Written by Sean McKean
On 31 August, the FIA announced the brand new iteration of the Formula 3 car for 2025.
The changes in this car – headed by FIA F3 CEO, Bruno Michel – are drastic: the gearbox supplier switches from Hewland to 3Mo, the front and rear wings mirror that of Formula 2’s new car and the tyres will switch from 13 to 16 inches wide. This car will be used in competition until at least 2027.
Within the feeder ladder, smooth transitions from one category to the next are imperative, which was the reasoning behind changing the design of the wings and tyre width. Regarding the tyres specifically, Bruno Michel told DIVEBOMB during a virtual roundtable about the reasoning behind the change.
“We are going to 16 inches tyres because we want to get closer to what Formula 2 and Formula 1 have, and 13 inches tyres we’ve been using for too long and they were not responding with the evolution of what we wanted to do,” he said.
“For sure, it’s going to be different, and for sure, it’s closer to what they’ll [the drivers] have to endure when they get to Formula 2 after.”
These tyre changes come after the issue of excessive graining being a talking point throughout the season. In tracks like the Hungaroring or ones with changeable conditions, the fall-off from lights-out to race’s end was usually drastic. Thus, the tyre changes can now correspond with “the evolution” Formula 3 wanted to do.
Aside from graining, the handling of the cars will be much different. When asked about his thoughts on driveability, Michel answered:
“The answer is I don’t know.”
“I cannot tell you if I think it’s going to allow the car to be easier to drive or not. I think it’s going to depend on the circuits, it’s going to depend on the compounds they will have. We are doing a lot of development testing with Pirelli at the moment on those tyres and on the F2 tyres as well, because we do that every winter to work on what we want to achieve for next season.
“This car has been developed with these tyres, so it’s difficult to say if it’s going to make life more difficult or not. To be honest, I don’t know, but it’s the direction we wanted to go to.”
Formula 3 will return to action from 8-9 October in Jerez for post-season testing.
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