Event

Formula 1 vs Formula 2 vs Formula 3 - how do the FIA single-seater championships compare?

November 28, 2024

by Phil Horton

10min read

Formula 1 cars are the fastest single-seater packages in motorsport, but how does F1 stack up to its junior disciplines in the FIA pyramid: Formula 2 and Formula 3?

In 2014, the FIA created the ‘FIA Global Pathway From Karting to Formula One’ - a programme designed to bring drivers from go-karting to Formula 1. This programme began with the creation of FIA Formula 4 in 2014.

Aspiring F1 drivers will generally race using F4 machinery - in various series around the globe - as they make their step from karts to single-seater cars at the age of 15 or older. Drivers might then move to ‘Formula Regional’ machinery, which are slightly more powerful single-seater cars than F4 cars.

From Formula Regional, drivers usually race in Formula 3, Formula 2, and then Formula 1.

Of the full-time rookies in the 2025 F1 grid, Jack Doohan (Alpine), Ollie Bearman (Haas), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Liam Lawson (RB) will have raced in F3 and F2 before reaching F1.

Lewis Hamilton’s replacement Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) is the outlier as he skipped F3, having raced in Formula Regional and then F2 on his way to F1.

So how do the three major FIA single-seater cars differ? We delve into their specifications and compare the three junior championships.

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How are F1, F2 and F3 cars fuelled?

F1 teams have dedicated fuel and lubricants suppliers, with whom they forge a close relationship in order to maximise performance and accelerate development. For example, Mercedes and Petronas have collaborated since 2010.

Fuel suppliers work closely with engine manufacturers to ensure there is a harmonious partnership, and they are also careful to ensure that the fuel quality does not degrade or become contaminated over time. Formula 1 cars can carry 110kg of fuel at the start of the race, and there is a fuel flow limit of 100kg/hr, and there are two fuel flow metres onboard each car.

From 2026 the ambition is for the starting fuel load in F1 to be reduced to 70kg.

F2 and F3 both use Aramco-supplied fuel, of which 55% meets FIA sustainability standards. That proportion will increase to 100% in the future.

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How do F1, F2 and F3 engines differ?

Since the start of the 2014 season, F1 cars have used 1.6-litre V6 turbo-hybrid power units in place of the previous era’s V8 engines.

Despite reductions in the permitted scope of development in order to advance cost-cutting, current F1 power units are capable of delivering over 1,000 horsepower, and are highly reliable and efficient machines.

From 2026 the core of the current V6 turbo hybrid power unit will remain the same but the Motor Generator Unit-Heat (MGU-H) will be removed and instead the Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K) will take on greater importance. A more powerful battery will produce three times the electrical power, while energy produced under braking is expected to double.

F1 cars generally reach around 220 miles per hour but, in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas set the unofficial speed record for V6 hybrid engines as he took his Mercedes-powered Williams to 235mph at Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan.

Valtteri Bottas reached 235mph at the wheel of his Williams during qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan

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Each F1 driver is only permitted to use three or four of the six components that currently comprise the power unit before grid penalties are applied. These are the Internal Combustion Engine, Turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, Energy Store and Control Electronics.

Each F1 team is supplied with engines from dedicated manufacturers.

From 2025, Mercedes will supply its own F1 team, Aston Martin, Williams, and McLaren; Red Bull will supply itself and RB; Ferrari will supply itself, Sauber and Haas; and Alpine will supply itself before closing its engine programme at the end of the year. Mercedes will then supply Alpine.

F2 uses 3.4-litre six-cylinder turbocharged engines from a single supplier - Mecachrome. These engines do not have a hybrid component and are rated to 620hp. F2 cars can reach speeds of 209mph.

F3 also uses 3.4-litre six-cylinder engines supplied by Mecachrome, but without a turbocharger. F3 engines are rated to 380hp and the cars can reach speeds of around 186mph.

F2 and F3 engines are designed to last 14 rounds - or 28 races - over a calendar year. They are randomly distributed to each team and driver from the Mecachrome factory in France and serviced after 8,000km of usage.

A cutaway showing the engine inside the current generation of Formula 2 car

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What are the differences between F1, F2 and F3 gearboxes?

F1 teams have the freedom to design their own gearboxes. Generally, teams that supply engines - Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine and Red Bull - design and supply gearboxes as well to ensure optimal reliability and power delivery.

That means F1 customer teams such as Aston Martin, Haas and RB will purchase gearboxes instead of designing them in-house.

The FIA technical regulations mandate that gearboxes are eight-speed, hydraulically-activated units. These units are sealed to prevent teams from changing parts without the FIA knowing.

Teams are allocated eight gearboxes per season - four per driver - before they incur penalties.

F2 and F3 cars both use six-speed longitudinal gearboxes designed by Hewland, although the new F3 car will have its gearbox constructed by 3MO from 2025.

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Comparing F1, F2 and F3 tyres

Pirelli is the sole supplier to Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3, and has vast experience through all three championships. But the product requirements are different for each category.

Formula 1 tyres feature 18-inch rims and must cope with the highest level of energy on account of the stress put through them by the high level of downforce produced by cars that are being constantly developed.

From 2025, Pirelli will expand its range of dry-weather tyre compounds to six, and it brings three to each grand prix depending on the characteristics of the circuit and the track surface.

A soft, medium and hard tyre is consequently allocated for every grand prix and Formula 1 regulations dictate that two different compounds must be run for each stint of the race. Pirelli also produces an intermediate and wet tyre in the event of moderate and heavy rain.

Pirelli Formula 1 tyre specification is denoted by the colour on the sidewall. Red denotes the soft tyre, yellow denotes the medium tyre, and white denotes the hard tyre

F2 also uses 18-inch wheels, though they are slightly narrower, and it actually pioneered use of the design, introducing them in 2020, two years before F1.

F2 has four dry-weather tyre compounds and two are brought to every event, dubbed the Prime and the Option, and both compounds must be run in the feature race. Unlike F1, tyre blankets are not used to preheat tyres in F2 and there is only one wet tyre compound.

F3 has smaller 13-inch wheels but, from 2025, the size will increase to 16 inches.

In F3 there are three dry-weather compounds, along with one wet compound, and, as
F3 races are shorter than its counterparts’, only one type of compound is used in race trim.

Neither Formula 2 nor Formula 3 have intermediate tyres; they both use blue-banded Pirelli wet tyres in case of rain

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F1, F2 and F3 aerodynamics and laptimes

Formula 1 cars are being relentlessly developed by teams and consequently new aerodynamic devices, floor designs and components are brought to multiple grands prix through the course of the season, and they are all different. Each team also typically brings a new design each season, sometimes with a completely revised philosophy.

Formula 2 and Formula 3 are single-spec machines constructed by Dallara, and they are used by the drivers up and down the grid, with performance differences owing to the set-ups adopted by the teams and, of course, driver input.

F2 and F3 cars tend to be used for six-year cycles, with the latest iteration of the F2 car having been introduced this year, while the new generation of F3 car will replace the package that had been in use since F3’s redesign in 2019.

The latest generation of Formula 2 car was introduced in 2024

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Cars throughout the FIA single-seater pyramid are also constructed to the highest safety standards set by the governing body, with stringent crash tests, anti-intrusion panels and wheel tethers, while the halo has been commonplace in all new cars in the FIA single-seater pyramid.

F2 and F3 also use DRS in the same vein as F1, though F1 is set to scrap DRS from 2026 when moveable aero is introduced as part of the new regulations.

The high-speed Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya provides a good comparison of the three different categories and their performance.

Lando Norris’s McLaren MCL38 set the fastest F1 qualifying lap of 1m11.383s at the Spanish Grand Prix venue in 2024. In F2 the fastest qualifying lap was 1m24.766s, while in Formula 3 the best time was 1m28.463s.

That means F2 cars were around 18% slower than F1 cars and F3 cars were around 24% slower at this venue - but that figure can vary wildly from circuit to circuit.

Formula 3, Formula 2, and Formula 1 cars share the same venue 10 times per year

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How heavy are F1, F2 and F3 cars?

Increased car weight has been a discussion point in single-seater categories for several years, owing to the mass associated with hybrid systems and their technology, as well as the increased weight from enhanced safety structures.

There have been complaints from Formula 1 drivers about the weight of the current F1 cars, particularly when laden with fuel and at circuits with low-speed corners, where understeer can be a common complaint.

There are plans for F1’s cars to be smaller, and slightly lighter, when the new regulations are introduced for the 2026 season.

F1 cars typically have a length of 5500mm, and a width of 2000mm, with a mass of 798kg including the driver.

F2 cars have a length of 5285mm, and a width of 1900mm, with a mass of 795kg including driver.

F3 cars are the smallest, at 4,965mm long and 1,885mm wide, with a weight of 673kg including the driver. The mass is set to increase in 2025 when the next generation of F3 car is implemented.

Formula 1 cars are more than 200 millimetres longer than Formula 2 cars and more than 500 millimetres longer than Formula 3 cars

F1, F2 and F3 are three distinct championships with unique demands and specifications that cater to the skill level and, crucially, the development stage of drivers ascending the FIA’s motorsport ladder.

At the pinnacle is F1, with advanced hybrid engines, complex and constantly evolving aerodynamics, and high speeds - with laptimes far faster than those in F2 or F3.

Meanwhile F2 and F3 are single-spec series focused on driver skill in a more technologically controlled environment to ensure younger drivers can learn their craft on the way to F1.

The FIA’s structured pathway ensures that drivers can progress through the ranks with increasingly challenging machinery and longer races while the FIA continues to evolve and tweak each series to ensure parity and safety.

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