The never-interesting F1 support package will have a new formula for 2010, with the GP3 Series making a bow. The young bucks of the first season have spent the winter testing relentlessly(ish) and Patronise F1 takes a look at the results.
The new series, set to compete with Formula Three to be the official step below the step below Formula One, will start up in Barcelona next month, with ten teams and thirty aspiring drivers ready and willing to try and largely fail to impress the watching F1 and GP2 teams. The pre-season schedule for the inaugural GP3 Series saw the teams conduct three two-day tests at the Paul Ricard and Barcelona tracks, taking their shiny new Dallara-Renaults out for a tentative first spin, with drivers already confirmed for the 2010 season and looking to get some early form in the cars mixing it with drivers looking to impress teams enough to secure a race deal.
The three tests saw a number of drivers establish themselves as potential frontrunners in 2010, with Mexican ART driver Esteban Gutierrez impressing the most across the six days. Gutierrez didn't have a particularly impressive time for the team in the F3 Euroseries in 2009, but he kept his name near the top of the leaderboards throughout the pre-season.
Also impressing was his ART team mate Alex Rossi, the young American giving the United States a rare single-seater success story for the winter following USF1's spectacular fail. Rossi topped the combined times from the first test in Paul Ricard, and ran in the top ten throughout the winter.
Away from ART, the other form team was Mark Webber's new venture for as and when Kimi Raikkonen kicks him out at Red Bull. The MW Arden team, a joint venture in team management between the Aussie and Christian Horner's Arden GP2 team saw all three of their drivers regularly grace the top ten, with Danish man Michael Christensen and Spaniard Miquel Monras the most impressive of the three.
Nigel Melker proved one of the unsigned success stories, setting the fastest overall time in the second test session in France for Mucke Motorsport, a result which convinced the team to snap him up for 2010.
Also impressing were former GP2 Asia competitor James Jakes (Manor Racing) and former British F3 title contender Renger van der Zande (Mucke), with former Formula 2 race winner Robert Wickens showing signs of being competitive for former A1GP team Status Grand Prix.
The maiden GP3 season gets underway at the Barcelona Grand Prix weekend for the first two races in a 16-race season, at the same time as the bigger GP2 boys roll out for the first time in 2010, and with the competition at the front looking extremely close, it will be interesting to see which of the gaggle of drivers hits the ground running in the scrap for the inaugural GP3 crown.
PatroniseF1 will be keeping tabs on the GP3 Series in our GP2 roundups throughout the year, just in case anyone is vaguely interested, and we'll have a preview of the season up before the start of the season in Barcelona.
| Leading Times Test 1 | ||||
| 4th - 5th March 2010 - Paul Ricard | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Best Time | Time Set |
| 1 | Alexander Rossi (Usa) | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.013 | Day 2 |
| 2 | Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.089 | Day 2 |
| 3 | Max Chilton (Gbr) | Carlin Motorsport | 1:20.257 | Day 2 |
| 4 | Adriano Buzaid (Bra) | Carlin Motorsport | 1:20.366 | Day 2 |
| 5 | Michael Christensen (Den) | MW Arden | 1:20.531 | Day 2 |
| 6 | Pablo Sanchez Lopez (Mex) | Addax Team | 1:20.844 | Day 2 |
| 7 | James Jakes (Gbr) | Manor Racing | 1:20.910 | Day 2 |
| 8 | Robert Wickens (Can) | Status Grand Prix | 1:20.920 | Day 2 |
| 9 | Oliver Oakes (Gbr) | Addax Team | 1:20.975 | Day 2 |
| 10 | Luiz Razia (Mex) | Manor Racing | 1:21.015 | Day 2 |
| 11 | Miquel Monras (Spa) | MW Arden | 1:21.101 | Day 2 |
| 12 | Leonardo Cordeiro (Bra) | MW Arden | 1:21.138 | Day 2 |
| Leading Times Test 2 | ||||
| 31 Mar - 1 Apr 2010 - Paul Ricard | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Best Time | Time Set |
| 1 | Nigel Melker (Ned) | Mucke Motorsport | 1:20.210 | Day 2 |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi (Usa) | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.320 | Day 2 |
| 3 | Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.446 | Day 1 |
| 4 | James Jakes (Gbr) | Manor Racing | 1:20.472 | Day 2 |
| 5 | Felipe Guimaraes (Bra) | Addax Team | 1:20.546 | Day 2 |
| 6 | Miquel Monras (Spa) | MW Arden | 1:20.634 | Day 2 |
| 7 | Robert Wickens (Can) | Status Grand Prix | 1:20.668 | Day 2 |
| 8 | Pablo Sanchez Lopez (Mex) | Addax Team | 1:20.767 | Day 2 |
| 9 | Michael Christensen (Den) | MW Arden | 1:20.810 | Day 2 |
| 10 | Josef Newgarden (Usa) | Carlin Motorsport | 1:20.891 | Day 2 |
| 11 | Renger van der Zande (Rsa) | Mucke Motorsport | 1:20.916 | Day 2 |
| 12 | Dean Smith (Gbr) | Carlin Motorsport | 1:20.962 | Day 2 |
| Leading Times Test 3 | ||||
| 13th - 14th April 2010 - Barcelona | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Best Time | Time Set |
| 1 | Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) | ART Grand Prix | 1:37.467 | Day 2 |
| 2 | Michael Christensen (Den) | MW Arden | 1:37.637 | Day 2 |
| 3 | Renger van der Zande (Rsa) | Mucke Motorsport | 1:37.666 | Day 2 |
| 4 | Pal Varhaug (Nor) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:37.806 | Day 2 |
| 5 | James Jakes (Gbr) | Manor Racing | 1:37.885 | Day 2 |
| 6 | Dean Smith (Gbr) | Carlin Motorsport | 1:37.918 | Day 2 |
| 7 | Miquel Monras (Spa) | MW Arden | 1:37.926 | Day 2 |
| 8 | Robert Wickens (Can) | Status Grand Prix | 1:37.933 | Day 1 |
| 9 | Daniel Morad (Leb) | Status Grand Prix | 1:37.969 | Day 2 |
| 10 | Alexander Rossi (Usa) | ART Grand Prix | 1:37.975 | Day 2 |
| 11 | Nico Muller (Swi) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:38.077 | Day 2 |
| 12 | Mirko Bortolotti (Ita) | Addax Team | 1:38.130 | Day 1 |
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