DRS uses will be unrestricted on new FIA Formula 3 car for 2019

New F3 car, complete with safety Halo, will feature unlimited DRS

Drivers in the new FIA Formula 3 Championship will have unlimited DRS uses during the 2019 season.

Formula 3 cars have never used DRS but, because the new FIA series will replace the GP3 Series on the Formula 1 support package, the overtaking assist will be in unrestricted use in 2019.
In GP3, drivers were limited to six uses of DRS in the feature race and four in the sprint race.

Traditionalists have questioned the use of DRS, as the ethos of F3 has been to help drivers develop and not to provide induced overtaking.

"GP3 have it, GP3 limit the amount of usage during a race but we've done away with that [for FIA Formula 3], like F2 and F1, as long as they are in the one-second detection range," the FIA's Charlie Whiting told Autosport.

"I think it doesn't make sense to not have it in F3 if we're running the cars on the same platform [as F1 and F2].

"There's no justifiable reason not to have it in my opinion."

New F3 boss Bruno Michel, who was in charge of GP3 and heads up Formula 2, said he believed it was a logical decision to retain the device for the transition from GP3 to F3.

"It was not a difficult decision to make, we wanted to make a car that creates fantastic racing," said Michel.

"This is our DNA, that is why they are watching it and know the drivers. They follow us." Autosport