The season began at the Bahrain International Circuit where newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing and rookie driver Franco Colapinto set the fastest time in their first FIA Formula 3 qualifying session, taking pole position for the feature race. Zak O'Sullivan started the sprint race on reverse-grid pole position after qualifying twelfth, but was overtaken in the early laps by Oliver Bearman and eventually dropped to sixth place. Bearman crossed the finish line first but received a five-second time penalty for track limits violations, handing Isack Hadjar the race victory.