The weekend
F3 runs on grand prix weekends with the most compressed schedule on the ladder: one 45-minute practice and a 30-minute qualifying on Friday, the sprint race on Saturday, and the feature race on Sunday morning before the F1 cars take over. Qualifying sets the feature race grid directly, while the sprint grid reverses the top twelve qualifiers — two more than F2 reverses — so the driver who qualifies twelfth starts Saturday's race from pole. With 30 cars fighting for space in a single qualifying session, traffic management on a flying lap is a skill in its own right.
Points
The feature race pays the top ten 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1, with two points for feature pole. The sprint pays the top ten as well, on a gentler 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale — one place deeper than F2's sprint payout. The fastest lap in each race is worth one point, but only if its setter finishes in the top ten; otherwise it passes to the quickest driver who did. A perfect weekend is 39 points. Shortened races pay reduced points on a sliding scale.
What decides things
Neither race carries a mandatory pit stop, so both are single-stint contests where track position is king and tyre life decides who still has grip in the closing laps. The reversed grid gives midfield qualifiers a real shot at sprint victory while the championship leaders fight through traffic for small points. Everyone drives an identical Dallara with the same engine and Pirelli rubber, and with ten teams running three cars each, the 30-car field makes safety cars a constant strategic wildcard. One practice session on circuits many rookies have never seen puts a premium on preparation.
The championship
Two titles are awarded: the drivers' championship and the teams' championship, with all three of a team's cars eligible to score at every round. Ties are broken on countback — most wins first, then most second places. F3 is the third rung of the FIA single-seater ladder, and like F2 it bars its champion from returning: win the title and the only way is up.