User:Izzlex94 verstappenchamp/2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship

\ THIS IS A SIMULATION. The 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula 3 cars that was sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was the twelfth season of Formula 3 racing and the third season run under the guise of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, an open-wheel racing category that serves as the third tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category was run in support of selected rounds of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship. As the championship was a spec series, all teams and drivers that competed in the championship ran the same car, the Dallara F3 2019. The championship was contested over twenty-one races at seven circuits. It started in May with a round in support of the Spanish Grand Prix and ended in September on the weekend of the Russian Grand Prix.

Dennis Hauger became the third FIA F3 drivers' champion in his second year in the series. Having moved from Hitech Grand Prix to Prema Racing over the winter, Hauger laid down the gauntlet with pole position in Barcelona, but a collision in the final laps of Race 2 knocked him out of contention for a maiden victory in the series. Nevertheless, Hauger rebounded on Sunday to win Race 3 and assume the championship lead, which he never relinquished. Strong weekends at the Red Bull Ring and the Hungaroring enabled Hauger to extend his lead to 63 points—nearly a full weekend's worth—as the championship entered its summer break, and he ultimately secured the title in Race 1 of the final round at Sochi.

A late surge from Jack Doohan propelled him to second place in the drivers' championship. Like fellow Red Bull–affiliated driver Hauger, Doohan took four wins across the season. In Belgium, Doohan became the first driver in series history to take two wins in one weekend after winning Races 2 and 3; with all three Prema cars struggling in the wet conditions at Spa-Francorchamps that weekend, Doohan and his Trident team—which also fielded Clément Novalak and David Schumacher—closed their respective championship gaps to Hauger and Prema significantly. Though Doohan could not supplant Hauger in the drivers' championship, Trident did beat Prema by four points to take their first teams' championship in the series and their first in any category in 16 years of competition.

In an effort to cut costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, series organizers adopted a new format for both F3 and its parent championship, FIA Formula 2, for the 2021 season. Notably, each weekend comprised three races rather than two; the traditional feature race was moved from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning and renamed Race 3, while Races 1 and 2 adopted reverse-grid formats based on the results of qualifying and Race 1 respectively. The extra race was made possible because F2 races were run on different weekends to F3, with the exception of the Sochi round, leaving more space in the timetable of each race weekend.

The schedule adjustments also allowed several drivers to move between F2 and F3 mid-season. Matteo Nannini entered the opening F2 event with his F3 team, HWA Racelab, and two later events with Campos Racing; Jake Hughes and Enzo Fittipaldi joined the grid at Monza in September; and Doohan, Novalak, Logan Sargeant, and Olli Caldwell all made their F2 débuts at Jeddah in December. Despite enabling these opportunities, the format used in 2021 was unpopular with many in the paddock, and it has been altered again for the 2022 season.

Entries
As the championship was a spec series, all teams competed with an identical Dallara F3 2019 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car was powered by a 3.4 L naturally-aspirated V6 engine developed by Mecachrome.

In detail
Prema Racing fielded a new driver lineup as reigning champion Oscar Piastri graduated to Formula 2, Logan Sargeant moved to Charouz Racing System and Mercedes-backed Frederik Vesti joined ART Grand Prix. The seats were filled by Ferrari-backed Formula Regional European runner-up Arthur Leclerc, Red Bull-backed Dennis Hauger, who moved from Hitech Grand Prix, and Olli Caldwell, who moved from Trident.

Trident signed three new drivers to replace Caldwell, Lirim Zendeli and David Beckmann, as Zendeli and Beckmann graduated to Formula 2. Clément Novalak and David Schumacher joined the team from Carlin Buzz Racing, alongside Red Bull-supported Jack Doohan who switched from HWA Racelab.

ART Grand Prix's Théo Pourchaire, who finished as runner-up in 2020, graduated to the team's Formula 2 outfit. Sebastián Fernández also left the series. ART retained Aleksandr Smolyar and signed Frederik Vesti and Juan Manuel Correa, who made his return to racing after being seriously injured in a Formula 2 crash in 2019.

Hitech Grand Prix fielded three new drivers as Dennis Hauger left, Liam Lawson graduated to Formula 2 and Pierre-Louis Chovet moved to Jenzer Motorsport. The team signed Red Bull juniors Jak Crawford and Ayumu Iwasa, ADAC Formula 4 runner-up and French Formula 4 champion respectively, alongside Roman Staněk who moved from Charouz Racing System.

HWA Racelab did not retain Jake Hughes, who left the series to become Venturi Racing's reserve driver in Formula E. Enzo Fittipaldi and Jack Doohan also left the team, with Fittipaldi joining Charouz Racing System. HWA Racelab signed Matteo Nannini, who switched from Jenzer Motorsport, Formula Regional European graduate Oliver Rasmussen and Formula 4 graduate Rafael Villagómez.

MP Motorsport's 2020 drivers Richard Verschoor, Bent Viscaal and Lukas Dunner all left the series, with Verschoor and Viscaal graduating to Formula 2. The team signed Alpine Academy drivers Victor Martins and Caio Collet, reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion and runner-up respectively, alongside Tijmen van der Helm who also graduated from the series.

Campos Racing signed three new drivers as Alex Peroni left to compete in Indy Lights, Alessio Deledda graduated to Formula 2 and Sophia Flörsch left the series to race in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Formula Renault Eurocup graduates László Tóth, Lorenzo Colombo and Amaury Cordeel joined the team.

Carlin Buzz Racing fielded a new lineup as Clément Novalak and David Schumacher left, and Cameron Das returned to the Euroformula Open championship. Red Bull junior and reigning ADAC Formula 4 champion Jonny Edgar joined the team, alongside reigning BRDC British Formula 3 champion Kaylen Frederick and Euroformula Open graduate Ido Cohen.

Jenzer Motorsport retained Calan Williams, and Matteo Nannini and Federico Malvestiti left the team. Formula 4 graduate Filip Ugran joined Jenzer alongside Pierre-Louis Chovet.

Charouz Racing System did not retain Igor Fraga or Michael Belov, with Roman Staněk leaving the team. Charouz signed Formula Renault Eurocup graduate Reshad de Gerus to race alongside Logan Sargeant and Enzo Fittipaldi.

Mid-season changes
For the second round at the Circuit Paul Ricard, BRDC British Formula 3 runner-up Johnathan Hoggard replaced Pierre-Louis Chovet at Jenzer, with Chovet citing sponsorship issues as the reason for the change. Campos driver László Tóth tested positive for COVID-19 shortly prior to the round and was forced to withdraw. He was replaced by Chovet. Tóth returned to Campos for the third round at the Red Bull Ring.

Kaylen Frederick missed the fourth round at the Hungaroring as he was still recovering from a thumb injury sustained in a crash at the Red Bull Ring. Former HWA Racelab driver Jake Hughes replaced him at Carlin Buzz Racing.

Charouz Racing System made two driver changes for the fifth round at Spa-Francorchamps. Enzo Fittipaldi was promoted to the team's Formula 2 outfit and Reshad de Gerus left the team. They were replaced by Indy Pro 2000 racer Hunter Yeany and Euroformula Open driver Zdeněk Chovanec. Kaylen Frederick was set to return at Spa-Francorchamps having recovered from his thumb injury, but was required to sit out the event after testing positive for COVID-19. Carlin did not replace him and the team only fielded two cars. Frederick returned to Carlin for the sixth round at Circuit Zandvoort.