The junior formula champions on a collision course in F3

Prema Racing dominated the first season of the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2019. In addition to its well-proven engineering strength, an undoubted key to its supremacy was the quality of its driver line-up.

Champion Robert Shwartzman, runner-up Marcus Armstrong and third-placed Jehan Daruvala were all contesting their first full seasons on the Formula 1 bill, but all three had come into it as proven race winners in the F3 European Championship, giving Prema an exceptional combination of talent and experience.

Its unquestionable status as FIA F3's number-one team meant the Rene Rosin-run squad essentially had the pick of whoever it wanted to form its driving trio for 2020. Often in junior single-seaters, that can encourage a team to recruit the highest-placed drivers from the previous season who haven't moved on.

Yet none of Prema's new FIA F3 charges are proven at this level, and two - Oscar Piastri and Frederik Vesti - are championship rookies. Piastri and Vesti are not just any old rookies though.

The two 18-year-olds are effectively the best-qualified newcomers on the grid, as the champions of the two series in Europe - Formula Renault Eurocup (below) and Formula Regional European Championship respectively - that are based on the Regional F3 concept: the tier below FIA F3 on the governing body's ladder. Both championships adopted the Tatuus T318 chassis last year, and are locked in a fight for supremacy in their part of the junior single-seater market.

While the Italian-based Formula Regional European series enjoys FIA backing and Ferrari support, it was Renault's contest that had the better grid numbers in 2019 as it aims to continue its heritage as an important talent pool.

That the rivalry's first champions, Piastri and Vesti, are stepping up to FIA F3 in the same team - and expected to be fighting at the front with Prema - will provide an obvious opportunity to measure the strength of the two categories.

"In FIA F3 you feel like you are on the limit, but there's still a few tenths to find, and this is probably the biggest difference" Frederik Vesti

The sole FIA F3 pre-season test took place two weeks ago at the Bahrain International Circuit, where the opening round was due to take place this weekend in support of the Bahrain Grand Prix before its cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Piastri spent last week at home in Melbourne because he was intending to take in the doomed Australian Grand Prix with Renault as a newly recruited member of its young-driver academy.

Piastri defeated Victor Martins to win the Eurocup title by a slim 7.5 points. He effectively snatched Renault backing from his French rival, as an academy place is automatically on offer to the champion, and Martins will continue in the Eurocup this year without the manufacturer's support.

As well as getting to know compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at Enstone, Piastri can call on another of Australia's greatest F1 exports for advice after being taken on by Mark Webber's management agency ahead of this season.

For now, Vesti is not attached to any F1 team or grand prix winner, although he is rumoured to have received at least one approach from a top squad. Such interest in the Dane's services is no surprise after his dominant run to the Formula Regional crown in what was his first year driving for Prema.

The pace advantage Prema appeared to enjoy in Formula Regional was perhaps even greater than in FIA F3, but Vesti comfortably put away Ferrari-backed team-mate Enzo Fittipaldi, winning 13 of the 24 races.

After taking part in the Macau Grand Prix in place of the injured Daruvala (Vesti fought back well from a qualifying race hold-up to finish 10th), he secured the backing to make his step up with Prema a full-time one for 2020. Vesti feels racing in Macau helped him to find the limits of the FIA F3 car, even though it's so different to anything else on the calendar.

"When you come back to a normal track [after Macau], it's easier to just sit in the car and go quickly straight away, which is a very important part of the FIA F3 championship now because there's such a small amount of practice and driving," he says.

Although Vesti (below) has raced exclusively on Pirelli tyres so far in his car racing career, those used in FIA F3 are considerably different and one of the greatest challenges for a rookie to adjust to.

"The driving style is very different because of the extra downforce, more power and the different tyres," he says of the step up from Formula Regional.

"There's much more grip and you can make a difference with this grip, whereas in Regional it's a bit easier to find the limit. In FIA F3 you feel like you are on the limit, but there's still a few tenths to find, and this is probably the biggest difference."

Strong race pace on the high-degradation tyres is crucial to winning in FIA F3, and Vesti looked good in this regard in the Bahrain test, though admits that nailing a qualifying lap was more of a challenge.

"We had a very productive and positive test, which makes me quite confident," he says.

"My race runs were very strong but the grip of the new tyres is really, really high, and coming from Regional, coming from Macau, I had to get used to that a lot on that one lap. To really extract the full potential was not so easy for me. But in the end I got it and I understood why it was difficult.

"Only having one or two laps on new tyres compared to six or seven laps consecutively in Formula Renault means you have to be on it straight away" Oscar Piastri

"The car is quite a big step from the Formula Renault - a lot more power and a lot more aero, which is awesome to drive," says Piastri."I'm very confident that I can make the next step that will be very important for the season, and be consistent. My main focus right now is on my development."

"I think the new Formula Renault prepared me somewhat; the weight is very similar, but the tyres [Piastri ran on Michelin and Hankook in FRenault] and aero are quite a lot different. The tyres are the biggest challenge, mainly in race runs. Also, only having one or two laps on new tyres compared to six or seven laps consecutively in Formula Renault means you have to be on it straight away."

None of the Prema drivers set headline one-lap times during the test. "The test went reasonably well," adds Piastri.

"I improved consistently across the race runs we did, which is the biggest area I need to adapt compared to previous years. My performance runs were generally pretty good, so I was happy with the test overall, but there are still some improvements to make."

While the arrival of Piastri and Vesti is getting the bulk of the attention, it would be foolish to not consider Prema's third driver, Logan Sargeant. The American struggled with Carlin for much of last season (he finished 19th in the standings), but third place on his Macau Grand Prix debut provided a glimpse of what he might do with a frontrunning team and a year's experience under his belt.

Sargeant was Prema's fastest driver in the test, with the fifth-best time overall, and his experience could give him an edge over his team-mates, at least initially. Two further tests scheduled during the first half of the season will help the rookies to overcome any lack of knowledge they face.

Piastri certainly knows what Sargeant can do: the two raced against each other in British F4 as single-seater rookies in 2017, with Piastri coming out on top in a battle for second overall behind title winner Jamie Caroline. Moving up to the Renault Eurocup in 2018, Sargeant then took fourth with champion squad R-ace GP, while Piastri was eighth with Arden.

While Vesti is less familiar with his team-mates, he has continuity in the form of engineer Pedro Matos, who helped him to his Formula Regional triumph in 2019. Before that, the Portuguese engineered Piastri with Arden in British F4.

Once again, Prema appears to have an evenly matched line-up, with three drivers pushing the team on.

"We have a very good relationship," says Vesti. "We're all very calm and we all have the same goals. The good thing is that we all understand that we work for the team. Each of us wants to win the championship, but in order to do that we need to work together. So it's a positive battle."

It's that collaborative driving strength across the three cars that could make Prema just as tough to beat again this year.

The F4 top dogs moving up

There's another pair of drivers who come into FIA F3 in the spotlight as highly rated champions at a lower level: Theo Pourchaire and Dennis Hauger.

Last year, the pair did battle in the very competitive German F4 series, just as Juri Vips and Marcus Armstrong had done a couple of years before them. Pourchaire won out in the end by just seven points over Red Bull Junior Hauger, who did go on to claim the Italian F4 title against a slightly lesser-quality, albeit higher-quantity, field.

Hitech looks best-placed to take the fight to Prema again this year, as Hauger is joined by second-year FIA F3 racers Liam Lawson and Max Fewtrell of the Red Bull and Renault junior stables respectively

Both caught the eye in their first seasons racing the Tatuus F4 chassis after victories in the Mygale used in France (for Pourchaire) and Britain (Hauger) in 2018. Both drivers come into FIA F3 with leading teams - Pourchaire with ART Grand Prix and Hauger with Hitech Grand Prix - but no F4 graduate has yet to make a success of the considerable leap into what was previously GP3.

Pourchaire is the youngest driver on the grid at 16, while Hauger turned 17 last Tuesday. After challenging with Vips in 2019, Hitech looks best-placed to take the fight to Prema again this year, as Hauger is joined by second-year FIA F3 racers Liam Lawson and Max Fewtrell of the Red Bull and Renault junior stables respectively.

ART, on the other hand, could be more reliant on Pourchaire and fellow rookie Alexander Smolyar (third behind Piastri and Martins in last year's Eurocup), with Sebastian Fernandez needing to improve upon a best finish of 12th last year for Campos Racing.

Other contenders could include F3/GP3 veteran Jake Hughes, who returns for another year with HWA alongside famous names Enzo Fittipaldi and Jack Doohan, with the German giant entering its second year running its own F3 squad. Richard Verschoor and MP Motorsport continue their loyalty and will hope to build on their shock Macau Grand Prix triumph. More British interest comes in the form of Enaam Ahmed at Carlin.

It was Tasmanian Alex Peroni who set the fastest time of the Bahrain test for Campos - his first time back in the FIA F3 car since a scary accident at Monza last September that left him with a fractured vertebra.