Written by Lorenzo Baer, Edited by Marit Everett
The Formula racing scene is a huge profusion of categories, series and tournaments, spread across all parts of the world. Even for the most assiduous spectators, it is difficult to follow and know the difference between each of these championships which, since 2014, are part of the so-called FIA Global Pathway from Karting to Formula One. To bring some order to this complex scenario DIVEBOMB has created this exclusive guide, detailing each of the categories that will make up this important motorsport system in 2025.
Formula 4: The first step
Formula 4 (F4) can be considered the lower echelon of Formula-type categories in recent years. Previously, most of the drivers, who are usually between 14 and 15 years old, have their greatest motorsports experience in karts or other decentralized national categories, many of which are not regulated by the FIA.
In 2025 F4 will be at its peak, with no less than 18 FIA-recognized tournaments around the world. These can be divided into two groups: national and micro-regional championships.
In the first group, we can highlight the French, Italian and Spanish series. It is in these three tournaments that the stars of future motorsport talents are generally found, and are certainly the most sought after and coveted in the category.
In the second category, the F4 CEZ (Central European Zone), F4 MEC (Middle-East Championship) and EURO 4 stand out, since they have been extremely popular due to their proposal as ‘proto-international’ tournaments, in a category designed with a national aspect in mind.
Regarding the F4 regulations in 2025, the FIA established clear rules for the F4 cars: 4-cylinder engines that do not exceed 180 horsepower and 240 km/h. The vehicles must be 4.88 meters long, 1.75 m wide and 0.95 m high max. The tyres are 13 inches on the front and on the rear.
With the chassis and engines, there were few changes compared to past years. The GEN2 Tatuus, Mygale and Ligier chassis dominate the market, while the Abarth (1.4l), Alpine (both 1.3l and 1.6l specs) and Toyota (2.0l) engines are the only ones allowed by the FIA for 2025.
The cost of participating in an F4 tournament is quite suggestive, as each championship has its registration fees determined by its own organizing federation. However, a good average stipulates that a pilot's expenditure is around £135-160.000 per tournament.
For races, all championships follow the basic guidelines: each round must contain free practice sections, qualifying sessions, as well as two to three races, with a maximum duration of 25 minutes. Each event will be run on circuits holding a minimum FIA Grade 4 license. For context, the FIA has a 1-6 grading system based on a weight-power ratio of the cars which determines what level of racing the track is suitable for.
It is worth remembering that, in addition to the regular and better-known tournaments, there are countless other championships in this category spread around the world that enjoy a different status.
The most striking case is the F1 Academy, a women's tournament promoted by the FIA that uses the T421 chassis, but which operates separately from the traditional F4 championship circuit. Other exceptions are the English GB4 and the American Ligier JS F4 Series - both of which use GEN1 chassis and, therefore, are not recognized by the FIA.
Formula Regional: Time for broader horizons
Launched in 2018, the FIA Formula Regional (originally Formula 3 Regional) is an extremely important step in the global integration of Formula categories. Created to promote a smoother transition between regional motorsport, in this case F4, with the more international environment of Formula 3. Formula Regional became a global phenomenon, with several drivers choosing to join the ranks of the category rather than making the uncertain jump between F4 and F3.
This step of the FIA Global Pathway ladder serves to close the performance gap between F4 (180 bhp) and F3 (380 bhp), with Formula Regional cars being powered by 270 bhp engines.
For 2025, five regional championships have been confirmed to use Formula Regional rules (Americas, Europe, Japan, Oceania and Middle East), in addition to the one-off Formula Regional World Cup, in Macau. Two other tournaments in the category, the Formula Regional Australia and Formula Regional India are also in the process of being approved for the FIA.
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is currently the most competitive of the Formula Regional tournaments. Managed by the Italian motorsport confederation (A.C.I.), the tournament will feature 10 rounds in 2025, each containing two races.
Formula Regional regulations determine that all drivers participating in the category must hold the FIA International License Grade B (ITB) or C (ITC-C), with the minimum age of 16. The participation of any driver who has already raced above this single-seater level is prohibited.
Regarding vehicles, Formula Regional has a few peculiarities. The chassis from the Italian brand Tatuus (T-318 family) are the most widespread on the market, being the machine of choice by most categories championships. The exceptions are Formula Regional Americas, which uses Ligier cars, and the Japanese Formula Regional, which equip its pilots with locally manufactured Dome chassis.
Regarding the power plants, only engines up to two litres are allowed, with Honda, Renault, Toyota and Alfa-Romeo presenting the best products in this segment.
In terms of dimensions, the Formula Regional car has the following basic specs: 4.9 meters long, 1.95 m wide and 0.95 m high, going from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in 3.1 seconds. Additionally, the cars are equipped with 18 inch tyres. To pass the screening before a race, the car must weigh a minimum of 688 kg (with the driver).
The cost for a driver to participate in a Formula Regional season varies, taking into account which series the pilot will compete in. Taking FRECA as an example, the cost of a season is around £395-475.000.
It is worth noting that, as in the case of F4, Formula Regional also presents a wide range of tournaments that are not recognized by the FIA. The main representatives of this segment are Eurocup-3 and Euroformula Open, both of which use Formula Regional chassis, but with specifications different from those accepted by the federation.
Formula 3: The first intercontinental experience
Formula 3 is the first centralized category in the pyramid of single-seater motorsport, with only a single championship in the category being recognized worldwide - the one promoted by the FIA itself.
So, F3 can be considered the first great funnel of the formula-type categories, with its very limited number of seats available, set at 30. This is a stark reality compared to FRegional and F4, where drivers can choose between a wide availability of places to compete in a countless number of tournaments within the categories.
The jump between the regionalization of the Formula categories below, to those at the international level above, means that F3 ends up being a big shock for many of the drivers who join the category's ranks.
Even so, it is worth remembering that of the 20 drivers who will line up on the F1 grid in 2025, nine have won the F3 title in recent years (counting the current FIA F3 titles, in addition to the former GP3, Euro Formula 3 Series and European F3 Championship). All drivers that will participate in the championship must hold a Grade A or B International FIA License.
For 2025, exciting news aims to give the championship a fresh new look. The main one is the debut of the new car/engine combination that will equip all drivers in the upcoming season: the Dallara F3 2025.
Powered by a brand new 6-cylinder, 3.4-litre naturally aspirated Mecachrome engine, delivering 380 bhp, the Dallara F3 2025 can potentially reach speeds above 300 km/h without restrictor and with DRS activated.
In dimensions, the F3 car is 4.99 meters long, 1.88 m wide and 1.11 m high. The car runs over 16 inches tyres, weighing around 690 kg (with the driver) and going from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in 3 seconds.
Expenses related to F3 vary enormously, mainly due to the driver’s budget. Front-runner teams are obviously the most expensive, with a seat costing around £795-875.000 per season. The further the driver moves away from the top of the grid, the more affordable the bill becomes, with some teams charging around £515.000 for a spot.
In 2025 there will be ten stages in total, all contested on FIA Grade 1 circuits, with each leg of the tournament consisting of free practice sessions (Friday), qualifying sessions (Saturday), sprint race (Saturday) and featured race (Sunday). The sprint race will consist of 40 minutes plus one lap and the feature race of 45 minutes plus one lap.
The results of the final classification of Friday’s qualifying session will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s feature race. Whereas the starting grid of Saturday’s sprint race will be determined by reversing the top 12 finishers of Friday’s qualifying session. The championship will follow the FIA scoring standard.
In terms of tyres, the sporting regulations state that each driver will be allocated four dry-weather sets and two sets of wet-weather tyres per event.
Formula 2: Getting closer to the glory
After an F3-cycle that generally lasts around one to two years, it is time for the driver to take their next step: Formula 2.
The penultimate leap before a driver reaches F1, F2 represents an even more selected group than the one present in F3. For 2025, only 22 drivers spread across 11 teams will have the opportunity to enter the cockpit of a car in the category, competing in a 14-stage championship, which will span from March to December.
In the 2025 FIA F2 Championship, all squads will be equipped with the 2024 Dallara F2 monocoque chassis, a machinery that made its debut last season. These vehicles are thrusted by the same engines as the F3 Dallara - the 3.4-litre Mecachrome V6.
Unlike F3, F2 cars do not have a strict performance cap as the lower categories, allowing engines in the category to reach 620 bhp, with top speeds surpassing the 330 km/h mark.
The F2 cars are just slightly smaller in dimensions and weight to the current generation F1 vehicles, measuring 5.28 meters long, 1.90 m wide, 1.09 m high with a total weight of 795 kg. The tyres are 18 inches and the car goes from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds.
There is no spending cap in the category, but it is accepted that the annual expenditure per driver in an F2 team is roughly £1.8-2.8 million, with the total budget (including sponsors and the two drivers) between £7.5-9 million.
The F2 weekend schedule follows the following format: on the Friday, there is one 45-minute free practice session and one qualifying session of 30 minutes.
On Saturday, the sprint race takes place and consists of 120 kilometers or 45 minutes (whichever comes first) of running. The feature race happens on Sunday morning ahead of the F1 Grand Prix, contested in 170 kilometers or 60 minutes (whichever comes first).
Similar to Formula 1, the feature race includes a compulsory pitstop in which all four tyres must be changed. Unless the driver has used wet-weather tyres during the feature race, they must use at least one set of each specification of dry-weather tyres during the feature race.
The sporting regulations state that each driver will be allocated five sets of dry-weather tyres per weekend. Each driver will also be provided with three sets of wet-weather tyres.The points attribution system follows the FIA’s standard.
Formula 1: The top of the food chain
Formula 1 needs no introduction. The premier category in world motorsport, it becomes the object of obsession and desire of any driver who begins to climb the ladder of open-wheeled, single-seater motorsport.
For 2025, the grid will feature 20 drivers, distributed across 10 teams, each consisting of two cars. Unlike all the previous categories, F1 is the first to promote open competition between constructors with the constructors championship. This is due to the fact that the series has each constructor almost completely build their own car, rather than using spec cars like the lower categories.
The common standardization is found in the dimensions of the car, which must fit in the following dimensions: the maximum 5.63 m (18.5 ft) in length, 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in width, and 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in) in height.
As in the case of the chassis, there is also a slight standardization in the engines, as the FIA stipulates the use of 1600cc V6s, which reach close to 1000 bhp.
Since the FIA ascertains that each team must build its own chassis, while engines can be purchased from other firms. Each team registered in F1 in 2025 will have a budget cap of USD $135 million (£107 million).
Other interesting data about 2025 F1 is the slight increase in the minimum weight, which went from the previous 798 kg to 800kg. However, the tyres continue to be the same: 18 inches.
Even so, there will be little difference in performance, with the cars continuing to go from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in just 2.6 seconds, and with a top speed (without restrictor) of 370 km/h. In a comparative analysis, the average speed trap between F1 and F2 is usually close to 25 km/h.
The 2025 FIA Formula 1 Championship will be made up of 24 rounds, with all except for six sprint race weekends, following the same schedule.
On Friday, there are two one-hour free practice (FP) sessions – FP1 and FP2.
Saturday starts with FP3, another hour-long training session. Qualifying takes place later on the day, and is split into three stages – Q1, Q2 and Q3 – which last 18 minutes, 15 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively. Both Q1 and Q2 eliminate five drivers each, with the top ten remaining drivers heading into Q3 to determine the top 10 grid slots, with the fastest driver taking pole position for Sunday's Grand Prix.
It is stipulated that a GP must be completed over a distance of 260 kilometers or within a maximum time limit of two hours, whichever comes first.
On a standard Grand Prix weekend, drivers are given 13 sets of dry weather tyres, four sets of intermediates and three sets of full wets. An extra set of softs is reserved for those who reach the Q3, while all drivers must use at least two different slick compounds during the race, ensuring the track is dry. The points attribution system follows the FIA’s pattern.
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