2011 GP3 Series
The 2011 GP3 Series season was the second season of the GP3 Series, a feeder series for the GP2 Series. The season began at Istanbul Park on 7 May and concluded at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 11 September after eight rounds made up of two races each and all in support of European Formula 1 Grands Prix. The 2010 champion Esteban Gutiérrez graduated to the GP2 Series so did not defend his title.
2011 GP3 Series | |||
Previous: | 2010 | Next: | 2012 |
After the early rounds, the likes of Mitch Evans, Nigel Melker, Andrea Caldarelli and Alexander Sims were fighting for the championship lead. However, Caldarelli had to retire from the series due to failing to raise a sufficient budget for the whole season. Sims then held the lead after consistent podium finishes in both Valencia and Silverstone. This was not to last though, as the Finn Valtteri Bottas started to find his speed at Nürburgring, taking the top spot after winning the first race at Hungaroring while Sims was disqualified due rear floor height check. Bottas led the championship with 7 points from Sims. Total of 6 drivers were within 13 points from Bottas at that time.
Bottas was able to secure the title in the first race of Monza. In that race he took the chequered flag and his closest rival and team-mate James Calado was left to second place. As 7 points is the maximum from Sunday's race and Bottas had more victories than Calado, the 7-point gap between them was enough for Bottas to clinch the title with one race still to go.[1]
Teams and drivers
Driver changes
- Changed teams
- Michael Christensen will move from MW Arden to RSC Mücke Motorsport. Team-mate Leonardo Cordeiro will also change teams, moving to Carlin.
- After racing with Carlin in two meetings in 2010, António Félix da Costa will move into the series full-time with Status Grand Prix after claiming top rookie honours in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Another Carlin driver, Dean Smith, will move to the Addax Team.
- Vittorio Ghirelli switched from ATECH CRS GP to Jenzer Motorsport.
- After missing the opening round, Daniel Morad will join Carlin from Status Grand Prix.
- Simon Trummer, who finished 25th in 2010 with Jenzer Motorsport, has moved to MW Arden.
- Entering/Re-Entering GP3 Series
- Formula Renault MEC champion Zoël Amberg will move into the series with ATECH CRS GP.
- Luciano Bacheta, the Formula Renault Eurocup runner-up, will join the series with RSC Mücke Motorsport.
- Valtteri Bottas will move into the championship, having finished third in the Formula 3 Euro Series. He will continue with the Lotus ART team that he drove for in the Euro Series.
- James Calado will move into the championship, having finished runner-up to Jean-Éric Vergne in British Formula 3 with Carlin. He will join Bottas at Lotus ART.
- Andrea Caldarelli, who finished third in Italian Formula Three, will move into the championship with Tech 1 Racing. Aaro Vainio will join him, having driven for the French squad in the Formula Renault Eurocup, finishing fourth in the standings.
- Gabriel Chaves will step up from Italian Formula Three to GP3 with the Addax Team. He will be joined by Dominic Storey, who moves over from a one-off drive in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
- Star Mazda champion Conor Daly will compete in the series for Carlin. He was joined by German Formula Three champion Tom Dillmann for the first round of the series in Istanbul Park.
- Having competed in Australian Formula Three and the Toyota Racing Series since the start of 2010, Mitch Evans will compete for MW Arden.
- Matias Laine will make his debut in the series with Manor Racing, having competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series for Motopark Academy in 2010.
- Formula Renault UK race-winners Tamás Pál Kiss, Marlon Stöckinger, Lewis Williamson and Nick Yelloly will all move into the series. Pál Kiss will compete with Tech 1 Racing, Williamson will compete for MW Arden while Stöckinger and Yelloly will contest the championship with ATECH CRS GP.
- Alexander Sims will make his debut in the series with Status Grand Prix, having finished fourth in the Formula 3 Euro Series for ART Grand Prix.
- Maxim Zimin will move into the series with Jenzer Motorsport, having competed with the team in Formula Abarth.
- Leaving GP3 Series
- Mirko Bortolotti, who finished eleventh for Barwa Addax, and Tobias Hegewald, who finished 22nd with RSC Mücke Motorsport, will both return to Formula Two for 2011. They will be joined by Miki Monrás, who was tenth for MW Arden.
- Stefano Coletti and Pål Varhaug will all move into the GP2 Series with Trident Racing and DAMS respectively. 2010 champion Esteban Gutiérrez will also move into GP2 with Lotus ART as well as being reserve driver for Formula One team Sauber.
- James Jakes, after initially signing to race in GP2 with Scuderia Coloni, will race in the IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing.
- Josef Newgarden will return to his native United States to compete in Indy Lights for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
- Alexander Rossi and Robert Wickens will move into the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Rossi, who finished fourth in 2010 with ART Grand Prix, will compete for Fortec Motorsport while championship runner-up Wickens will drive for Carlin.
2011 Schedule
The 2011 calendar was announced on 18 January 2011. The series consisted of eight rounds. A prospective ninth round in Monaco was dropped on 2 February 2011 due to a lack of paddock space.[39] It supported every other European Formula One event.[2]
Round | Location | Circuit | Date | Supporting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | R1 | Istanbul Racing Circuit | 7 May | Turkish Grand Prix | |
R2 | 8 May | ||||
2 | R1 | Circuit de Catalunya | 21 May | Spanish Grand Prix | |
R2 | 22 May | ||||
3 | R1 | Valencia Street Circuit | 25 June | European Grand Prix | |
R2 | 26 June | ||||
4 | R1 | Silverstone Circuit | 9 July | British Grand Prix | |
R2 | 10 July | ||||
5 | R1 | Nürburgring | 23 July | German Grand Prix | |
R2 | 24 July | ||||
6 | R1 | Hungaroring | 30 July | Hungarian Grand Prix | |
R2 | 31 July | ||||
7 | R1 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 27 August | Belgian Grand Prix | |
R2 | 28 August | ||||
8 | R1 | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | 10 September | Italian Grand Prix | |
R2 | 11 September |
Results
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship
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Teams' Championship
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- Drivers who did not finish the race but were classified are marked with †.
Footnotes
- Adrian Quaife-Hobbs set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Dean Smith was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Alexander Sims set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Lewis Williamson was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
References
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- Beer, Matt (22 September 2010). "Group Lotus announces ART deal". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
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- Beer, Matt (9 March 2011). "Amberg secures Atech CRS drive". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
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- Rubinho, Jacopo (30 May 2011). "Tom Dillmann trova l'accordo con la Addax per completare la stagione". Stop&Go (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- "Gabby Chaves signs up for Addax Team GP3". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- Allen, Peter (8 September 2011). "Smith Loses GP3 Seat For Season Finale, Replaced By Ghirelli". TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk. BlackEagleMedia. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- Martinez, Peter (13 February 2011). "Mitch Evans youngest NZ Grand Prix winner". Stuff. Fairfax Media. New Zealand Press Association. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
- Beer, Matt (1 December 2010). "Trummer switches to MW Arden". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- McGill, Jim (21 February 2011). "Williamson joins MW Arden". scotcars.co.uk. Scotcars. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
- "RSC Mücke Motorsport completes line up with Luciano Bacheta". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
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- "RSC Mücke Motorsport & Melker together again in 2011". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- Strang, Simon (2 February 2011). "Monaco dropped from GP3 calendar". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- "GP3 Fastest laps". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 25 July 2020.