9 7 5 3 3 10 14 11 9 7 12 7 6 3 16 11 7 108 13 Ferdinand Habsburg 17 11 Ret Ret 8 15 18 5 9 14 5 7 Ret 10 12 13 13 9 12 7 3 Ret 10 11 5 8 6 Ret 12 6 87 14 Fabio Scherer 11 Ret 4 10 11 10 19 10 16 13 9 5 9 2 10 10 Ret 11 14 10 8 Ret 11 14 9 7 12 Ret 6 11 64 15 Nikita Troitskiy 14 13 11 11 20 9 22 11 Ret 11 13 1 Ret 8 24 14 Ret 15 18 21 14 13 16 19 16 Ret 17 8 9 21 37 16 Marino Sato 9 18 10 15 13 16 8 7 13 19 10 4 7 15 16 12 17 14 15 12 Ret Ret Ret 18 14 13 21 19 14 16 31.5 17 Ben Hingeley Ret 4 9 9 10 Ret 12 16 Ret 9 Ret Ret 18 14 17 11 12 19 22 16 13 8 Ret 20 13 12 20 14 13 19 22 18 Keyvan Andres Ret 14 14 16 15 13 10 3 Ret 20 18 17 10 12 20 16 18 16 19 18 17 10 12 15 18 Ret 13 17 17 20 18 19 Julian Hanses 13 7 18 Ret 21 20 20 17 12 21 16 Ret 17 18 23 WD WD WD 20 14 19 11 Ret 13 7 20 Artem Petrov 16 Ret 15 20 23 17 13 18 11 15 15 9 8 Ret 18 Ret 16 13 13 17 15 15 13 17 21 Ret 14 13 16 10 7 21 Sebastián Fernández Ret 15 17 14 19 12 15 20 10 18 14 12 14 13 8 15 14 Ret 17 15 Ret 11 Ret 16 15 Ret 16 18 15 12 5 22 Sophia Flörsch 23 17 19 16 17 21 18 19 17 16 19 18 Ret 15 21 17 10 15 15 19 18 1 23 Ameya Vaidyanathan Ret 16 16 19 17 18 17 DSQ EX 22 Ret 20 12 16 22 17 21 18 20 20 16 14 17 Ret 19 15 22 20 18 17 0 24 Petru Florescu 21 22 19 21 19 14 24 19 21 15 Ret 19 20 20 21 WD WD WD 0 25 Devlin DeFrancesco Ret Ret Ret 18 16 14 WD WD WD WD WD WD 0 26 Charles Leong 19 22 20 0 Guest drivers ineligible to score points Frederik Vesti 10 20 14 0 Pos. Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Points PAU[N 15] HUN NOR ZAN SPA SIL MIS NÜR RBR HOC

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (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 practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Notes:

• † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Rookies' championship

Pos.	Driver	PAU[N 15]			HUN			NOR			ZAN			SPA			SIL			MIS			NÜR			RBR			HOC			Points
		R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3
1	Robert Shwartzman	4	6	3	1	3	Ret	2	Ret	3	4	2	6	1	2	1	6	6	5	2	4	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	491.5
2	Jüri Vips	5	10	7	2	9	2	3	1	1	2	3	8	2	Ret	3	3	1	1	3	1	1	Ret	10	3	3	3	4	2	1	4	430
3	Marcus Armstrong	2	2	Ret	Ret	2	Ret	1	2	2	1	1	9	Ret	4	2	5	4	Ret	1	6	Ret	3	2	2	2	1	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	361
4	Enaam Ahmed	3	4	1	3	1	1	6	7	4	9	Ret	5	12	3	4	2	3	4	12	2	4	2	Ret	5	14	7	10	5	Ret	3	304.5
5	Sacha Fenestraz	1	1	12	4	4	3	Ret	3	Ret	10	6	10	5	5	8	1	5	2	5	3	6	7	4	4	6	11†	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	277
6	Jonathan Aberdein	7	11	4	9	7	4	8	6	Ret	3	5	3	Ret	7	5	4	2	3	4	7	5	5	3	6	4	4	2	11	5	2	277
7	Fabio Scherer	6	Ret	2	6	6	6	10	4	9	7	4	2	4	1	7	7	Ret	6	7	5	3	Ret	5	7	5	5	5	Ret	3	6	249
8	Nikita Troitskiy	9	7	6	7	11	5	13	5	Ret	6	7	1	DNS	6	15	9	Ret	8	10	13	8	8	8	10	9	Ret	9	4	4	13	133
9	Ben Hingeley	Ret	3	5	5	5	Ret	4	8	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	11	9	9	8	7	11	13	9	7	4	Ret	11	7	8	12	9	6	12	122
10	Artem Petrov	10	Ret	8	11	14	8	5	10	6	8	9	4	3	Ret	10	Ret	9	7	6	10	9	10	6	9	13	Ret	6	8	8	5	118
11	Sebastián Fernández	Ret	8	10	8	10	7	7	12	5	11	8	7	7	8	6	10	8	Ret	9	8	Ret	6	Ret	8	8	Ret	8	12	7	7	102.5
12	Julian Hanses	8	5	11	Ret	12	11	11	9	7	12	10	Ret	10	12	14	WD	WD	WD							12	9	11	7	Ret	8	38
13	Sophia Flörsch										14	11	11	9	11	12	12	10	9	8	11	11	Ret	7	12	10	6	7	10	10	11	34
14	Ameya Vaidyanathan	Ret	9	9	10	8	9	9	DSQ	EX	13	Ret	12	6	10	13	11	12	10	11	12	10	9	9	Ret	11	10	13	13	9	10	32
15	Petru Florescu				12	13	10	12	11	8	15	12	13	8	Ret	11	13	11	13	WD	WD	WD										9
Guest drivers ineligible to score points
	Frederik Vesti																												6	11	9	0
Pos.	Driver	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	Points
		PAU[N 15]			HUN			NOR			ZAN			SPA			SIL			MIS			NÜR			RBR			HOC

Notes:

• † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

Points for the team classification solely are awarded to two best finishing cars of each team, omitting the other cars from the classification of the race.

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Prema Theodore Racing	1003.5
2	Motopark	789
3	Hitech Bullfrog GP	518
4	Carlin	503.5
5	Van Amersfoort Racing	141.5
6	ma-con	18
7	Fortec	4

Footnotes

1. All drivers competed in Dallara chassis; model listed.^[6]
2. Armstrong is a New Zealand driver who raced under an Italian racing licence.^[11]
3. Used F314/006 chassis at rounds 1–6
4. Fernández is a Venezuelan driver who raced under a Spanish racing licence.^[11]
5. Sato is a Japanese driver who raced under a Sammarinese racing licence.^[11]
6. Used F317/012 chassis at round 2
7. Used F315/001 chassis at roundы 1-9
8. Used F316/014 chassis at rounds 1–3
9. Vaidyanathan raced under a British racing licence at rounds 1–3.^[26][27][28]
10. Andres is a German-Iranian driver who raced under an Iranian racing licence.^[11]
11. Used F312/045 chassis at round 3
12. Used F315/009 chassis at rounds 1–3
13. Used F315/011 chassis at rounds 1-9
14. Used F316/019 chassis at rounds 1–4, F316/022 chassis at rounds 5-9
15. The third race at Pau was red-flagged after eleven laps were completed. As less than 25 minutes of the race had passed at the time of suspension, the race paid half points to all classified finishers.^[50]