Photo: Fotospeedy

Euroformula is committed to continuing being an alternative to FIA F3 for drivers based in Europe, but there’s now another Spanish-run third-tier single-seater series on the continent seeking the same market space

The pyramid to Formula 1 can sometimes be a tricky one to draw out, since Formula 2 and Formula 3 are now the names of spec championships rather than actual formulas, and Formula 4 is actually the fifth-tier category below Formula Regional.

This is all ignoring the Road to Indy, where there are open-wheel cars going from the second down to the fifth tier and all designed to prepare drivers for IndyCar. The third and fourth tiers there aren’t really comparable to Europe’s.

The F3-level third tier currently consists of the FIA F3 Championship and Euroformula (with Japan’s Super Formula Lights series using the same cars) for contemporary machinery, then there are some series still using the last generation of F3 cars.

FRegional, and championships using FRegional-based cars, fill the fourth tier. The category is incorporated into the name of all the FIA-certified championships except for the planned AU3.

Launched as FRegional Australia but rebranded before getting underway, it cancelled its pre-season test and inaugural race event at late notice this May due to an issue with shipping cars from New Zealand. It also left it very late to cancel what would have been round two in June. Last month it should have raced at Sandown, but instead the 2025 season was called off.

The other FRegional-spec series without the name is Ultimate Cup Series’ Formula Cup, which uses the Tatuus T-318.

That car has been the design inspiration or basis of several other chassis from the Italian manufacturer, including the F3-T318 used in Eurocup-3, FRegional Oceania’s FT-60 and for the more bespoke MSV GB3-025 raced in GB3 to ensure it remains on par with European rivals.

Photo: Fotocar13

GB3 had previously used a heavily upgraded Tatuus design that sat between FRegional and F4 in performance, and which was upgraded again to be reused this year in the formerly F4-spec GB4. In 2026, Britain has a de facto fourth-tier single-seater championship in GB3, one that sits just below in GB4, and then the truly fifth-tier British F4.

There will be lots of car changes in FRegional next year, as both Tatuus and Ligier introduce second-generation chassis.

Eurocup-3 will not be adopting the new Tatuus T-326, since it will instead be adopting a whole new technical ruleset.

Last week it announced it will be becoming a third-tier series from 2026 onwards, and will do so by switching to the ‘new’ Dallara 326 car with power supply from TOM’S-developed 1.6-litre turbocharged Toyota units.

The ‘326’ designation belongs to a bodykit in development for the six-year-old F3-level Dallara 320 car, and which will be remarkably close in specification to the ‘324’ bodykit introduced to SF Lights last year and in Euroformula this season.

Both of those championships also exclusively run the TOM’S engines, and Eurocup-3 has hired Engiser 101 to be its tuning partner for when it introduces them. The electronics will be the same, and the similarities extend to the GT Sport-run Euroformula and Eurocup-3 both being run by Spanish promoters.

On technical aspects, the main difference next year may well be tyres. Euroformula runs on Pirellis, Eurocup-3 will use a new compound from Hankook, and SF Lights is yet to name a supplier for after its current two-year deal with Kumho.

Since its launch in 2023, Eurocup-3 has done well to establish itself against the immensely popular FRegional European Championship with teams and drivers. Now it has its sights set on Euroformula, and arguably FIA F3 too, and what has been announced already about their 2026 seasons supports that.

2026 calendars

FIA F3 will support F1 for all 10 of its rounds next year, with street races in Melbourne, Monaco and Madrid’s new circuit.

The eight-round Eurocup-3 schedule will feature five of next year’s F1 tracks, including the planned ‘Madring’. Its race weekend there will take place in August, several weeks before F1 visits and will possibly make it the first ever championship to race on it. It will also visit Silverstone, which European series rarely visit due to having to ship cars to Britain.

Euroformula and the Formula Renault Eurocup (which used FRegional cars for its last two seasons in 2019 and ’20 before its assets were inherited by the FREC paddock) last raced there in 2019, and the all-female W Series only headed there in 2021 and ’22 due to being an F1 support and all of its entries being operated by a British team.

There are four F1 tracks on Euroformula’s 2026 calendar, since it has dropped the Red Bull Ring for a first ever trip to Misano.

In addition to a calendar, Eurocup-3 has announced it will have at least nine teams on the grid next year. Its four Spanish squads (Campos Racing, Drivex School, Global Racing Service and Palou Motorsport) will continue, along with Dutch outfit MP Motorsport, and stepping up from the Spanish F4 championship under the same promoter will be two more Spanish operations: Tecnicar Motorsport and the TC Racing team founded by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with the assistance of ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi.

Total newcomers to the paddock will be British teams Double R Racing and Hitech GP, and Eurocup-3 aims to complete its grid with a 10th team.

Double R raced in Euroformula from 2019 to ’21, running future F1 and IndyCar drivers, and through its sister company Fine Moments ran all of W Series’ cars. Its last race outings were the final two rounds of the 2023 British F4 season, and it has been a test-only team since then.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Euroformula will continue with Dallara’s ‘324’ bodykit next season, and has shared pictures from the manufacturer as it produces six more of them to be ready for use later in 2025.

A new name in the GT Sport paddock, starting with next month’s round at the Red Bull Ring, is Roland Rehfeld. The long-time team manager and then sporting director of PHM Racing retained that role for its F2 and FIA F3 squads when they were purchased by AIX Investment Group last year and rebranded, but as of this week he is no longer working for the team and has moved into a team management position at Euroformula dominator Motopark.

The FIA has confirmed to Formula Scout that FREC will switch to Toyota engines next year that will be built by Autotecnica since a deal with Alpine – that included branding of the championship and its Renault engines – ends this season. Tatuus’s second-generation T-326 chassis is set to succeed the T-318 after seven seasons of use, and two following the introduction of an update kit to reduce the physical effort required to steer the car.

ACI Sport will continue to promote FREC, and the FIA will support the Italian motorsport federation by providing technical expertise and staff (such as stewards and technical delegates) while helping revise its sporting and technical regulations.

The post The changes Europe’s major single-seater series are making for 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

For many years Euroformula had run using Michelin tyres, and had initially planned to move from 13-inch to 17-inch wheels this year after the tyre manufacturer instigated the change so its future racing tyres would be more representative of road-going rubber and automotive trends such as larger wheels. It also intended to reduce its production of 13-inch tyres.

However the changes that moving to larger wheels would have then required to the design of Euroformula’s Dallara 320 car meant that plan did not go ahead, and so a contract was signed with Hankook to supply tyres for the series’ existing wheel assemblies.

However a factory fire at Hankook’s main production plant this March destroyed a significant amount of stock and put a stop to production, with its motorsport customers across the world quickly being informed that this could pose issues for them.

Euroformula had enough tyres for last month’s Algarve season opener, and would have been stocked for this weekend’s round in Pau had the series not pulled out of the event. The supply for the round at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of this month however was an unknown, even to the European firm that handles Hankook’s overseas racing deals.

As such, Euroformula has sought a deal with Pirelli for its tyres and will now switch to the Italian brand’s rubber with immediate effect.

“The Euroformula Open will run on Pirelli tyres from its next round in Spa-Francorchamps (26-28 May) and for the remainder of the 2023 season, with a shared intention to expand the agreement into a partnership for the years beyond,” read a series statement.

“The current ‘contingency’ agreement solves the unforeseen situation resulting from the supply issues faced by the previous official provider after a factory fire destroyed its stocks and severely damaged its production capacity.”

Jesus Pareja, CEO of Euroformula’s promoter GT Sport, said: “We thank Pirelli for their co-operation and quick response when we reached out to them, at a moment when the planning for the 2023 racing season was done and track activity was about to start.

“It just proves how professional and how passionate about the sports they are. Pirelli, with its history, the technological edge of its products, and the quality of its customer service, is a true reference in motorsports and we are happy and proud to start this collaboration. The common wish is to expand it for the years to come and we see this technical partnership as one of the assets that will allow us to craft the future of the Euroformula Open.”

Pirelli’s circuit activity manager Matteo Braga explained that Euroformula will use 13-inch Pirelli P Zero DM slick tyres and Cinturato wet weather tyres.

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Photo: Fotospeedy

A fire at Hankook’s Daejeon plant in South Korea has put the tyre manufacturer’s ability to supply rubber this year for several single-seater series at risk.

The fire took place on March 13 and led to all production at the facility being put on hold, as well the loss of a large amount of manufacturered stock that was stored in some of the buildings that set on fire.

Although the brand has manufacturing plants in Europe and the USA, the Daejon plant is the biggest in scale of production and the majority of the tyres from there are exported. It is also where the majority of its tyres made for racing come from.

Hankook has notified the series that will be impacted, which in junior single-seaters includes the Formula 3-level Euroformula and Super Formula Lights, Formula Regional Americas, the new FRegional-based Eurocup-3 series and the Spanish and United States Formula 4 championships.

FRegional Americas and US F4 have already got their 2023 seasons underway, while Euroformula’s opening round takes place next month and SF Lights, Eurocup-3 and Spanish F4 all start in May.

Due to the pause in operations, loss of stock waiting to be exported and the legal procedures that Hankook will now have to be going through following the fire, the impact on its ability to honour supply commitments could be as extreme as being totally unable to fulfill its racing contracts in Europe (which also includes sportscar and touring car series). In this instance, series may now have to search for a new tyre supplier at late notice.

Reports claim that 11 people needed treatment due to smoke inhalation.

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Photo: Fotospeedy

Euroformula has announced it has ended its lengthy partnership with Michelin and will now have Hankook as its spec tyre supplier.

The Formula 3-level series used Dunlop tyres from its inception until the end of 2014, then has had its cars fitted with Michelin’s rubber for the last eight seasons.

Eurformula promoter GT Sport describes the new deal with Hankook as “a technical and commercial partnership”, and so far it is only for the upcoming 2023 campaign.

Hankook currently supplies tyres for Formula E, Formula Regional Oceania and Spanish Formula 4, and has also signed a contract with the new FRegional-based Eurocup-3 series aiming for the same market of drivers as Euroformula.

“We are delighted to start cooperating with Hankook Tire, a key global player in motorsports,” said GT Sport CEO Jesus Pareja.

“I am sure it will play a crucial role in the success of the present and future of Euroformula Open. The tests conducted so far with the Dallara 320 prove that the performance, reliability and drivability standards of their tyres are perfectly in line with the Euroformula requirements.”

Hankook Europe’s motorsport director Manfred Sandbichler added: “Promoting young talent is an essential part of the Hankook Motorsport DNA. Working with GT Sport as the exclusive tyre partner of the Euroformula Open is a perfect fit for us. We look forward to supporting this exciting racing series as a tyre partner.”

Euroformula had initially planned to move from 13-inch to 17-inch wheels this year with Michelin, with the tyre manufacturer instigating the change so its future racing tyres would be more representative of road-going rubber and automotive trends such as larger wheels. It also intended to reduce its production of 13-inch tyres.

However the changes that moving to larger wheels would have then required to the design of Euroformula’s Dallara 320 car meant that plan did not go ahead. Hankook will be supplying 13-inch tyres for the series’ existing wheel assemblies.

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