On 13 March 2017 the FIA and DMSB announced that the GP3 Series and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship would merge into a single replacement series. The World Motor Sport Council oversaw identity development, with the new name and logo revealed at FIA headquarters in Paris on 10 March 2018. GP3 Series CEO Bruno Michel announced the series would be FIA-sanctioned from 2019. FIA President Jean Todt formally unveiled the FIA Formula 3 Championship title in October 2018. Unlike the Formula 3 European Championship, which occasionally ran standalone events, the new championship appears only on Formula One grand prix support programmes.
A Formula 3 weekend follows a three-day structure. Friday includes a 45-minute free practice and a 30-minute qualifying session. Saturday's sprint race runs 40 minutes plus one lap, with its grid formed by reversing the top 12 qualifiers. Sunday's feature race lasts 45 minutes plus one lap, run ahead of the Formula One grand prix. Points go to the top ten in each race, with two extra points for feature race pole position and one for the fastest lap inside the top ten. The maximum per round is 39 points. A countback system based on wins breaks ties.
All teams compete with the same Dallara carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, the F3 2019, introduced at the series' launch and replaced by a second-generation car from 2025. Power is provided by a Mecachrome naturally-aspirated 3.4-litre V6 engine producing 380 hp. The gearbox is a Hewland six-speed sequential unit with electro-hydraulic paddle shift. Pirelli supplies three dry slick compounds and one wet tyre; OZ Racing provides wheel rims exclusively. Brembo supplies brake calipers and disc bells. All cars use the halo cockpit protection device, introduced in 2019. The series weight with driver is 673 kg. Top speed is around 300 km/h with peak lateral acceleration of 2.6 g. Competing costs approximately US$1.2 million per season.
The inaugural 2019 season comprised sixteen races across eight European rounds. Robert Shwartzman won the Drivers' Championship for Prema Racing, with Marcus Armstrong second and Jehan Daruvala third. Prema won the Teams' title, extending a streak inherited from the predecessor European series.
The 2020 season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and began in July, including one round at Mugello. Oscar Piastri won the championship for Prema by three points from Théo Pourchaire.
The 2021 calendar was reduced to seven rounds of three races each as a cost-cutting measure. Dennis Hauger won the title for Prema; Trident ended Prema's team championship run by four points.
The 2022 season returned to two races per round across nine rounds. Victor Martins won the Drivers' Championship for ART Grand Prix. Prema reclaimed the Teams' title.
In 2023, Gabriel Bortoleto won the championship for Trident with two rounds remaining, becoming the first South American champion in the series. Prema won the Teams' title.
The 2024 season saw Trident's Leonardo Fornaroli win the Drivers' Championship at the final race, remarkably without taking any race victories across the season. Prema secured the Teams' Championship for a fifth time.
In 2025, Rafael Câmara took the championship for Trident at the penultimate round in Hungary, with four wins and five poles. Campos Racing won the Teams' Championship at the final round, their first in the category.
Several FIA Formula 3 champions have moved rapidly through the ladder. Oscar Piastri took the 2020 F3 title, the 2021 F2 title, and graduated to Formula One with McLaren in 2023. Gabriel Bortoleto, 2023 F3 champion and 2024 F2 champion, joined Sauber for the 2025 Formula One season.