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.
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.
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. 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.
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: Team Chassis Engine Driver Status Rounds F315/004 Mercedes-Benz 1 Guanyu Zhou All F318/002 4 Mick Schumacher All F317/004 7 Ralf Aron All F317/003 8 Marcus Armstrong All F314/015 10 Robert Shwartzman All Motopark F318/006 Volkswagen 3 Sebastián Fernández All F316/012 13 Fabio Scherer All F315/007 23 Jonathan Aberdein All F318/007 27 Dan Ticktum All F314/018 33 Marino Sato All F315/003 44 Jüri Vips All Fortec Motorsports F318/007 Mercedes-Benz 5 Petru Florescu 2–7 Carlin F312/010 Volkswagen 9 Jehan Daruvala All F317/001 11 Sacha Fenestraz All F315/016 16 Nikita Troitskiy All F312/004 17 Devlin DeFrancesco 1–4 Julian Hanses 9–10 F312/002 24 All F317/020 62 Ferdinand Habsburg All Van Amersfoort Racing F316/017 Mercedes-Benz 12 Artem Petrov All F317/018 15 Keyvan Andres All F316/001 25 Sophia Flörsch 4–10 F316/010 30 Frederik Vesti 10 ma-con F312/019 Volkswagen 18 Julian Hanses 1–6 Hitech Bullfrog GP F316/018 39 Álex Palou All F315/009 65 Enaam Ahmed All F317/011 66 Charles Leong 6 F315/011 77 Ben Hingeley AllSource: Icon Meaning 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.
Driver changes Italian F4 champion Marcus Armstrong made his Formula 3 debut with Prema Powerteam. He is partnered by Robert Shwartzman, who finished third in the 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. Callum Ilott, who raced for the team in 2017, moved to the GP3 Series. After a season with Hitech GP, Ralf Aron returned to Prema. Maximilian Günther, who finished third in 2017, stepped up to FIA Formula 2 Championship, leaving his Prema seat vacant. 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. 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. David Beckmann, who raced with the team switched to GP3 Series. Joel Eriksson received 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drive with BMW, leaving his Motopark seat vacant. 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. 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion Sacha Fenestraz, who have competed Nürburgring round for Carlin in 2017 also made the full-time switch. They are joined by 2017 Euroformula Open Championship runner-up Nikita Troitskiy. Reigning champion Lando Norris graduated to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, leaving his Carlin seat vacant. Keyvan Andres switched from Motopark to Van Amersfoort Racing. He is joined by Italian F4 Championship graduate Artem Petrov. Harrison Newey left the team and the championship, moving to sports car racing with Rebellion Racing in the 2018 European Le Mans Series. Joey Mawson and Pedro Piquet left the team and the championship to join Arden International and Trident respectively in the GP3 Series. 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. BRDC British Formula 3 champion Enaam Ahmed and his rival Ben Hingeley moved to European Formula 3, joining Hitech GP. They are joined by Álex Palou, who finished third in the 2017 All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Nikita Mazepin left Hitech after two consecutive seasons to join ART Grand Prix in the GP3 Series. Tadasuke Makino also left the team to join the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Midseason changes Petru Florescu, who raced with Motopark in 2017, returned to the championship with Fortec Motorsports. Sophia Flörsch stepped up from ADAC Formula 4, joining Van Amersfoort Racing from round 4 onwards. China Formula 4 champion Charles Leong made his FIA F3 European Championship debut at Silverstone with Hitech Bullfrog GP.
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, Nuremberg23 June24 June24 June 4 Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort14 July14 July15 July5 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps27 July27 July28 July 6 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone18 August18 August19 August 725 August26 August26 August Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 8 Nürburgring, Rhineland-Palatinate8 September9 September9 September 9 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 10 Hockenheimring, Baden-Württemberg13 October13 October14 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.
Results and standings Season summary Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report 1 R1 Circuit de Pau-Ville Dan Ticktum Ralf Aron Guanyu Zhou Prema Theodore Racing Sacha FenestrazReport 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 ShwartzmanReport 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 ArmstrongReport 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 ArmstrongReport 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 ShwartzmanReport 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 FenestrazReport 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 ArmstrongReport 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 ShwartzmanReport 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 ShwartzmanReport 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 ShwartzmanReport R2 Jüri Vips Jüri Vips Jüri Vips Motopark Jüri Vips R3 Jüri Vips
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