This was the first GP2 season held with its own feeder series, theGP3 Series. The2010 series was at most of the European Formula One rounds with GP2. The German GP2 round returned toHockenheim, due to its alternation with theNürburgring as host of theGerman Grand Prix. Abu Dhabi became a part of the main series, after two races in the2009–10 GP2 Asia Series. The 2010 season was the last season with the second-generationDallara GP2/08 car, introduced in2008. It was also the last season thatBridgestone was the sole tyre supplier for the series, as they were replaced byPirelli for thefollowing season. The new car – theDallara GP2/11 – will be utilised in the main series and theGP2 Asia Series from 2011 onwards.[1]
Pastor Maldonado clinched the championship title with two races to spare, despite crashing out of the sprint race atMonza; the second successive season where the drivers' championship was secured before the final round. Maldonado, driving forRapax, became the series' most successful driver with six victories during the season, gained in successive feature races to take him to a total of ten victories.[2] Maldonado won the championship by sixteen points ahead ofBarwa Addax'sSergio Pérez, who took five victories during the season, taking a pair of feature race wins and three sprint wins.Jules Bianchi finished as top main series rookie in third forART Grand Prix, after coming at the head of a four-driver battle for the position.Dani Clos finished a point behind Bianchi forRacing Engineering, winning a sprint race inIstanbul, with British duoSam Bird – a race-winner at Monza – andOliver Turvey taking fifth and sixth places. Seven other drivers took victories, mainly coming in the reverse-grid races; onlyCharles Pic – tenth overall – took a feature race win in Montmeló. Sprint wins were taken byFabio Leimer in Montmeló,Jérôme d'Ambrosio inMonaco,Marcus Ericsson inValencia,Giacomo Ricci inMogyoród,Christian Vietoris at Monza andDavide Valsecchi in Abu Dhabi.
In the teams' championship, it was Rapax that prevailed in a three-team battle in Abu Dhabi. Heading into the final race, Barwa Addax held a one-point advantage over Rapax, with ART nine points behind Addax in third. In the final race, only Rapax picked up points with a second place with fastest lap forLuiz Razia, which gave Rapax a five-point – 115 points to 110 – championship win over Barwa Addax. ART finished third on 100 points, ahead of Racing Engineering on 80 andiSport International on 78 in fifth position.
The season had been expected to see 26 cars running, but ongoing financial problems sidelinedDurango indefinitely. As there was a new team-entry-selection process scheduled for 2011, series organisers decided it was not worth a new team joining for a single season, as there would be no guarantee they would be on the grid in 2011.[3]
Many drivers joined the series from a raft of other junior formulae series as part of a driver's progression to the higher echelons of professional motor racing.Ho-Pin Tung joined DAMS after a season inSuperleague Formula competing in the colours of Turkish sideGalatasaray, whileJames Jakes contested the final meeting at Abu Dhabi after a season competing forManor Racing in the inauguralGP3 Series.Charles Pic,Oliver Turvey andAdrian Zaugg all moved across from theFormula Renault 3.5 Series via the GP2 Asia winter series to compete in the main series. Each of the drivers remained with the teams they competed in the Asia Series with; Pic with Arden International, Turvey with iSport International and Zaugg with Trident Racing.Brendon Hartley andFederico Leo also joined from the series, but they only contested selected races towards the end of the campaign.Fabrizio Crestani andEdoardo Piscopo both competed for DAMS inAuto GP but also forayed into GP2 with DPR and Trident respectively; Crestani moving into the series for the first time.
The 2010 calendar was officially announced on 18 December 2009. The series had been expected to consist of eleven rounds, up one from 2009. It was due to support all the European Formula One events, race at a stand-alone event inPortimão for the second year in a row, and the season finale to be held inAbu Dhabi.[35] On 8 May 2010, it was announced that the Portimão round would be cancelled and not be replaced.[36]
Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 6 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race will also receive two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.[31]
^Bridgestone supplied only one dry compound to the teams to be used throughout the race weekend.[38]
^Pérez and Pastor Maldonado set the identical fastest laps (1:21.823), but Pérez made it earlier than Maldonado, so he was eligible to score point for the fastest lap.
^Maldonado and Davide Valsecchi set the identical fastest laps (1:37.010), but Maldonado made it earlier than Valsecchi, so he was eligible to score point for the fastest lap.
^Oliver Turvey set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap.Dani Clos was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
^Sergio Pérez set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap.Pastor Maldonado was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
^Sam Bird set the fastest time in qualifying, but started the race from the pit lane after stalling on the second formation lap. Pole position was left vacant on the grid. As second-placed manDavide Valsecchi also stalled,Oliver Turvey, in the third slot, was the first driver on the grid. Bird is still considered to have held pole position.
^Michael Herck set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap.Giacomo Ricci was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
^Michael Herck recorded the fastest time in qualifying, but he and seven other drivers received three-place grid penalties for ignoring yellow flags.Jérôme d'Ambrosio was recognised as the pole-sitter for the race.[41]
^Davide Valsecchi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap.Álvaro Parente was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
^Giedo van der Garde set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap.Luiz Razia was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Portimão,Portugal
