Hi, this is my first article even though I‘ve been on this forum about a year! Sorry it’s quite a lengthy one; I tried condensing it, and this is the best I could do.
I have to admit that I didn’t really notice this series when it was introduced in 2010 as a precursor to GP2 (perhaps due to a lack of coverage?). But this year a young British driver whose career progress I have been following with interest (you may guess who as you read on) has joined the grid of 30 cars.
The series supports the European Formula 1 Calendar from Istanbul to Monza, except Monaco due to space restrictions.
Below is a run-down of the main rules, points system, cars and some of the drivers to watch (not exhaustive by any means, mainly the Brits and some others who have looked good in pre-season testing - listed in driver number order, not my preference).
For a full driver/team list, calendar and other information visit the official website: http://www.gp3series.com
The first race is scheduled for 5:20pm next Saturday, 7th May as part of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend. The only television coverage, as far as I can see, is a highlights show on Motors TV if you are lucky enough to have that (I’m not).
Rules & Regulations
Two races per event with two 30 min practice sessions, one 30 min qualifying session to determine the grid for race 1. Race distance set prior to each event, chequered flag shown to leader if scheduled laps not completed after 30 minutes. Race 2 grid determined by finishing order of race 1, but with top eight reversed. No mandatory pit stops, no re-fuelling permitted during race.
Points
Two points for race 1 pole position. Race 1 points for top eight finishers: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Race 2 points for top six finishers: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One point for driver setting fastest lap in each race (providing they finish in top 10, having started from the grid).
Cars
Chassis by Dallara with carbon/aluminium honeycomb sandwich survival cell, adjustable front and rear wings, Brembo steel brakes. Overall weight with driver: 630kg
Renault 2.0l 4 cylinder turbocharged engine – 280HP. One engine rebuild per year only. 6 speed Hewland sequential gearbox, paddle shift operated. Two foot pedals, hand clutch.
Pirelli control tyres (similar mandate to F1 to provide tyres with degrading performance).
Selected Drivers & Teams to Watch
#2 Valtteri Bottas – Lotus ART
In 2008, Finnish driver Bottas entered the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, winning three out of the four races, but could not claim the title as he did not hold a MSA licence. However, in 2008 he went on to win both the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup. Valtteri joined ART in 2009 to compete in the F3 Euroseries. He failed to win a race, but set two pole positions on the way to 3rd place in the championship. He again finished 3rd in the 2010 Euroseries and won the Masters of Formula 3 title in both 2009 and 2010.
#3 James Calado – Lotus ART
Worcester born James gained extensive experience in karting, beginning as a cadet aged 8. Moving into single seaters, he became 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series champion, was runner up in the 2009 Formula Renault Euro Cup championship and 2010 British F3 Vice-Champion.
The ART Grand Prix GP2 team was founded in France in 2005 by Frederic Vasseur (principal of ASM Formule 3) and Nicolas (son of FIA president Jean) Todt. The team won the championship in 2005 with Nico Rosberg, 2006 with Lewis Hamilton and 2009 with Nico Hulkenberg.
In June 2010 ART lodged a bid to become a F1 team, but withdrew the bid in early July that year, citing ‘Unfavourable economic conditions’.
They launched a GP3 team and took the inaugural title in 2010 with Esteban Guttiérrez at the wheel. Towards the end of 2010 ART entered into an agreement with Group Lotus, to become Lotus ART.
#4 Alexander Sims – Status Grand Prix
I first saw a young Lewis Hamilton a number of years ago now, in a ‘Champions of the Future’ junior kart race at Rye House. I saw then that he had something special, and knew that he would make it to the top. The next closest thing I saw to him, a year or two later, was Alex Sims whom I first saw in another junior karting event at Kimbolton. While he hasn’t quite gone on to set the motor racing world alight in the same way that Lewis did, he has nevertheless made steady and impressive progress through British Formula Renault and the Formula 3 Euroseries. He won the Mclaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award for 2008. Alex has been consistently near the top of the time sheets in GP3 pre-season testing this year, with the fastest time on the first day of the opening test at Paul Ricard and 2nd fastest on the last day of the final test at Barcelona.
#5 Antonio Felix da Costa – Status Grand Prix
Antonio, from Portugal, won the 2006 ICA-J karting championship and competed in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, finishing 2nd in 2008 and becoming champion in 2009, when he also finished 3rd in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Performed well in 2011 GP3 pre-season testing, being the fastest on day one at Barcelona.
Status Grand Prix are the only Irish team in the GP3 series. They were originally formed in 2006 to run Team Ireland in the A1GP series and in 2009 they became champions. The team competed in GP3 in its inaugural year of 2010 and finished in 2nd place in both drivers’ and team championships.
#28 Lewis Williamson – MW Arden
Lewis, from Dundee, served a long stint in karting from 1998 to 2007. He competed in the 2008 British Formula Renault 2.0 winter Cup, finishing 6th and went on to finish 10th in the following year’s full Formula Renault 2.0 season. His best result was in 2010, when he achieved 5 race wins on the way to finishing runner-up to Tom Blomqvist by just 6 points.
MW Arden is a collaboration formed in 2010 between Arden International, founded by Christian Horner of Red bull fame as a F3000 then GP2 team, and Mark Webber to form a GP3 team of which Mark is joint team principal with Christian. The team finished 9th in the 2010 GP3 season.
#30 Michael Christensen - RSC Mücke Motorsport
Michael - a Dane, but no relation to multi Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen - raced in the Formula BMW Europe series in 2008 and 2009 (the latter season for Mücke Motorsport), finishing 6th and 4th. Drove for the Arden GP3 team in the 2010 championship, finishing 31st. Michael returns to Mücke for 2011 and has been another front-runner in pre-season testing, setting the fastest time on day two of the Barcelona test.
#31 Nigel Melker - RSC Mücke Motorsport
Dutchman Nigel served his racing apprenticeship by winning several karting championships across Europe between 2002 and 2005. He went on to compete in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2008 and 2009, finishing 12th and 18th respectively. Competed in GP3 in 2010 with Mücke Motorsport, setting two pole positions on the way to finishing 23rd out of 37.
Set fastest time on day 3 of final 2011 pre-season test at Barcelona.
Mücke Motorsport was founded in Germany in 1998 by Peter Mücke, to run his son Stefan in the German Formula BMW ADAC series, in which they were champions. They won again in 2004 with a young Sebastien Vettel. In 2003 the team also moved into the Formula 3 Euroseries, where Christian Klien was runner up. The team expanded further in 2005, running a Mercedes DTM entry with Ralf Schumacher joining as a driver in 2009. Ralf entered into partnership with Mücke to form RSC Mücke Motorsport for the 2010 GP3 series, in which the team finished 10th overall.
I have to admit that I didn’t really notice this series when it was introduced in 2010 as a precursor to GP2 (perhaps due to a lack of coverage?). But this year a young British driver whose career progress I have been following with interest (you may guess who as you read on) has joined the grid of 30 cars.
The series supports the European Formula 1 Calendar from Istanbul to Monza, except Monaco due to space restrictions.
Below is a run-down of the main rules, points system, cars and some of the drivers to watch (not exhaustive by any means, mainly the Brits and some others who have looked good in pre-season testing - listed in driver number order, not my preference).
For a full driver/team list, calendar and other information visit the official website: http://www.gp3series.com
The first race is scheduled for 5:20pm next Saturday, 7th May as part of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend. The only television coverage, as far as I can see, is a highlights show on Motors TV if you are lucky enough to have that (I’m not).
Rules & Regulations
Two races per event with two 30 min practice sessions, one 30 min qualifying session to determine the grid for race 1. Race distance set prior to each event, chequered flag shown to leader if scheduled laps not completed after 30 minutes. Race 2 grid determined by finishing order of race 1, but with top eight reversed. No mandatory pit stops, no re-fuelling permitted during race.
Points
Two points for race 1 pole position. Race 1 points for top eight finishers: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Race 2 points for top six finishers: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One point for driver setting fastest lap in each race (providing they finish in top 10, having started from the grid).
Cars
Chassis by Dallara with carbon/aluminium honeycomb sandwich survival cell, adjustable front and rear wings, Brembo steel brakes. Overall weight with driver: 630kg
Renault 2.0l 4 cylinder turbocharged engine – 280HP. One engine rebuild per year only. 6 speed Hewland sequential gearbox, paddle shift operated. Two foot pedals, hand clutch.
Pirelli control tyres (similar mandate to F1 to provide tyres with degrading performance).
Selected Drivers & Teams to Watch
#2 Valtteri Bottas – Lotus ART
In 2008, Finnish driver Bottas entered the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, winning three out of the four races, but could not claim the title as he did not hold a MSA licence. However, in 2008 he went on to win both the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup. Valtteri joined ART in 2009 to compete in the F3 Euroseries. He failed to win a race, but set two pole positions on the way to 3rd place in the championship. He again finished 3rd in the 2010 Euroseries and won the Masters of Formula 3 title in both 2009 and 2010.
#3 James Calado – Lotus ART
Worcester born James gained extensive experience in karting, beginning as a cadet aged 8. Moving into single seaters, he became 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series champion, was runner up in the 2009 Formula Renault Euro Cup championship and 2010 British F3 Vice-Champion.
The ART Grand Prix GP2 team was founded in France in 2005 by Frederic Vasseur (principal of ASM Formule 3) and Nicolas (son of FIA president Jean) Todt. The team won the championship in 2005 with Nico Rosberg, 2006 with Lewis Hamilton and 2009 with Nico Hulkenberg.
In June 2010 ART lodged a bid to become a F1 team, but withdrew the bid in early July that year, citing ‘Unfavourable economic conditions’.
They launched a GP3 team and took the inaugural title in 2010 with Esteban Guttiérrez at the wheel. Towards the end of 2010 ART entered into an agreement with Group Lotus, to become Lotus ART.
#4 Alexander Sims – Status Grand Prix
I first saw a young Lewis Hamilton a number of years ago now, in a ‘Champions of the Future’ junior kart race at Rye House. I saw then that he had something special, and knew that he would make it to the top. The next closest thing I saw to him, a year or two later, was Alex Sims whom I first saw in another junior karting event at Kimbolton. While he hasn’t quite gone on to set the motor racing world alight in the same way that Lewis did, he has nevertheless made steady and impressive progress through British Formula Renault and the Formula 3 Euroseries. He won the Mclaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award for 2008. Alex has been consistently near the top of the time sheets in GP3 pre-season testing this year, with the fastest time on the first day of the opening test at Paul Ricard and 2nd fastest on the last day of the final test at Barcelona.
#5 Antonio Felix da Costa – Status Grand Prix
Antonio, from Portugal, won the 2006 ICA-J karting championship and competed in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, finishing 2nd in 2008 and becoming champion in 2009, when he also finished 3rd in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Performed well in 2011 GP3 pre-season testing, being the fastest on day one at Barcelona.
Status Grand Prix are the only Irish team in the GP3 series. They were originally formed in 2006 to run Team Ireland in the A1GP series and in 2009 they became champions. The team competed in GP3 in its inaugural year of 2010 and finished in 2nd place in both drivers’ and team championships.
#28 Lewis Williamson – MW Arden
Lewis, from Dundee, served a long stint in karting from 1998 to 2007. He competed in the 2008 British Formula Renault 2.0 winter Cup, finishing 6th and went on to finish 10th in the following year’s full Formula Renault 2.0 season. His best result was in 2010, when he achieved 5 race wins on the way to finishing runner-up to Tom Blomqvist by just 6 points.
MW Arden is a collaboration formed in 2010 between Arden International, founded by Christian Horner of Red bull fame as a F3000 then GP2 team, and Mark Webber to form a GP3 team of which Mark is joint team principal with Christian. The team finished 9th in the 2010 GP3 season.
#30 Michael Christensen - RSC Mücke Motorsport
Michael - a Dane, but no relation to multi Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen - raced in the Formula BMW Europe series in 2008 and 2009 (the latter season for Mücke Motorsport), finishing 6th and 4th. Drove for the Arden GP3 team in the 2010 championship, finishing 31st. Michael returns to Mücke for 2011 and has been another front-runner in pre-season testing, setting the fastest time on day two of the Barcelona test.
#31 Nigel Melker - RSC Mücke Motorsport
Dutchman Nigel served his racing apprenticeship by winning several karting championships across Europe between 2002 and 2005. He went on to compete in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2008 and 2009, finishing 12th and 18th respectively. Competed in GP3 in 2010 with Mücke Motorsport, setting two pole positions on the way to finishing 23rd out of 37.
Set fastest time on day 3 of final 2011 pre-season test at Barcelona.
Mücke Motorsport was founded in Germany in 1998 by Peter Mücke, to run his son Stefan in the German Formula BMW ADAC series, in which they were champions. They won again in 2004 with a young Sebastien Vettel. In 2003 the team also moved into the Formula 3 Euroseries, where Christian Klien was runner up. The team expanded further in 2005, running a Mercedes DTM entry with Ralf Schumacher joining as a driver in 2009. Ralf entered into partnership with Mücke to form RSC Mücke Motorsport for the 2010 GP3 series, in which the team finished 10th overall.
Thanks for the compliment Stevi, I was afraid it was a bit longwinded and might put people off.
