The deadline for entries had been set for midnight on 15 February to allow for the calendar flexibility to potentially start the season earlier. However, with the opening round confirmed for 1-3 April, the FIA has chosen to move the final deadline back two weeks to give teams the best chance to finalise their programmes.

Final entries will now be accepted up until 29 February, shortly before the Vallelunga test for all teams on 3-4 March.

Stefano Domenicali, President of the FIA’s Single Seater Commission, said it was only logical to extend the entry deadline. “It did not make any sense for us to move the entry deadline forward two weeks when we are starting the season at virtually the same time as last year,” said Mr Domenicali. “There are some teams that have indicated to us that they need some more time to put their deals together – and we wanted to give them every opportunity to do so.”

Currently, there are 24 cars confirmed among seven teams for 2016; Prema, Carlin, Van Amersfoot, Mücke, Motopark, HitechGP and Threebond with T-Sport.

The quality of the entries is of a very high level, further solidifying the FIA Formula 3 European Championship as the place to be for junior drivers looking to make a big impression – Formula One teams are sure to be watching, with junior drivers from Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams and Force India on the grid.

Second year drivers Lance Stroll and Maximilian Günther return for Prema, joined by current Japanese F3 champion Nick Cassidy and Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron.

New team HitechGP promises to be one of the main challengers for 2016, having signed 2015 race-winner George Russell and rookie Ben Barnicoat and Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin, while Britons Callum Ilott and Harrison Newey will join Brazilian Pedro Piquet at Van Amersfoot.

Second-year drivers Ryan Tveter, Alessio Lorandi and Li Zhi Cong (Carlin), Mikkel Jensen (Mücke), Arjun Maini (Threebond with T-Sport) and Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark) will all be looking to build on some promising results in their rookie seasons.

Câmara will be joined at Motopark by the Ferrari Driver Academy’s Guan Yu Zhou, NEZ F4 Champion Niko Kari, and 2015 ADAC F4 runner-up Joel Eriksson.

Mr Domenicali noted that, despite the lesser number of cars to date, the quality of the championship looks to be high.

“It is a tough marketplace at this level of junior formulae, and it looks like we’ve got a pretty high standard so far – hopefully we can add some more before the deadline,” said Mr Domenicali. “We’ve done a lot of work to make sure this championship is very competitive – such as excluding experienced drivers with three years of Formula 3 experience (which meant we lost some drivers), limiting the number of cars for each team, toughening up the technical regulations, as well as working on reducing costs.”

Walter Mertes, Promoter of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, believes the series offers the right mix for young drivers with career progression firmly their goal. “Prema obviously did a great job last year, but their champion came into the season with over 100 races of F3 experience,” said Mr Mertes. “The second placed driver was from Carlin, there were three different teams in the top four of the championship, and 14 drivers were on the podium throughout the season. There are a lot of teams with a history of success in the series, and the opportunity is undoubtedly there for good young drivers to make their mark.”

The FIA Formula 3 European Championship begins on 1-3 April at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.