Lower formulae 2017 was Smolyar's debut season in single-seater racing. He competed for
SMP Racing in the
Spanish and
Russian Formula 4 Championships, finishing third in both. He scored a total of 24 podiums, with all of his race wins coming in the Spanish Championship.
Formula Renault Eurocup 2018 In the following two years, Smolyar raced in the
Formula Renault Eurocup. In his
debut campaign, driving for
Tech 1 Racing, Smolyar finished 12th in the standings, beating out two of his three teammates and helping the team to finish fifth in the team championship.
2019 Smolyar's
2019 season would prove to be much more successful. He finished third and won three races, only being beaten in the championship by
Frenchman Victor Martins and his
R-ace GP teammate,
Oscar Piastri.
FIA Formula 3 Championship 2020 Smolyar was signed by
ART Grand Prix to drive for them in the
2020 Formula 3 Championship alongside
ADAC F4 champion
Théo Pourchaire and
Sebastián Fernández. Despite a slew of strong performances, which included a pole position at the
Hungaroring and a win on the road at the first round in
Britain the Russian's season was plagued with bad luck. This included having his win taken away by a penalty for weaving on the Hangar straight as well as a collision at the first corner in Budapest. Smolyar scored his only podium of the season in the second race at
Monza and ended up eleventh in the standings, behind eventual runner-up Pourchaire, but ahead of his more experienced teammate Fernández.
2021 during the
2021 Spielberg Formula 3 round. For the
2021 season, Smolyar re-signed with ART, this time partnering
Frederik Vesti and racing returnee
Juan Manuel Correa. Smolyar's start to the season was strong, with him taking his first Formula 3 victory in the first race of the
opening weekend. He then continued his good form and came out victorious in race one at the
Circuit Paul Ricard, after having battled from sixth on the grid to first on the final lap. Smolyar finished the season with a total of 106 points, placing sixth in the championship. During that season, he scored a total of two wins, two fastest laps, and four podiums.
2022 during the
2022 Spielberg Formula 3 round. On 20 January 2022, Smolyar announced that he would switch to
MP Motorsport for the
2022 season. However, he was banned of using the
Russian flag due to
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was initially not due to race in the championship due to the mentioned war, but eventually was allowed to race. Smolyar was forced to miss the
Silverstone round of the championship since he could not get to the
United Kingdom due to
visa issues, and was replaced by
Filip Ugran. He returned to his seat for the remaining events and picked up his sole win of the season in the feature race in
Budapest. Smolyar ended up tenth in the standings, being the highest placed driver to have missed a round. ==Karting record==