Smolyar made his single-seater debut in 2017 under the SMP Racing banner, contesting both the Spanish and Russian Formula 4 Championships simultaneously. He finished third in both championships and accumulated 24 podiums across the two series, with his race victories coming exclusively from the Spanish campaign.
Smolyar spent two seasons in the Formula Renault Eurocup, racing for Tech 1 Racing. His 2018 debut was a learning year; he placed twelfth in the standings, ahead of two of his three teammates and contributing to the team's fifth-place finish in the teams' championship.
The 2019 campaign brought a significant step forward. Smolyar finished third in the championship, winning three races. He was beaten only by Victor Martins and Oscar Piastri, both of whom went on to reach Formula 1, making his championship position a mark of strong peer-group quality.
ART Grand Prix signed Smolyar for the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship alongside ADAC Formula 4 champion Theo Pourchaire and Sebastian Fernandez. The season was characterized by missed opportunities: a win at the opening British round was nullified by a penalty for weaving on the Hangar straight, and a first-corner collision at the Hungaroring cost further points. His sole classified podium came at Monza, and he ended the season eleventh overall, behind eventual championship runner-up Pourchaire but ahead of his more experienced teammate Fernandez.
Remaining at ART for 2021, Smolyar drove alongside Frederik Vesti and returned racer Juan Manuel Correa. He opened the season by winning the first race of the opening weekend and followed that with another victory at Circuit Paul Ricard, recovering from sixth on the grid to lead at the flag on the final lap. Smolyar scored two wins, two fastest laps, and four podiums across the season, accumulating 106 points and finishing sixth in the championship — his strongest Formula 3 result.
In January 2022, Smolyar announced a move to MP Motorsport for his third Formula 3 season. The campaign was disrupted by the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Smolyar was required to compete without the Russian flag and was unable to travel to the United Kingdom for the Silverstone round due to visa difficulties, being replaced temporarily by Filip Ugran. He returned for the remaining events and claimed his lone win of the season in the Budapest feature race. Despite missing a full round, Smolyar placed tenth in the final standings — the highest of any driver who had missed a round.
After his three-year Formula 3 stint, Smolyar's pathway to higher formulae closed due to the broader consequences of the war in Ukraine on Russian motorsport participation. He subsequently raced in the Russian Circuit Racing Series, driving for G-Drive SMP Racing in 2025.
Smolyar's career reflects both genuine pace — his 2019 Formula Renault season placed him above future Formula 1 race winner Oscar Piastri in the standings until the final rounds — and the structural barriers facing Russian drivers in international motorsport following 2022. His Formula 3 record of two wins and six podiums across three seasons, achieved under circumstances of consistent disruption and controversy, underscores the talent that the broader political situation ultimately curtailed.
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