The verdict on the start of the FIA F3 era

Under the watchful eyes of Neymar - presuming he also heard that a new series was kicking off while attending the Spanish Grand Prix - the FIA Formula 3 Championship launched into action and initiated its new era at Barcelona last weekend.

The old Formula 1-supporting GP3 Series has merged with the European Formula 3 Championship - which previously had the FIA status - to form the new category.

Lots of things have changed, but it doesn't really feel that way.

The promoter of the GP3 Series won the tender for FIA status, so the blueprint of 'new' F3 is basically the same as GP3. One practice, one qualifying and two races on an F1 weekend; Pirelli tyres, DRS, the same engine and gearbox from GP3, and a reversed-grid race on Sunday.

That familiarity in itself raises a number of questions.

Firstly, an FIA Formula championship title once implied that any manufacturer could produce a car for that series' regulations, which now isn't the case with the one-make formulas used in both F2 and F3 - though it was the same in the era of the Motorsport Vision FIA F2 a decade ago, so that problem is not new to this era.

The GP3-style format also questions the fundamentals of what an 'F3' championship is aiming to achieve. F3, the best third-tier junior slicks-and-wings single-seater formula for so many decades, always went for regulations, formats and cars that bred the best drivers for moving up the career ladder, even sometimes at the expense of race entertainment.

With DRS, degrading tyres and reversed grids, it feels like the GP3 and now FIA F3 formula is as much about entertainment as finding talent. And there aren't enough spectators just coming to the track or watching F3 on TV for that to be the priority.

"For us as a team it's been quite a baptism entering this, the format, the different way things are run" Ollie Oakes

But what can't be denied is the fact that GP3 had other ways of preparing drivers for F1, indeed six of its nine champions are in F1 or have been at some point.

The limited track time in the 2019 F3 format means drivers must judge track conditions and set their cars up accordingly extremely quickly. That encourages clear feedback and a good rapport with engineers - and also the ability to grab the car by the scruff of the neck and extract performance even when it isn't set up correctly.

These aspects also caught the teams by surprise, or at least some of those coming over from European F3, which provided more track time.

"I think it's been impressive," said Hitech Grand Prix boss Oliver Oakes on the series' debut, as his team emigrated from European F3.

"It only dawns on you when you're walking down the grid and you see all 30 cars and the teams, not just the quality of drivers, the amount of top teams, it's really impressive. For us as a team it's been quite a baptism entering this, the format, the different way things are run.

"On Friday you're a bit rusty as you've been in the workshop for four months, and by the end of the weekend you'd better be on it! It's enjoyable."

Without tyre temperature sensors during race weekends, drivers must manage the ultra-tricky Pirellis purely on feel - which is fundamentally the most difficult task of all when using the rubber for the first time.

Prema Racing - reigning European F3 teams' and drivers' champion with Mick Schumacher - was the star squad of the weekend, winning both races. Its one driver who didn't win, Marcus Armstrong, scored a third and a fifth. But he felt he could have achieved more after struggling with the tyres and the track conditions.

"It's been a learning curve. I needed that one weekend under my belt, especially with free practice to qualifying as that's a massive jump; especially on an F1 weekend, the track changed a lot," said Armstrong, who thought he was too conservative with tyres in race one, and then used them up too much trying to pass Max Fewtrell in race two.

"Just understanding a few things better is going to make a big difference," he added.

Whether the new formula is the correct way forward, only time will tell. But there were plenty of pointers of what to expect over the next five months in what is one of the biggest shake-ups in junior single-seater history.

The F3 promoter also runs the F2 championship, providing a ladder with its sights firmly trained on getting its drivers into F1.

That worked excellently last year, with Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon all making it onto the F1 grid for 2019. But F2 is lucky to have that to dine out on, as the late introduction of its new car last year caused a host of issues, dominated by a clutch problem that led to stalls for most of the season.

Whether the plan to stick with the familiar V6 engine from the GP3 car for F3 in 2019 was related to reliability and what happened in F2 or not, the desired affect has been achieved and only a handful of technical issues - as in, you could indeed count them on one hand - cropped up over the course of the weekend.

They'll likely only become more infrequent as teams get more experienced with the new machinery.

One of the biggest 'problems' of the weekend created one of its most thrilling sessions

The only potential looming issue was temperatures, because now there are 30 cars on the grid, the machines up front are sat stationary for a long time.

Jake Hughes was one of the drivers at the back of the grid thanks to not having full power in qualifying. That robbed him of DRS, which only works with full throttle, so he was consigned to the rear. He joked: "I've never been that far back in my life. I couldn't even see the lights, or the second set of lights!"

The pace was certainly there for his team, HWA, which enters junior single-seaters in its own right for the first time this year. Its performance shows that top 10s and podiums are possible.

Hughes was one of the drivers to report a spike in temperatures on the grid. But while warning lights were mentioned by multiple drivers, nothing actually went wrong on that score during the race weekend, and it may never become an issue.

While last year was spent documenting the opinions of drivers and teams on the 2018 F2 car's struggles, the F3 promoter deserves credit in equal measure for delivering a reliable formula with the new category and executing a basically flawless first weekend while all eyes - including those of McLaren F1 driver Norris, who watched most of the series' sessions with his former Carlin team - were trained on it.

One of the biggest 'problems' of the weekend actually created one of its most thrilling sessions. Before the series began, title favourite Leonardo Pulcini said that around "80%" of the weekend would be decided by qualifying position, and with 30 cars out on track, traffic proved to be an issue for many.

A grouped format - which Formula E uses for qualifying - was mooted at Barcelona, but it will become an even bigger issue on shorter or narrower tracks such as the Hungaroring and Red Bull Ring. It's nothing the series has done wrong, but a solution may need to be found for those races, or fast drivers will be mired in the pack.

And for the same reasons that it will be difficult to find clear air in qualifying, it could often be difficult to overtake in the races for those drivers consigned to the back.

"The formula is quite the same like GP3, so it's brought some more teams across," said MP Motorsport boss Sander Dorsman, whose squad is now competing in myriad single-seater championships on and off the F1 support package.

"Of course the biggest change is the number of cars, with 30 cars, so it's super competitive, the most competitive championship in single-seaters at the moment. In qualifying the first two cars were a little bit ahead, but after that everyone was there and it's tough and you can't afford mistakes. It's quite exciting.

"I have to say the race in Barcelona was not very exciting, but hopefully other races will be better."

Some were expecting an overtaking-fest because of DRS, which is unlimited to use when in activation zones this year, whereas GP3 limited it to six and four uses in the feature and sprint races respectively last year.

But as the pack is so close this year, the DRS proved to be less effective at Barcelona with so many cars all getting the boost of the overtaking aid.

It may have a greater affect at the Red Bull Ring, with long straights to slipstream on, but at most tracks it probably won't make a huge difference, providing the field remains so competitive.

To coincide with the merging of F3 and GP3, organisers added more downforce to the GP3 base car for this year. With that, there's always a worry about ruining overtaking and make the cars tricky to follow in turbulent air. One thing the new F2 car does well is follow in turbulence, and it turns out the new F3 car is the same.

"There's quite a lot of tyre management compared to last year in European F3, so the way you respond to the car balance is different," says Hitech Grand Prix driver and Red Bull junior Juri Vips.

It looks like there are seven to 10 drivers capable of winning a race if all goes their way on any given weekend

"Following is a lot easier than last year's FIA F3. But also it's not nice to follow because then you ruin your front tyres, which wasn't the case last year because the Hankooks are really hard."

So it's a balance, as Armstrong also found out. Pushing too hard to pass can destroy the tyres. But managing the tyres and making the move at the correct time yields strong results, as Vips and Prema's feature race winner Robert Shwartzman showed.

Shwartzman was one of the standout drivers of the weekend alongside Christian Lundgaard. The former won because the latter fell foul of another new introduction for F3 - although it was used previously in GP3 - in 2019, the virtual safety car. Lundgaard exceeded the speed limit for the system as it was used for the first time this season.

Shwartzman was the qualifying star thanks to Prema delivering excellent strategy to find him a clear lap mid-session, before the Russian SMP Racing and Ferrari-backed driver then went even quicker on his final lap under intense pressure from Lundgaard.

Lundgaard is a Renault junior, and finished second in last year's Formula Renault Eurocup - a series usually won by a second-year driver - in his rookie season.

Shwartzman also has strong pedigree as the highest finishing rookie in European F3 last year with the Prema team he continues with into 2019. Both have the capability to star this year.

Those two fought out the battle that most observers probably predicted but perhaps the neutral would've hoped didn't happen: GP3 dominator ART Grand Prix versus European F3 dominator Prema.

Prema was the more impressive in Spain, coming over from European F3 with no experience of the GP3 car or the series' format. ART had won eight out of nine GP3 teams' titles and has a stellar line-up, two of whom had at least one race weekend of GP3 experience under their belts compared to just the one - sprint race winner Jehan Daruvala - at Prema.

But while those two juggernauts predictably fought at the top, Vips showed rapid pace for Hitech in both races and could yet mount a valid title charge in 2019, while Pulcini and Hughes were both robbed of potentially strong weekends with technical issues and clashes on track.

Shwartzman has to be considered the standout performer of the Barcelona weekend. He struggled in the first part of last season in his maiden F3 campaign, but he's taken to the 2019 iteration of the series with aplomb, and if he keeps up that pace he'll be tough to match.

Armstrong, Vips, Daruvala and the rest of the following gang will have something to say about that, and the championship table can be turned on its head very quickly in F3. Especially when it looks like there are seven to 10 drivers capable of winning a race if all goes their way on any given weekend.

Whether you agree with the format F3 has taken on this year, it will provide entertainment. Is it doing the best possible job to create the best driver? Only time will provide the answer, but for now an incredibly competitive 2019 season is off and running.