The2010 GP3 Series season was the first season of theGP3 Series, a feeder series for theGP2 Series. The championship was contested over sixteen races held at eight rounds, beginning on 8 May atCircuit de Catalunya and ending on 12 September atAutodromo Nazionale Monza.[1] Ten teams were announced, running three cars each.
The inaugural title was claimed byART Grand Prix driverEsteban Gutiérrez, having taken the final pole position of the season at Monza to put him out of reach of title rivalRobert Wickens.[2] Gutiérrez took five race wins during the season, four of which coming in the higher points-rewarding races held on Saturdays. He also took four further podium finishes en route to a 17-point championship win over Wickens. Wickens eventually ended the season with three victories atHockenheim,Spa-Francorchamps – despite spinning in wet conditions and damaging the nose of hisStatus Grand Prix car against the pit wall[3] – and Monza, as well as four second-place finishes, two of which being behind Gutiérrez.
Nico Müller finished in third position forJenzer Motorsport, taking victories inValencia and at theHungaroring. He finished 15 points clear of Gutiérrez's team-mateAlexander Rossi, who took wins from pole position in the sprint races in Barcelona and at the Hungaroring.Rio Haryanto was fifth forManor Racing, winning inIstanbul from a reverse-grid pole position. Other victories were taken by Status Grand Prix'sDaniel Morad atSilverstone,Pål Varhaug won the season-opening race in Barcelona andAdrien Tambay won from 27th on the grid at Spa in a wet/dry race.[4] ART Grand Prix also claimed the teams' championship, having done so at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing 44 points clear of nearest challengers Status Grand Prix, while Jenzer Motorsport finished in third position ahead of Manor Racing.
For the first two tests of the season, teams were given numbers in relation to alphabetical order. Thus, Addax were given 1, 2 and 3, with ART receiving 4, 5 and 6, and so forth. However, a "qualifying" session was held atCircuit Paul Ricard on 1 April 2010, whereAlexander Rossi ended quickest. With this, ART ran cars 1, 2 and 3 during the season.[5]
ART Grand Prix signedEsteban Gutiérrez, who drove for the team in the2009 Formula 3 Euro Series. He was joined byPedro Nunes, who drove in the same series forManor Motorsport, and formerISR RacingInternational Formula Master driverAlexander Rossi.
After missing the 2009 racing season,Ivan Lukashevich drove for theStatus Grand Prix team. He was joined by the Canadian pairing ofFormula Two runner-upRobert Wickens and formerFormula BMW USA championDaniel Morad, who did not have a drive in 2009.
After a podium in the2009–10 GP2 Asia Series inAbu Dhabi,James Jakes joinedManor Racing. He was joined byRio Haryanto, the2009 Formula BMW Pacific champion, andAdrian Quaife-Hobbs, who abandoned his campaign in theFormula 3 Euro Series. Jakes was injured atHockenheim and was replaced byAuto GP driverAdrien Tambay in Hungary and Belgium. Jakes returned for the season finale at Monza.
Nigel Melker, who drove for MP Motorsport in the2009 Formula Renault Eurocup signed to drive forRSC Mücke Motorsport. Melker was joined byRenger van der Zande, who finished third in the2009 British Formula 3 Championship. The third driver at the team wasTobias Hegewald, who moves from Formula Two.
Carlin signedBritish Formula Renault championDean Smith andBritish Formula Ford runner-upJosef Newgarden to drive full-time for the team.Lucas Foresti, one of the team'scurrent British Formula 3 drivers raced for the team in selected rounds of the series. Foresti missed the Turkish round due to prior British Formula 3 commitments, and was replaced by one of the team'sFormula Renault 3.5 drivers,Mikhail Aleshin. Foresti returned for the rounds from Valencia onwards, but would miss the rounds in Hungary and Belgium due to British Formula 3 racing atSpa andSnetterton. Formula 3 Euro Series driverAntónio Félix da Costa stepped in to replace Foresti in Hungary and Belgium.
Pablo Sánchez López stepped up fromItalian Formula Three to compete for theAddax Team.Mirko Bortolotti moved across from Formula Two to partner Sánchez López, whileFelipe Guimarães completed the team, having contested selected races inIndy Lights.
Michael Christensen, who raced in the2009 Formula BMW Europe season forMücke Motorsport, joinedMW Arden. Christensen was joined byMiki Monrás, who was fifth in the Formula Renault Eurocup, and Leonardo Cordeiro, the2009 Formula Three Sudamericana champion.
Simon Trummer, who raced in 2009 in International Formula Master driver forIris Project, joinedJenzer Motorsport. He was joined byPål Varhaug, who raced for Jenzer in Formula Master in 2009, andNico Müller, who raced for Jenzer in the Formula Renault Eurocup and was champion in theSwiss Formula Renault 2.0 series. Trummer was injured at Hockenheim and was replaced byEuropean F3 Open championship leaderMarco Barba in Hungary. Trummer returned at Spa.
Doru Sechelariu, 2009 Formula BMW Europe driver for Eifelland Racing drove forTech 1 Racing. He was joined in Barcelona by two drivers who were dovetailing GP3 commitments with other series.Daniel Juncadella contested the first round at Barcelona, but his main focus was a campaign in the Formula 3 Euro Series.Stefano Coletti combined his Formula Renault 3.5 programme with his GP3 commitments, replacing Juncadella from Turkey onwards.Jean-Éric Vergne's main focus was to win the British Formula 3 Championship, and with Vergne racing atHockenheim in British Formula 3, he was replaced byART Grand Prix Formula 3 Euro Series driverJim Pla in Turkey. Vergne returned for Valencia, but was replaced by Juncadella for Silverstone, as he signed a deal to complete the season in GP3, as well as Euro Series commitments. With Juncadella missing the round in Hungary due to a guest drive in British Formula 3 at Spa, Tech 1 had wished to field their Eurocup Formula Renault driverArthur Pic at the meeting. However, they fielded just two cars, as they have used up their allotment of five drivers for the season, and did not receive total approval from the other teams for Pic to drive. Juncadella returned at Spa.
AtechCRS GP signed Formula Master graduatePatrick Reiterer and former British Formula 3 racerOliver Oakes to drive two of their cars. The third was driven byVittorio Ghirelli, after he stepped down fromTeam Ghinzani inItalian Formula Three. Reiterer was replaced for the round in Valencia by Formula 3 Euro Series racerRoberto Merhi.
First ever round inGP3 Series began inCatalunya. Qualifying was won byNigel Melker. Feature race was won byPål Varhaug and sprint race was taken in top by American driverAlexander Rossi. In the second round, atIstanbul,Nigel Melker take again pole position for the feature race. The feature race was won byEsteban Gutiérrez, andRio Haryanto storms to epic Race 2 victory. Third stop, was inPortimão, taking to 19–20 June, but event was cancelled along withGP2 Series. Then, the battle was reversed onValencia, and win in Race 1 was taken by MexicanEsteban Gutiérrez, whileNico Müller dominates in Race 2. Fourth round was inSilverstone, second consecutive feature race win for Esteban Gutiérrez.Daniel Morad take victory Race 2 from 2nd on the grid. Fifth round was inHockenheim, first race was won byRobert Wickens, whileMexican dominates in Race 2. Sixth stop was at theHungaroring. For the first time, Esteban Gutiérrez doesn't have win in each races. First race was won byNico Müller, and second was dominated byAlexander Rossi. In seventh stop, atSpa-Francorchamps, there was a lot of rain in first race and the race would be stopped. The winner wasRobert Wickens, and in second race there was again rain, and all drivers goes to slicks, exceptAdrien Tambay, who won from 27th on the grid! Final round, atMonza there was only two title contenders - Esteban Gutiérrez andRobert Wickens.Mexican win in qualifying with victory in Race 1 and fastest lap. He won the title, but in second race, he crashed and the race was over for him.Robert Wickens set the victory and the fastest lap. He crashed in the pit lane, but comfortably last win of the first ever year ofGP3 Series.
The first chassis used by the GP3 Series was theGP3/10 built byDallara, who also produces cars in the championship's sister seriesGP2. It is equipped with a 6-speedpaddle shift gearbox and a four-cylinder 2.0 litre (122 cu in) turbocharged engine with 280 bhp developed byRenault Sport. The chassis used tyres supplied byPirelli, who would then go on to be the tyre supplier forFormula One andGP2 from 2011.
An eight-round calendar was announced on 18 December 2009.[39] On 30 April 2010, it was announced that the series would increase to nine rounds, with a round in support of theTurkish Grand Prix added.[40] With the cancellation of the round in Portimão, the calendar returned to eight rounds.[41]
| Round | Location | Circuit | Date | Supporting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R1 |  Catalunya,Spain | Circuit de Catalunya | 8 May | Spanish Grand Prix |
| R2 | 9 May | ||||
| 2 | R1 |  Istanbul,Turkey | Istanbul Racing Circuit | 29 May | Turkish Grand Prix |
| R2 | 30 May | ||||
| 3 | R1 | Valencia.Spain | Valencia Street Circuit | 26 June | European Grand Prix |
| R2 | 27 June | ||||
| 4 | R1 |  Silverstone,UK | Silverstone Circuit | 10 July | British Grand Prix |
| R2 | 11 July | ||||
| 5 | R1 |  Hockenheim,Germany | Hockenheimring | 24 July | German Grand Prix |
| R2 | 25 July | ||||
| 6 | R1 |  Budapest,Hungary | Hungaroring | 31 July | Hungarian Grand Prix |
| R2 | 1 August | ||||
| 7 | R1 |  Spa,Belgium | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 28 August | Belgian Grand Prix |
| R2 | 29 August | ||||
| 8 | R1 |  Monza,Italy | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | 11 September | Italian Grand Prix |
| R2 | 12 September | ||||
| Sources:[42][43] | |||||
The following rounds were included on the provisional calendars published by theFIA but were cancelled:
| Round | Location | Circuit | Date | Supporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 |  Portimão,Portugal | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve | 19 June | GP2 Series |
| R2 | 20 June | |||
| Source:[41] | ||||
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