This weekend sees the 2021 Formula Three season get underway so here is everything that you need to know in our ultimate guide.
With 13 returning drivers from 2020 alongside 16 rookies and Juan Manuel Correa who is back racing following an enforced absence in 2020, all lining up on the grid, this season promises to be F3’s most unpredictable season yet.
2021 also sees changes to the race calendar and weekend formats so here is everything that you need to know ahead of the new campaign, as we provide the ultimate guide to the 2021 F3 season
Teams and Drivers
| Team | Number | Driver |
| PREMA | 1 | Dennis Hauger |
| 2 | Arthur Leclerc | |
| 3 | Ollie Caldwell | |
| Trident | 4 | Jack Doohan |
| 5 | Clement Novalak | |
| 6 | David Schumacher | |
| ART | 7 | Frederik Vesti |
| 8 | Aleksandr Smolyar | |
| 9 | Juan Manuel Correa | |
| Hitech GP | 10 | Jak Crawford |
| 11 | Ayumu Iwasa | |
| 12 | Roman Stanek | |
| HWA Racelab | 14 | Matteo Nannini |
| 15 | Oliver Rasmussen | |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | |
| MP Motorsport | 17 | Victor Martins |
| 18 | Caio Collet | |
| 19 | Tijmen Van Der Helm | |
| Campos | 20 | Laszlo Toth |
| 21 | Lorenzo Colombo | |
| 22 | Amaury Cordeel | |
| Carlin | 23 | Ido Cohen |
| 24 | Kaylen Frederick | |
| 25 | Jonny Edgar | |
| Jenzer | 26 | Calan Williams |
| 27 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | |
| 28 | Filip Ugran | |
| Charouz | 29 | Logan Sargeant |
| 30 | Enzo Fittipaldi | |
| 31 | Reshad De Gerus |
Driver Changes
- Dennis Hauger and Ollie Caldwell departed Hitech and Trident respectively to sign for PREMA, where they will partner Arthur Leclerc who is graduating from Formula Regional European Championship (FREC).
- Jack Doohan has switched from HWA Racelab to join Trident alongside David Schumacher and Clement Novalak who move from Carlin to the Italian team.
- Frederik Vesti left PREMA at end of 2020 season to sign for ART after joining Mercedes’ F1 Junior Programme.
- Juan Manuel Correa returns to F3 after recovering from injuries sustained in a F2 crash in the 2019 Belgian Feature Race with the American signing for ART GP this season.
- Roman Stanek has left Charouz to sign for Hitech GP, where he will partner Red Bull Juniors – Jak Crawford and Ayumu Iwasa who step up from ADAC F4 and French F4 respectively.
- Matteo Nannini has departed Jenzer to sign for HWA Racelab, with the Italian driving a dual campaign across F2 and F3 in 2021.
- Oliver Rasmussen and Rafael Villagomez join F3 partnering Nannini at HWA Racelab, with Rasmussen graduating from FREC and Villagomez stepping up from French F4.
- Victor Martins, Caio Collet, Tijmen van der Helm all graduate to F3 with MP Motorsport, having raced in Formula Renault Eurocup last season.
- Campos have named an all rookie lineup of Laszlo Toth, Lorenzo Colombo and Amaury Cordeel, with all three having raced in Formula Renault Eurocup last season.
- Carlin have named an all rookie lineup of Ido Cohen, Kaylen Frederick and Jonny Edgar. Frederick and Edgar graduate from British F3 and ADAC F4 respectively as champions. Cohen steps up from EuroFormula after finishing seventh last season.
- Pierre-Louis Chovet switches from Hitech GP to Jenzer for his first full-time F3 season, having driven two of the final three rounds for the British team in 2020.
- Filip Ugran graduates into F3 with Jenzer after having driven for them in Italian F4 in 2020.
- Logan Sargeant switches from PREMA to Charouz as the highest-placed returning driver of 2020.
- Enzo Fittipaldi switches from HWA Racelab to Charouz for 2021 season.
- Reshad De Gerus steps up to F3 from Formula Renault Eurocup.
Leaving F3
- 2020 Champion, Oscar Piastri has stepped up to F2 with PREMA, who took the Australian driver to the F3 title last season.
- 2020 Vice-Champion, Theo Pourchaire has also stepped up to F2 with the same team that he raced for in F3 – ART GP.
- Max Fewtrell left the Hitech and F3 after the sixth round of last season with his current plans for 2021 unclear.
- Liam Lawson has graduated to F2 after two seasons in F3 as he remains with his 2020 team – Hitech GP.
- Sebastian Fernandez left ART GP and F3 at end of 2020 season with his 2021 plans unclear.
- Lirim Zendeli graduated into F2 but instead of staying with Trident, he switched to MP Motorsport with fellow graduate – Bent Viscaal moving across to Trident.
- David Beckmann graduated from Trident and F3 into F2 as he joined Charouz.
- Jake Hughes left HWA Racelab and F3 to become Reserve Driver for Venturi Racing in Formula E.
- Richard Verschoor graduated into F2 as he remained with MP Motorsport.
- Lukas Dunner left MP Motorsport and F3 to join Rallying.
- Federico Malvestiti left Jenzer and F3 at end of 2020 season with his current plans unclear.
- Igor Fraga left Charouz and F3 at end of 2020 season with his current plans unclear.
- Michael Belov contested the final three rounds of 2020 season with Charouz before continuing with the team in 2021 pre-season, only to be dropped just days before the new season leaving his fate unclear.
- Cameron Das departed Calin and F3 to move across to EuroFormula for 2021 season, joining Team Motopark.
- After two seasons with Campos in F3, Alex Peroni switched to Carlin and will instead race in Indy Lights throughout 2021 season.
- Alessio Deledda graduated to F2 and joined HWA Racelab.
- Sophia Floersch departed F3 and Campos to join DTM and LMP2 Class of FIA World Endurance Championship.
- Andreas Estner made a guest appearance for Campos last season but will now race full time in EuroFormula this season.
- Leonardo Pulcini who made a guest appearance for Carlin in Spain last season……
- Ben Barnicoat who raced for Carlin in both Silverstone rounds in 2020 won’t return for a full season, instead opting to race in GT category of Asian Le Mans in 2021.
- Enaam Ahmed participated in the first three rounds for Carlin last season but won’t return this season, instead switching to Indy Pro 2000 for 2021 season.
2021 F3 Calendar
| Round | Race Weekend | Circuit | Date |
| 1 | Spanish Grand Prix | Circuit de Catalunya | 7-9 May |
| 2 | French Grand Prix | Circuit Paul Ricard | 25-27 June |
| 3 | Austrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring | 2-4 July |
| 4 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring | 30 July – 1 August |
| 5 | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa Francorchamps | 27-29 August |
| 6 | Dutch Grand Prix | Zandvoort | 3-5 September |
| 7 | USA Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas | 22-24 October |
Returning Races
- France returns to the F3 calendar after being cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
- Spain returns to its traditional spot as the season-opener after having moved to occupy the sixth round position last season in the revised Coronavirus hit calendar.
- Austria hosted the season-opening two rounds in 2020’s revised calendar but will now host the third round in 2021.
- Hungary hosted the third round in 2020’s revised calendar but will now host the fourth round in the 2021 season.
- Belgium will now host the fifth round, having last year hosted the seventh of nine rounds.
New Races
- F3 heads to Zandvoort for the first time as part of the Dutch Grand Prix support package.
- Having spent the first two seasons in Europe, F3 is scheduled to head to the USA in late October for the final round and their first flyaway race since the current series began in 2019.
Discontinued Races
- Last season saw two rounds in Austria and Great Britain but 2021 will see F3 only hold one round in Austria, whilst the British rounds have been discontinued due to the split from F2.
- Despite hosting the 2020 season finale, Mugello won’t return to the calendar because it was an one-off round as part of a revised calendar.
- Plans to hold 2020 season opener in Bahrain were abandoned in the redrafted calendar, before eventually being completely dropped from this season’s calendar.
Format Changes
- F2 and F3 will no longer race on same weekends from this season onwards for budget reasons, with F3 consequently reducing their race calendar to seven rounds.
- F3 will feature a weekend format change as the Feature Race moves to Sundays with there instead being two Sprint Races on Saturdays. Top 12 of Qualifying will reversed for first Sprint Race, with top 12 finishers of that race reversed for the second Sprint Race.
- Teams will be provided with an extra set of tyres for each race weekend owing to the addition of a third race.
Where can you watch F3?
Africa
| Country | Channel |
| Sub Saharan Africa (including South Africa) | SuperSport |
Americas
| Country | Channel |
| Canada | Bell (TSN) |
| Pan Latin America | Fox Sports |
| USA | ESPN |
Asia Pacific
| Country | Channel |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| China | Tencent |
| New Zealand | Spark Sport |
Europe
| Country | Channel |
| Belgium | Telenet |
| Czech Republic | AMC Networks |
| Denmark | Nordic Entertainment |
| Finland | C More |
| France | Canal Plus |
| Hungary | M4 |
| Iceland | Viaplay |
| Italy | Sky Sports |
| Netherlands | Ziggo |
| Norway | Nordic Entertainment |
| Poland | Eleven Sports & Polsat |
| Portugal | Eleven Sports |
| Romania | Digisport |
| Russia | Match TV |
| Slovakia | AMC Networks |
| Sweden | Nordic Entertainment |
| UK & Ireland | Sky Sports |
Five Key Pointers
- PREMA will be the team to beat as twice reigning champions despite not dominating pre-season testing.
- MP Motorsport’s Victor Martins should be one to watch after enjoying a strong pre-season, as the Dutch team look to continue their improved performance in junior categories.
- Having joined Mercedes F1 Junior programme in January, Vesti will be looking to mount a title challenge with ART GP who guided fellow Mercedes junior – George Russell to the 2017 GP3 crown.
- Despite switching from PREMA to Charouz as the highest-placed returning driver, Logan Sargeant should be a driver to watch out for given his experience and talent.
- After enduring a difficult 2020 season, Jenzer will be looking to make improvements this season with promising star – Pierre-Louis Chovet joining the team.