The 2018 GP3 Series was the ninth and final season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also ninth and final season under the moniker of

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

, a

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

feeder series that runs in support of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship and sister series

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...

. This was the final contested season of GP3, as the series united with the FIA Formula 3 European Championship to form the

FIA Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 Championship (FIA F3) is a third-tier international Open wheel car, single-seater racing championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for ...

. 2018 was the final season that the Dallara GP3/16 chassis package—which débuted in the 2016 GP3 Series—was used in competition, as a brand new chassis package for the

was introduced in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. After finishing 3rd in the final feature race of the last season of GP3, Anthoine Hubert was crowned the 2018 GP3 Champion. ART successfully defended their teams' title over

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

after the first race at Sochi, winning the teams' title in eight of the nine seasons of GP3. Runner-up Nikita Mazepin won 4 races; in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

, Spa-Francorchamps, and Yas Marina. After having four rounds with

Jenzer Motorsport Jenzer Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Switzerland. Founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer the team is currently competing in FIA Formula 3, Italian F4 and F4 Spanish and has had a number of drivers who would turn out to be successful in ...

, David Beckmann moved to

before the summer break and took 3 race wins. Champion Anthoine Hubert, Callum Ilott, Leonardo Pulcini, and Pedro Piquet all won 2 races. Also, Giuliano Alesi won the second race in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Jake Hughes won for the third time in the series at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

, and

Dorian Boccolacci Dorian Maurice Gines Daniel Joan Boccolacci (born 9 September 1998 in Cannes) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the GT World Challenge Asia for Phantom Global Racing. Having successfully competed in a number of single-seater ca ...

, who drove for MP Motorsport before being promoted to their Formula 2 team won the sprint race at the

Teams and drivers

All GP3 drivers competed in a Dallara GP3/16 chassis using a Mecachrome GP3 V6 engine and Pirelli P Zero and Cinturato tyres.

Team changes

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

left the championship after two years of competition. Their entry was taken by

team MP Motorsport.

Driver changes

* Gabriel Aubry and Joey Mawson, who raced in 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship respectively, made their series début with Arden International. They were joined by Julien Falchero, who switched from Campos Racing. Steijn Schothorst left the team and switched to

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

, joining 2018 Blancpain GT Series. *

and Niko Kari moved from

and Arden International respectively to MP Motorsport. They were joined by 2017 Formula Renault Eurocup runner-up Will Palmer. * Tatiana Calderón moved from DAMS to

. She was joined by 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship driver David Beckmann. Arjun Maini left the team to join the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship (F2) is a second-tier single-seater championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on road racing, racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the re ...

. * 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers Callum Ilott and Nikita Mazepin moved to the series, joining ART Grand Prix for the season. Under the series regulations, reigning GP3 Series champion George Russell could not compete in the championship again and left the series along with Jack Aitken and Nirei Fukuzumi and joined

. Fukuzumi will also contest the 2018 Super Formula Championship. * Simo Laaksonen continued his collaboration with Campos Racing after his campaign with the team in the 2017 Euroformula Open Championship. He was partnered by Leonardo Pulcini and Diego Menchaca, who reignited their partnership with Campos after a season with Arden in 2017 and 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 respectively. Raoul Hyman and Marcos Siebert both left the team. Siebert later joined Campos in the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship. *

Alessio Lorandi Alessio Lorandi (born 8 September 1998) is an Italian former racing driver. Career Karting Lorandi began his racing career in karting in 2007. He won the Karting Federation Junior championship in 2013 and remained in karting until 2014. Formu ...

, who raced with Jenzer Motorsport switched to race with Trident. He was joined by former FIA Formula 3 European Championship driver Pedro Piquet. ;Midseason changes * Formula Renault Eurocup race-winner Christian Lundgaard joined MP Motorsport for a one-off entry at Paul Ricard, replacing Will Palmer. Lundgaard was replaced by FIA Formula 3 European Championship driver Devlin DeFrancesco for the rest of the season. * Jannes Fittje replaced David Beckmann in

after Beckmann parted ways with the team prior

round. Beckmann filled

's slot in Trident, while Lorandi moved to Trident's FIA Formula 2 Championship team ahead of the Hungaroring round, replacing Santino Ferrucci. * Richard Verschoor replaced

for the Spa-Francorchamps round, as the French driver joined MP's FIA Formula 2 team, to replace Roberto Merhi. Niko Kari was also promoted to

with MP Motorsport before the Sochi round. Jehan Daruvala took Kari's seat for the

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

round. * Sacha Fenestraz replaced Julien Falchero for Arden International ahead of the Sochi Autodrom round.

Calendar

The following nine rounds took place as part of the 2018 championship. Each round consisted of two races, a longer race 1 and a shorter race 2:

Calendar changes

* The championship will expand to nine rounds in 2018. * The championship will return to the Sochi Autodrom, running in support of the Russian Grand Prix. The series last visited the circuit in 2015. * The championship will make its début at the

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has ...

, running in support of the French Grand Prix. * The stand-alone event run at the Jerez Circuit in 2017 was discontinued.

Results

Season summary

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the race 1, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the race 2. The pole-sitter in the race 1 also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the race 1 and race 2. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the race 2. ;Race 1 points ;Race 2 points Points were awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.

Drivers' championship

Notes: *† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

Only three best-finishing cars are allowed to score points in the championship. Notes: *† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.