The 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship was the 2016 season of a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that is held across Europe. 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, were the defending winners of the teams' championship.
2016 was the final season that the Dallara F312 chassis package, which débuted in the 2012 season, was used in competition, as a brand new chassis package was introduced for 2017.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed during the 2016 season: Team Chassis Engine Driver Status Rounds Prema Powerteam F316/002 Mercedes 1 Lance Stroll All F314/015 2 Nick Cassidy All F315/005 16 Ralf Aron All F315/006 17 Maximilian Günther All Carlin F316/014 Volkswagen 3 Ryan Tveter 1–7 F312/004 Dan Ticktum G 10 4 Alessio Lorandi 1–7 F312/010 Lando Norris G 10 F314/020 18 Peter Li 1–4 William Buller 5 F312/040 Jake Hughes 10 F315/001 19 Raoul Hyman 1 Weiron Tan 4, 6–7 Van Amersfoort Racing Mercedes 5 Pedro Piquet All 6 Callum Ilott All 20 Harrison Newey All 21 Anthoine Hubert All kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport F316/007 Mercedes 7 Mikkel Jensen All F316/012 8 David Beckmann 3–10 Motopark Volkswagen 9 Sérgio Sette Câmara All F315/003 10 Niko Kari All F315/007 22 Joel Eriksson All F314/016 23 Guanyu Zhou All HitechGP Mercedes 11 Nikita Mazepin All F315/010 12 George Russell All 24 Ben Barnicoat All F315/009 25 Alexander Sims G 10 Threebond with T-Sport NBE 14 Arjun Maini 2–4 F316/008 Wing Chung Chang 9–10 Threebond 15 Arjun Maini 1 F314/019 Ukyo Sasahara 7, 9 Icon Legend G Guest drivers ineligible to score points
Driver changes Joining FIA European Formula 3 2015 Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron entered the series with Prema Powerteam. Ben Barnicoat, 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, who raced in ADAC Formula 4, 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, joined the series with Motopark. Anthoine Hubert, who finished fifth in the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, joined the series with Van Amersfoort Racing. 2015 SMP F4 champion and Red Bull Junior driver Niko Kari joined the series with Motopark. Nikita Mazepin joined the series with HitechGP. Harrison Newey, son of F1 engineer Adrian Newey and runner-up in BRDC Formula 4, made his debut in the series with Van Amersfoort Racing. Pedro Piquet, son of three time Formula One 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 joined the championship with Motopark.
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 switched from Team West-Tec F3 to Carlin. Callum Ilott, who raced for Carlin in 2015, switched to Van Amersfoort Racing. Zhi Cong Li 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, Tatiana Calderón 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, who finished fourth and seventh in 2015 respectively, left the series to compete in GP3 with ART Grand Prix. 2015 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi stepped up to GP2 with Prema Powerteam. 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.
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, Signature Team, EuroInternational, Team West-Tec and Artline Engineering withdrew.
Calendar
A provisional ten-round calendar was announced on 2 December 2015.
Round Circuit Date Supporting 1 1 Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 2 April World Touring Car Championship 2 3 3 April 2 4 Hungaroring, Mogyoród 23 April 5 6 24 April 3 7 Circuit de Pau-Ville, Pau 14 May Pau Grand Prix 8 9 15 May 4 10 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 21 May Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 11 12 22 May 5 13 Norisring, Nuremberg 25 June 14 15 26 June 6 16 Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 16 July 17 18 17 July 7 19 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps 29 July 24 Hours of Spa Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 20 21 30 July 8 22 Nürburgring, Rhineland-Palatinate 10 September Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 23 24 11 September 9 25 Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola 1 October European Touring Car CupFFSA GT Championship 26 2 October 27 10 28 Hockenheimring, Baden-Württemberg 15 October Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 29 16 October 30
Results
Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Circuit Paul Ricard Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ben Barnicoat R2 Maximilian Günther Nick Cassidy Callum Ilott Van Amersfoort Racing Guanyu Zhou R3 Maximilian Günther Joel Eriksson Maximilian Günther Prema Powerteam Joel Eriksson 2 R1 Hungaroring Maximilian Günther Joel Eriksson Ralf Aron Prema Powerteam Ralf Aron R2 Maximilian Günther Maximilian Günther Maximilian Günther Prema Powerteam Ralf Aron R3 Maximilian Günther Lance Stroll Ben Barnicoat HitechGP Ben Barnicoat 3 R1 Circuit de Pau-Ville Lance Stroll Callum Ilott Ben Barnicoat HitechGP Ben Barnicoat R2 George Russell George Russell George Russell HitechGP Ben Barnicoat R3 Alessio Lorandi Anthoine Hubert Alessio Lorandi Carlin Joel Eriksson 4 R1 Red Bull Ring Callum Ilott Callum Ilott Callum Ilott Van Amersfoort Racing David Beckmann R2 Lance Stroll Sérgio Sette Câmara Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Niko Kari R3 Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ben Barnicoat 5 R1 Norisring Lance Stroll Callum Ilott Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Niko Kari R2 Anthoine Hubert Lance Stroll Anthoine Hubert Van Amersfoort Racing Anthoine Hubert R3 Lance Stroll Alessio Lorandi Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Anthoine Hubert 6 R1 Circuit Park Zandvoort Nick Cassidy Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Niko Kari R2 Callum Ilott Maximilian Günther Nick Cassidy Prema Powerteam Anthoine Hubert R3 Maximilian Günther Lance Stroll Maximilian Günther Prema Powerteam David Beckmann 7 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ben Barnicoat R2 George Russell George Russell George Russell HitechGP Joel Eriksson R3 George Russell George Russell Joel Eriksson Motopark Joel Eriksson 8 R1 Nürburgring Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ralf Aron R2 Lance Stroll Maximilian Günther Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Joel Eriksson R3 Maximilian Günther Maximilian Günther Maximilian Günther Prema Powerteam Niko Kari 9 R1 Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Niko Kari Motopark Niko Kari R2 Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Joel Eriksson R3 Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ralf Aron 10 R1 Hockenheimring Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Ralf Aron R2 Lance Stroll David Beckmann Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Joel Eriksson R3 Joel Eriksson Lance Stroll Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Joel Eriksson
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
Driver LEC HUN PAU RBR NOR ZAN SPA NÜR IMO HOC PointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3 1 Lance Stroll 1 Ret 5 4 8 3 9 4 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 Ret Ret 1 Ret 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 507 2 Maximilian Günther 5 Ret 1 5 1 Ret 3 14 13 3 6 3 Ret 3 5 4 2 1 2 7 6 2 2 1 12 Ret 12 2 8 9 320 3 George Russell 3 11 18 Ret 4 Ret 4 1 3 5 2 Ret 3 9 Ret 7 9 5 5 1 3 3 Ret 7 4 3 2 7 6 Ret 264 4 Nick Cassidy 2 2 2 Ret 16 9 2 16 Ret 6 Ret 10 6 4 6 2 1 2 4 17 5 4 Ret 5 10 7 8 3 Ret 4 254 5 Joel Eriksson 6 9 3 3 Ret 2 14 9 6 17 14 6 Ret 5 Ret 12 10 7 14 2 1 7 3 6 3 2 5 6 2 2 252 6 Callum Ilott 10 1 12 Ret 9 6 5 3 4 1 4 2 Ret 7 7 5 3 6 16 5 Ret 5 7 4 15 Ret 3 Ret DSQ Ret 226 7 Ralf Aron 7 Ret 7 1 2 DNS 13 6 15 9 12 9 4 10 9 14 6 8 8 14 13 6 4 14 7 4 4 4 5 8 166 8 Anthoine Hubert 17 8 6 Ret 13 14 12 7 12 16 10 16 8 1 2 9 4 10 Ret 4 2 10 5 9 5 6 6 10 7 10 160 9 Ben Barnicoat 4 Ret 11 9 10 1 1 5 11 10 15 5 5 Ret DSQ 18 8 9 3 11 20 9 Ret 10 8 Ret 13 18 9 7 134 10 Niko Kari 8 16 15 2 Ret 8 19 11 8 20 3 8 2 12 Ret 6 11 11 11 10 7 8 10 3 1 9 Ret 14 12 13 129 11 16 5 19 7 5 5 8 2 Ret 12 8 4 Ret Ret 3 11 17 15 15 Ret 15 11 8 8 Ret 15 11 5 14 6 117 12 Mikkel Jensen 13 4 4 10 7 11 6 8 5 4 5 Ret 7 8 Ret 15 13 12 Ret 3 9 15 13 17 11 10 7 Ret 15 DNS 107 13 Guanyu Zhou 14 3 8 8 3 4 11 Ret Ret 13 11 7 Ret 6 4 16 18 16 17 8 11 12 12 12 6 5 10 11 13 11 101 14 Alessio Lorandi 12 6 9 6 6 12 10 15 1 11 9 17 12 Ret 8 3 5 4 10 13 17 96 15 David Beckmann 17 Ret Ret 7 7 12 10 13 Ret 10 7 3 7 16 10 13 6 13 Ret Ret 9 12 3 18 67 16 Jake Hughes 19 4 3 27 17 Ryan Tveter 15 7 Ret 11 11 DNS 7 Ret 7 15 DNS DNS 13 Ret 13 8 14 14 9 9 16 25 18 Harrison Newey 9 Ret 14 12 12 10 15 Ret 14 8 16 11 14 Ret 10 19 12 18 6 12 12 14 11 11 9 8 Ret 15 18 12 22 19 Pedro Piquet 11 14 Ret 13 14 7 20 Ret 10 19 Ret 13 9 Ret Ret 13 16 13 18 6 14 17 9 15 Ret 12 14 16 17 15 19 20 Nikita Mazepin 19 12 10 EX Ret 13 16 13 Ret 14 17 14 11 11 11 17 15 17 12 Ret 8 16 14 16 13 11 15 8 10 Ret 10 21 Arjun Maini Ret 13 16 14 15 15 18 10 9 Ret Ret 18 3 22 Raoul Hyman 18 10 13 1 23 Peter Li 20 15 17 15 Ret 16 Ret 12 Ret 18 DNS DNS 0 24 William Buller Ret Ret 12 0 25 Weiron Tan Ret 13 15 20 19 Ret Ret 15 18 0 26 Ukyo Sasahara 13 Ret 19 Ret 13 Ret 0 27 Wing Chung Chang 14 14 16 17 19 17 0 Guest drivers ineligible for points Alexander Sims 9 11 5 0 Dan Ticktum 13 20 14 0 Lando Norris Ret 16 16 0DriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3Points LEC HUN PAU RBR NOR ZAN SPA NÜR IMO HOCBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
Rookies' Championship