Formula NEXT

Formula NEXT, officially the  FIA Formula NEXT World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for drivers who have graduated from the FIA Formula 2 Championship, but have yet to qualify to enter Formula One. The series was conceived in 2013 by Irish businessman Jason Coughlan and FIA president, Coughlan is also the current chairman of Formula NEXT Group. The inaugural championship race was held in in September 2016. Since 2020, the series has FIA World Championship status.

History
The proposal for a primarily city-based, single-seater motor racing championship that would help transition drivers from the then-GP2 Series into Formula One was conceived by entertainment industry executive Jason Coughlan and his son Francis, the latter of whom was an aspiring F1 driver, and presented to, the president of the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Todt supported Coughlan's proposal, and discussed the FIA opening up a tender to organise the series. Coughlan told Todt that he would take on the task because of his prior experience in negotiating contracts with television stations, sponsorship and marketing.

Since the 2020–21 season, Formula NEXT is an FIA World Championship.

Regulations
The Formula NEXT championship is currently contested by eleven teams with three drivers each. The sport features open-wheel, single-seater race cars similar to those of Formula One.

Dallara NXT01
For the first three seasons, built a special chassis for Formula NEXT, called the Dallara NXT01. was the official tire supplier, while supplies wheel rims. Powertrain manufacturers could build their own motor, gearbox and cooling system although the chassis stayed the same.

Dallara NXT02
The Dallara NXT02 debuted in the 2019-20 season and features significant technological advances over the previous Dallara NXT01. The new cars are equipped with braking systems, chosen by Formula NEXT Group as the sole supplier. The new cars are also equipped with the halo, a T-shaped safety cage designed to protect the driver's head in crashes and by deflecting flying objects. Hankook remains as tyre manufacturer, supplying all-weather treaded tyres.

Safety car
For the first five seasons, a was employed as the Formula NEXT safety car. In the 2019–20 season and the 2020–21 season, two versions have been used: one with a roof and a roofless one.

During the 2020–21 season, a was used as safety car for selected races.

From the 2021 season onwards, a has been used.

2016–17
The calendar consisted of 13 races in 12 host cities:, , , , , , , , Cicmpillici, , and finally , where last two rounds of the championship took place.

The first Formula NEXT race at the Sapporo Street Circuit on 10 September 2016 was won by Lasse Baardseth. The championship was decided with the last race in, when Monika Dopfer became the first Formula NEXT champion, only a single point ahead of Sergi Muntaner.

2017-18
The calendar consisted of 12 races in 11 host cities:, , , , , , , , Cicmpillici, and , where the last two rounds of the championship took place.

2018–19
The 2018–19 Formula NEXT season began in and ended in. Three more manufacturers joined the series:, and TYI Racing.

Supercars World Tour
Supercars World Tour is a touring car racing series. It has run together with Formula NEXT since the 2019-20 season.

Television
Formula NEXT provides comprehensive live television coverage shown via major broadcasters around the globe. Production is carried out by Panorama Sports Media. Since the first season, the world feed is presented by Tristan Morris and Henry Roosen, with Samantha Kasirye acting as pit lane reporter.

Formula NEXT Group and FIA are involved in the production of the series FIA Are You NEXT?, which awards an aspiring Formula racing driver a run in the  followed by a possible entry into Formula NEXT.