2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship
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.
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.
[3] As the championship was a spec series, all teams competed with an identical Dallara F3 2019 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli.
[13] Clément Novalak and David Schumacher joined the team from Carlin Buzz Racing, alongside Red Bull-supported Jack Doohan who switched from HWA Racelab.
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.
[15] 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 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.
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.
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.
[28] 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.
[6] 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.
The season began at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Dennis Hauger setting the fastest time in qualifying and hence taking pole position for Race 3.
Aleksandr Smolyar passed Edgar early in the race, which later ended under safety car conditions after Oliver Rasmussen went off-track and became stuck in the gravel.
Olli Caldwell, who started the race in seventh place, crossed the finish line to take his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory.
Leclerc's teammate Dennis Hauger finished second and Martins climbed from 11th on the grid to pass Olli Caldwell on the penultimate lap for third place.
This allowed Hauger, who had progressed to third place after starting 12th, to take his second victory of the season ahead of teammate Olli Caldwell with Sargeant third.
After the race, eleven drivers in total were penalised, with most penalties issued for violating track limits at turns nine and ten.
Schumacher held the lead for the entire race distance to claim his first FIA Formula 3 victory and points finish.
On lap 15, Leclerc took to the grass whilst attempting to overtake Martins, losing control of his car and causing a heavy accident that also eliminated Novalak from the race.
Having taken a podium finish at all three races, Hauger extended his championship lead, 41 points ahead of Vesti in second place.
The resulting five-second penalty dropped him to seventh place and allowed Ayumu Iwasa to take his first FIA Formula 3 victory.
Logan Sargeant was elevated to third place, claiming Charouz Racing System's first FIA Formula 3 podium finish.
The race ended under the safety car after a collision involving Rafael Villagómez, Ido Cohen and László Tóth left the latter two stranded on track.
The race later ended under safety car conditions after a collision at the Raidillon curve involving Amaury Cordeel and Calan Williams.
Championship contenders Hauger and Jack Doohan failed to score points due to incidents at the restart; Hauger and Cohen made contact whilst competing for fourth place which ended the races of both drivers, and eighth-placed Doohan ran wide into the gravel on the final lap.
Hauger took a lights-to-flag victory in the final race of the weekend, extending his advantage in the championship over Doohan, who finished fourth, to 43 points.
With the track dry and the skies clear by Sunday, regular running resumed, and Doohan held on to take victory in Race 3, albeit under controversial circumstances.
With the other Premas of Arthur Leclerc and Olli Caldwell only finishing seventh and tenth, Trident's 40-point haul—despite the intra-team conflict—was enough to secure them their first teams' championship in the series.
