 | |
| Category | Single seaters |
|---|---|
| Region | International |
| Inaugural season | 2005 |
| Folded | 2016 |
| Drivers | 26 |
| Teams | 13 |
| Chassis suppliers | Dallara |
| Engine suppliers | Mecachrome[a] |
| Tyre suppliers | Pirelli |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Pierre Gasly |
| Last Teams' champion |  Prema Racing |
| Official website | gp2series.com |
TheGP2 Series was a form ofopen wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-termFormula One feeder series,Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived byBernie Ecclestone andFlavio Briatore,[1] while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1.[2] The series was organized by Bruno Michel. In 2010, theGP3 Series class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series.[3] In 2017, the series was rebranded as theFIA Formula 2 Championship.
Designed to make racing affordable for the teams and to make it a better training ground for life in Formula One, GP2 made it mandatory for all of the teams to use the same chassis, engine and tyre supplier so that true driver ability is reflected. All but three races had taken place as support races at Formula One race weekends to boost the series' profile, to give drivers experience of the Grand Prix environment, and to take advantage of the infrastructure (marshals, medical facilities etc.) in place for a Formula One event. GP2 mainly raced on European circuits, but also appeared on other international race tracks such as theSepang International Circuit inMalaysia and theMarina Bay Street Circuit inSingapore.
Many drivers have used GP2 as a stepping stone into Formula One. The 2005 ChampionNico Rosberg was hired by the Williams team for the 2006 F1 campaign, 2006 GP2 winnerLewis Hamilton made the transition to F1 the following year with McLaren and the 2007 ChampionTimo Glock to Toyota for the 2008 F1 season. 2009 GP2 championNico Hülkenberg moved up to a Williams F1 race drive in the 2010 Formula 1 season. In addition,Heikki Kovalainen (2005),Nelson Piquet Jr. (2006) andLucas di Grassi (2007)—all runners up—becameRenault test drivers the following year. All three earned F1 seats, but have since been replaced.
Karun Chandhok,Bruno Senna andVitaly Petrov were also granted an F1 seat in 2010. For 2011Pastor Maldonado was granted a seat at Williams, for 2012Romain Grosjean at Lotus F1 Team.Sergio Pérez was given the drive alongsideKamui Kobayashi, another former GP2 driver andGP2 Asia Series winner, atSauber.Jérôme d'Ambrosio got his Virgin Racing drive for the 2011 season. Some drivers however have reached Formula One without competing in GP2, includingSebastian Vettel,Paul di Resta,Daniel Ricciardo,Jean-Éric Vergne,Valtteri Bottas,Kevin Magnussen andMax Verstappen.
GP2 and GP2 Asia Series were later combined to make a single, longer GP2 series in 2012.[4]
Current Formula One drivers that have graduated from the GP2 series includeLewis Hamilton andPierre Gasly (who triumphed in the2016 staging amongst various others). Lewis Hamilton stepping straight into theMcLaren team andNico Rosberg,Nico Hülkenberg,Pastor Maldonado andKazuki Nakajima going straight toWilliams have particularly highlighted how F1 teams take GP2 seriously, and Hamilton's Formula One World Championship title in only his second year in F1 is probably the strongest example of the series creating highly competitive racers.
By the end of the 2016 season, nine of the twelve (GP2) champions so far had been able to secure a seat in Formula 1, a correlation of 75%.
On Friday, drivers had a 45-minute[5] free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying session. The qualifying session decided the grid order for Saturday's race which had a length of 180 kilometres (112 miles).
During Saturday's race, each driver had to make a pit stop in which at least two tyres have to be changed.
On Sunday there was a sprint race of 120 kilometres (75 miles). The grid was decided by the Saturday result with top 8 being reversed, so the driver who finished 8th on Saturday started from pole position and the winner started from 8th place. At2005 Nürburgring, the sprint race was extended from 80 to 120 kilometres. This coincided with F1 dropping its second qualifying session on Sunday morning.
The one who drove the pole position to Saturday's races got two points.
Fastest lap: 1 point in each race (with one exception: in the 2005 season, it was 2 points for each race). Driver recording fastest lap has to drive 90% of race laps. As of 2006 season must the driver must now also start the race from his allocated grid position and as of 2008 must finish in the top ten of the race to be eligible for the fastest lap point.
With this points system, the most points anyone could score in one round is 20 by claiming pole position, winning both races with the fastest lap in each race. This feat was only achieved twice:Nelson Piquet Jr. in the 9th round of the2006 season at theHungaroring andNico Hülkenberg in the 5th round of the2009 season at theNürburgring.
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From the2012 season the GP2 series changed its scoring system.[6] Feature races ran with a scoring system similar to the one used in Formula One.
Pole position for the feature race was worth 4 points, and 2 points was given for the fastest lap in each race. Therefore, the maximum number of points a driver can score at any round will be 48.
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The GP2 Series car was used by all of the teams, and features aDallaracarbon-fiber monocoque chassis powered by aMecachromenormally-aspiratedfuel-injectedV8 engine andPirelli dry slick and rain treaded tyres. Overall weight is 688 kg including driver.
The 2011 specification GP2 Series car was designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car featured a biplane rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in previous seasons only to be used at the Monaco race. The front upper and lower wishbones have been reinforced, as have the front and rear suspension uprights. TheDallara GP2/11 were the obsolete chassis since the debut in 2011 and would be used until end of 2017 season. The price of Dallara GP2/11 FIA Formula 2 Championship cars are approximately up to €1.5 million-€2 million per car (including wheels, tyres, wings, steering wheel and other components excluding engine).[citation needed]
The 4.0-litrenaturally-aspiratedelectronic indirect fuel-injectedMecachromeV8 engine features internal, cartographic and software upgrades designed to improve performance and fuel consumption. The engine produces 612 hp and 500 Nm (380 ft-lb) of torque @ 8500 rpm.[7] FIA Formula 2 Championship Series engines are rev-limited to 10000 rpm and need a rebuild after 4000 to 4500 km. The valve train is a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The Mecachrome V8 engine weight is 326 lb (148 kg). The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons are forged aluminum alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The electronic engine management system is supplied byMagneti Marelli, firing a high-power inductive (coil-controlled) ignition system. The engine lubrication is a dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump.
Mecachrome came to the GP2 Series in 2005, and by 2005 was clearly the dominant engine manufacturer. Starting in 2005, they became the only engine manufacturer in the GP2 Series, and continued in that capacity through 2016. Mecachrome also has a mutually beneficial technical relationship with Teos Engineering of Montigny-le-Bretonneux. They will continue working together for on-going research and development, engine maintenance and trackside support for the Mecachrome GP2 V8 racing engine at all GP2 Series venues.
During that time, since the GP2 Series had only one engine manufacturer, Mecachrome still focusing on minimizing engine failure and minimizing costs instead of defeating rivals. As such, the engines were moderately de-tuned. The engines proved themselves to be quite durable—there had been no engine failures at all F2 tracks from 2005 to present, which also lowered the number of crashes. Most of the engines, including those used for the Monaco race, are used for multiple races and were intended to last 1,100 miles between rebuilds. The Mecachrome engines were only available via lease arrangement from Mecachrome currently.
Mecachrome V8 GP2 engines were crated and shipped to all GP2 teams on a serial-number basis as determined by the sanctioning body (FIA) to ensure equality and fairness in distribution.
Since 2005,Elf exclusively provide the LMS 102 unleaded fuel and alsoElf HTX 840 0W-40 lubricants for all GP2 Series cars (exceptTotal Quartz 9000 withART Grand Prix).
The currentgearbox has been manufactured by Hewland and features an 8-position barrel with ratchet body and software upgrades as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection. The GP2 gearbox used a 6-speedsequential gearbox configuration with electronically controlledpaddle-shifters + reverse gear operated by a button on the steering wheel.
O.Z. Racing exclusively supplied wheel rims for all GP2 Series cars from 2005 until the final season.
Similar to the 2011 change for Formula 1, Pirelli was the sole tyre supplier for the series. The GP2 Series runs the same compounds as F1. The front tyre size are 245/660-R13 and rear tyre size are 325/660-R13. PreviouslyBridgestone was the official tyre partner of GP2 Series in 2005 until 2010.
Brembo supplied monoblocbrake calipers and disc bells, which are exclusive to the GP2 Series. Hitco also supplies carbon brake discs and pads for FIA Formula 2 Championship. The brake discs are 278 x 28 mm in size (similar toFormula One).
The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degasser, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets.
From 2011, XAP Technology exclusively provided the XAP single-seater GP2 Series steering wheel as well as XAP SX steering wheel dash display. The XAP steering wheel features 6 buttons in the front with 5 paddles (DRS, gear shift and clutch) in the back of steering wheel.
According to research and pre-season stability tests, the 2005 model can go 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.7 seconds. The car has a top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph) meaning that it is the fastest single seater racing car behindFormula One andIndyCar Series.[citation needed] The 2011 model can go 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.6 seconds. The car has a top speed of 332 km/h (208 mph) with the Monza aero configuration.
| Season | Driver | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | % points achievable | Clinched | Margin | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Nico Rosberg | ART Grand Prix | 4 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 120 | 52.288 | 2005 Bahrain Feature Race | 15 | [8] |
| 2006 |  Lewis Hamilton | ART Grand Prix | 1 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 114 | 53.521 | 2006 Monza Feature Race | 12 | [9] |
| 2007 | Timo Glock | iSport International | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 88 | 41.315 | 2007 Valencia Sprint Race | 11 | [10] |
| 2008 | Giorgio Pantano |  Racing Engineering | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 76 | 38.000 | 2008 Monza Feature Race | 12 | [11] |
| 2009 | Nico Hülkenberg | ART Grand Prix | 3 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 100 | 50.000 | 2009 Monza Sprint Race | 25 | [12] |
| 2010 |  Pastor Maldonado | Rapax | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 87 | 43.500 | 2010 Monza Sprint Race | 12 | [13] |
| 2011 | Romain Grosjean | DAMS | 1 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 89 | 49.444 | 2011 Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race | 35 | [14] |
| 2012 | Davide Valsecchi | DAMS | 2 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 247 | 42.882 | 2012 Marina Bay Feature Race | 25 | [15] |
| 2013 |  Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 201 | 38.068 | 2013 Yas Marina Feature Race | 20 | [16] |
| 2014 | Jolyon Palmer | DAMS | 3 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 276 | 52.272 | 2014 Sochi Feature Race | 47 | [17] |
| 2015 |  Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 4 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 341.5 | 68.643 | 2015 Sochi Sprint Race | 160 | [18] |
| 2016 | Pierre Gasly | Prema Racing | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 219 | 41.477 | 2016 Yas Marina Sprint Race | 8 | [19] |
| Season | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | Clinched | Margin | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | ART Grand Prix | 5 | 7 | 19 | 7 | 187 | 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race | 61 | [8] |
| 2006 | ART Grand Prix | 1 | 6 | 22 | 9 | 180 | 2006 Istanbul Park Feature Race | 12 | [9] |
| 2007 | iSport International | 5 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 118 | 2007 Valencia Feature Race | 31 | [10] |
| 2008 | Barwa International Campos Team | 0 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 103 | 2008 Monza Sprint Race | 8 | [11] |
| 2009 | ART Grand Prix | 3 | 7 | 22 | 6 | 180 | 2009 Algarve Feature Race | 65 | [12] |
| 2010 | Rapax | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 115 | 2010 Yas Marina Sprint Race | 5 | [13] |
| 2011 | Barwa Addax Team | 4 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 101 | 2011 Monza Sprint Race | 12 | [14] |
| 2012 | DAMS | 2 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 342 | 2012 Marina Bay Sprint Race | 6 | [15] |
| 2013 |  Russian Time | 3 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 273 | 2013 Yas Marina Sprint Race | 0 | [16] |
| 2014 | DAMS | 4 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 349 | 2014 Yas Marina Feature Race | 57 | [17] |
| 2015 | ART Grand Prix | 4 | 8 | 19 | 8 | 410 | 2015 2nd Bahrain Feature Race | 160 | [18] |
| 2016 | Prema Racing | 6 | 9 | 17 | 5 | 430 | 2016 Sepang Feature Race | 172 | [19] |
As of the2020 Formula One season, 35 out of 174 drivers have raced in Formula One (20.1%).
Notes:
The2005 Season was the first of the series, succeeding the now defunct Formula 3000 championship.Arden International won the lastF3000 titles, thus starting as one of the favourites.
The 2005 season began on April 23, 2005, on the weekend of theSan Marino Grand Prix at theAutodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari inImola,Italy. In the pre-season test to decide the inaugural season's car numbers, theiSport International andHiTech/Piquet Racing teams showed a competitive edge. The latter team was largely funded by the former Formula One world championNelson Piquet in order to aidhis son's route to the premier Formula sport.
The championship lasted 23 rounds, two races occurring a weekend with the exception of a single race inMonaco. It was won by GermanNico Rosberg, who was subsequently hired by theWilliamsF1 Team, withHeikki Kovalainen finishing second.
It was also notable for being the only season that GP2 used grooved tyres like F1 cars rather than slicks.
The2006 season was the second of the series. After championship holder Nico Rosberg's move to the Williams F1 team, and runner-upHeikki Kovalainen's move to be reserve driver atRenault F1,Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Piquet Sports car was installed as the early title favourite, though theART Grand Prix cars ofAlexandre Prémat andLewis Hamilton also had fairly short odds, given ART were reigning champions.
For the first time, the season began on a calendar separate to the2006 Formula One calendar, starting out at theCircuit de Valencia, inValencia,Spain on April 8, 2006, with Piquet Jr. the first victor.
Piquet raced into an early lead before Lewis Hamilton came back into the fray. A dominant run by the Briton took him into the championship lead before the balance came back into Piquet Jr.'s favour.
After an exciting championship battle lasting 20 races, Hamilton claimed the title in the penultimate race, at theAutodromo Nazionale Monza, inMonza,Italy, and celebrated with a second place in the 21st and final round.
The2007 GP2 Series began on 13 April at theBahrain International Circuit, and completed on 30 September at theCircuit de Valencia (which was the only race that wasn't on the F1 calendar). Eventual championTimo Glock was a driving force throughout the series but came under stiff competition fromLucas di Grassi in the closing stages- however, with a convincing win at the last race in Valencia, Glock sealed the championship. The season was the last with the first-generation chassis, theGP2/05.
The2008 GP2 Series featured the same teams as in previous seasons.[20] This was also the first time that the calendar supported all of the F1 races in Europe with a late deal to run at theValencia Street Circuit.[21] It was the first season to feature a new car design from Dallara, the GP2/08, the only non-F1 car to pass the 2007 FIA crash test in full.[22] In the United Kingdom, the 2008 GP2 Series was exclusively aired onITV4[23] from April 2008. It was won byGiorgio Pantano forRacing Engineering, withBruno Senna finishing distant runner-up.
The2009 season began and ended on the Iberian peninsula, with the first race weekend atCircuit de Catalunya (9–10 May) and ending in the stand-alone headline event (i.e. not supporting a correspondingFormula One event) at Portugal'sAutódromo Internacional do Algarve (19–20 September). The title was won by German rookieNico Hülkenberg at the penultimate round of the championship at Monza, the second time the championship had been won before the last race.
The2010 season contained ten rounds, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Catalunya and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.
Pastor Maldonado won the title in his fourth season in the series. He won a record-breaking six successive feature races mid-season.Sergio Pérez was his closest rival, but the title was sealed already in the penultimate round at Monza. It was the last season for theDallara GP2/08 chassis and Bridgestone as the series' official tyre supplier.
The2011 season contained nine rounds and a final tenth round with no points, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Istanbul and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.
The championship was won by reigning GP2 Asia championRomain Grosjean at the penultimate round of the series. Following a three-year cycle, the previous GP2 chassis was replaced by a brand new car, the GP2/11, built by Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara. The series will change tyre supplier from Bridgestone to Pirelli for 2011–13. The 2011 season saw the addition of two new teams to the grid, Carlin and Team AirAsia. Meanwhile, DPR was not selected to continue in the series.
The2012 season contained twelve rounds, eleven of which supported the F1 World Championship and one stand alone round in Bahrain. The series started on March 24 in Malaysia and concluded in Singapore on September 23.Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) won the title by 25 points from Arden'sLuiz Razia, with Lotus GP'sEsteban Gutiérrez third.
For the 2012 season, Team Lazarus replaced Super Nova Racing using the name "Venezuela GP Lazarus". Lotus ART was renamed "Lotus Grand Prix", reflecting their increased relationship with title sponsor 'Lotus Cars'.
The2013 season contained eleven rounds, all of which supported the F1 World Championship. The series started on March 23 in Malaysia and concluded in Abu Dhabi on November 3.
Fabio Leimer won the title driving for Racing Engineering, with a total of 201 points and 3 wins.Sam Bird, driving for Russian Time, finished runner-up. The season was originally proposed to be the final season for theGP2/11 chassis introduced in 2011, but the series organisers decided to use this chassis for a further three seasons to keep costs down.
The2014 GP2 Series contained eleven rounds, all of which supported the F1 World Championship. The series started on April 5 in Bahrain and concluded in Abu Dhabi on November 23.
Jolyon Palmer won the title inSochi driving for DAMS.Stoffel Vandoorne, driving for ART Grand Prix, finished runner-up in Abu Dhabi.
The2015 season contained eleven rounds, supporting the F1 World Championship and the final round of the World Endurance Championship at the 6 Hours of Bahrain. It started in Bahrain on 18 April and finished in Abu Dhabi on 29 November.
While still continuing to use theDallara GP2/11 chassis introduced in2011, this season saw the series introduce theDrag Reduction System (DRS) used inFormula One. The series used the same detection and activation points at each circuit as Formula One, and followed the same rules for activation, requiring drivers to be within one second of the car in front at the detection point for DRS to become available.
Stoffel Vandoorne won the title in Sochi driving forART Grand Prix.Alexander Rossi, driving forRacing Engineering, finished runner-up.
The2016 season contained eleven rounds, supporting the F1 World Championship. It started in Spain on May 14 and finished in Abu Dhabi on November 27. It was also again proposed to be the final season for theDallara GP2/11 chassis package that débuted in 2011 and theMecachrome 4.0 litre (244 cu in)V8 naturally-aspirated engine package that débuted in the series' first season in2005 before a brand new chassis and engine package was introduced for the2017 season, but due to another cost-cutting, the series organisers decided to use the current chassis and engine package for a further season.
Pierre Gasly won the title driving forPrema Racing (who won the team's championship in their debut season).Antonio Giovinazzi, also driving for Prema, finished runner up.
The television rights are held byFormula One Management, which also manages the rights to Formula One.
Sky Sports F1 broadcast every race live in the UK and Ireland, whileSetanta Sports also broadcast in Ireland.
The races were also broadcast in the United States on Comcast's NBC Sports Network, while in Brazil it is broadcast by cable TV channel SportTV. In Venezuela MeridianoTV broadcast, and in the rest of Latin America, the races from 2012 were shown on delay in South Cone and live in North Cone onFox Sports +.
Other European countries:In Spain, races were broadcast byMarcaTV,Antena 3 andTV3. In Germany, PayTV Channel Sky broadcast all races live, and inFinland Pay-TV-channelMTV3 MAX broadcast all races and qualifying live.RAI broadcast only the races.
In the UK, races were being shown on Setanta Sports until the channel ceased broadcasting in June 2009.[24] Setanta took up coverage of the series fromITV, who had shown GP2 in all four seasons to date (highlights only for 2005–2007, live coverage for 2008). However, by the German GP, Setanta GB had gone into administration so UK viewers could have been left without a GP2 broadcaster, butBritish Eurosport subsequently picked up the UK rights to GP2 for the next two and a half years.[25] Setanta Ireland continues to operate for the Irish market and retains GP2 rights for that country. In February 2012, it was announced that Sky Sports F1 had secured the broadcasting rights to the GP2 series and will broadcast every race live in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[26] Formula One punditWill Buxton provided commentary for the UK broadcast until he departed at the end of the 2014 season and was succeeded byAlex Jacques.
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| Preceded by | Autosport Pioneering and Innovation Award 2005 | Succeeded by |
