The latest rounds of the pair of Formula One feeder series weren't really the most entertaining of the 2010 season so far, but then they were at the Hungaroring, so that should probably have been to be expected.
The races themselves were light on action, save for a fairly scary couple of accidents, with two of the GP2 crowd hospitalised after the feature race, but the dynamics of the pair of championships continued to flow towards their respective runaway championship leaders. With six races to go in GP2 and four to go in GP3, both titles could potentially now be wrapped up at the next meeting at Spa-Francorchamps, as Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutierrez continued to see their title rivals struggle to put together a coherent series of results.
GP2 Series Report
Qualifying
ART driver Sam Bird took pole position for the Hungarian feature race, in somewhat contentious circumstances. The British driver appeared to set his quickest time while there were yellow flags on the track, caused by Jerome d'Ambrosio spinning his DAMS car at the final corner.
But after a stewards investigation showed that the yellows were cleared before Bird came through the corner, he was allowed to keep his first ever GP2 pole. He started alongside Davide Valsecchi, the reigning GP2 Asia Series champion taking his best starting position of the season for iSport.
Oliver Turvey took third place in the second iSport car, ahead of championship leader Pastor Maldonado (Rapax), who ended the session complaining of traffic issues. Christian Vietoris was fifth in his Racing Engineering car, with Alberto Valerio inexplicably managing to haul his usually useless Coloni machine onto the third row in sixth.
Hungaroring GP2 Grid Positions -
1 Sam Bird (ART) 1:27.864, 2 Davide Valsecchi (iSport) +0.043, 3 Oliver Turvey (iSport) +0.112, 4 Pastor Maldonado (Rapax) +0.270, 5 Christian Vietoris (Racing Eng) +0.361, 6 Alberto Valerio (Coloni) +0.381, 7 Sergio Perez (Barwa Addax) +0.409, 8 Giacomo Ricci (DPR) +0.413, 9 Michael Herck (DPR) +0.473, 10 Giedo van der Garde (Barwa Addax) +0.493, 11 Jules Bianchi (ART) +0.511, 12 Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS) +0.514, 13 Dani Clos (Racing Eng) +0.619, 14 Charles Pic (Arden) +0.672, 15 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova) +0.749, 16 Ho-Pin Tung (DAMS) +0.758, 17 Luiz Razia (Rapax) +0.846, 18 Fabio Leimer (Ocean) +0.854, 19 Adrian Zaugg (Trident) +0.863, 20 Luca Filippi (Super Nova) +1.060, 21 Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident) +1.104, 22 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Coloni) +1.277, 23 Max Chilton (Ocean) +1.355, 24 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden) +2.265.
Feature Race
The feature race itself was a chaotic mess, with red flags, false starts and a nasty crash breaking up the on-track action. Before the race had even had a chance to get going, both front row men were in the pit lane, with first Valsecchi and then Bird stalling their cars on the grid and forcing the grid to re-form.
All of that meant that it was the second row of Turvey and Maldonado that finally led away, with Maldonado immediately taking the lead on the run to the first corner.
But behind the frontrunners, things had already gone wrong at turn one, with ART's Jules Bianchi running wide and spinning his Dallara back into the pack. The nose of his car was removed in contact with Dani Clos's car, and then he was collected by Ho-Pin Tung's DAMS car in a head-on collision, Tung being rear-ended by Rodolfo Gonzalez in the process.
Though the accident didn't seem to be the most dramatic of collisions, the race was red-flagged and medical teams took a while to extract both Bianchi and Tung from their wrecked cars. After the race, it was confirmed that Bianchi had fractured a vertebrae in his back and would be sidelined for "quite a long time". Tung is also reported to have suffered a minor fracture to his back, though he should be back in action for the next race at Spa-Francorchamps.
The race was finally restarted, with a depleated field, and Maldonado quickly extended a lead over Vietoris, who had also leaped ahead of Turvey at the initial start. His lead was ruined following a mid-race safety car, but he was able to control the restart, helped out when Vietoris was baulked on the restart by the lapped Coloni car of Vladimir Arabadzhiev.
So Maldonado took the victory, to make it an improbable fifth successive feature race win for the runaway championship leader, while Vietoris hung on to second place under pressure from Sergio Perez (Addax). Turvey took fourth place, comfortably clear of Giedo van der Garde in the second Addax car.
Returning DAMS driver Jerome d'Ambrosio took sixth, with the DPR pair of Michael Herck and Giacomo Ricci rounding out the points places and ensuring that they would sweep the front row for the reverse grid sprint race on Sunday.
Alberto Valerio's promising qualifying performance came to nothing when he collided with Luiz Razia's Rapax car, triggering the mid-race safety car, while Valsecchi and Bird fought back to 9th and 13th respectively.
| Feature Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax Team | 1:18:45.734 | 10 |
| 2 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | +5.865 | 8 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Barwa Addax Team | +6.511 | 6 |
| 4 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +7.109 | 5 |
| 5 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +10.225 | 4 |
| 6 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | DAMS | +12.044 | 3 |
| 7 | Michael Herck | DPR | +12.487 | 2 |
| 8 | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | +12.941 | 1 |
| 9 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | +13.538 | |
| 10 | Luiz Razia | Rapax Team | +14.381 |
11 Charles Pic (Arden International) +18.640, 12 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova Racing) +21.705, 13 Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) +25.344, 14 Luca Filippi (Super Nova Racing) +28.060, 15 Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +29.716, 16 Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) +30.498, 17 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +32.154, 18 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) +1 Lap, R Alberto Valerio (Scuderia Coloni) 24 laps, R Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) 14 laps, R Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident Racing) 9 laps, R Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix) 0 laps, R Ho-Pin Tung (DAMS) 0 laps, R Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden International) 0 laps.
Sprint Race
The sprint race also saw some pre-race stalling shenanigans, with front row man Herck stalling his DPR car on the grid and having to start from the back. Thankfully for the DPR team, though, Ricci got away comfortably, and was able to hold off an early challenge from d'Ambrosio to secure DPR's first GP2 Series win since 2006.
D'Ambrosio's challenge ended on lap 12 of the race with mechanical problems, allowing Vietoris into second place, after the German driver had already forced his way up into third place from seventh on the grid.
Davide Vasecchi completed his comeback drive after his feature race stall, taking third place with three laps to go with a neat move on Giedo van der Garde, who was left with fourth place.
Turvey took fifth place, while Luca Filippi took the final point for Super Nova, in only his fourth race for the team since returning to the series that he has been trying and failing at for a number of years.
As for the title challengers, neither of the top two in the standings recorded any points. Perez was eliminated on the second lap following a collision with Valsecchi, while Maldonado was black flagged on the seventh lap and disqualified after failing to pit and fix a damaged front wing.
Nevertheless, despite that hiccup, Maldonado now leads Perez by 26 points in the championship, and the Venezuelan could potentially wrap up the title at the next two rounds in Belgium.
| Sprint Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | 42:56.588 | 6 |
| 2 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | +7.097 | 5 |
| 3 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | +16.712 | 4 |
| 4 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +19.708 | 3 |
| 5 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +20.655 | 2 |
| 6 | Luca Filippi | Super Nova Racing | +22.383 | 1 |
| 7 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | +26.885 | |
| 8 | Adrian Zaugg | Trident Racing | +30.078 | |
| 9 | Charles Pic | Arden International | +31.327 | |
| 10 | Marcus Ericsson | Super Nova Racing | +39.394 |
11 Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) +40.610, 12 Alberto Valerio (Scuderia Coloni) +43.010, 13 Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident Racing) +49.669, 14 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) +57.900, 15 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden International) +1:10.829, 16 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +1m11.873, R Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS) 12 laps, R Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) 9 laps, R Michael Herck (DPR) 9 laps, R Pastor Maldonado (Rapax Team) 6 laps, R Luiz Razia (Rapax Team) 2 laps, R Sergio Perez (Barwa Addax Team) 2 laps, DNS Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix), DNS Ho-Pin Tung (DAMS).
Drivers Championship after 14 of 20 rounds -
1 Maldonado 77pts, 2 Perez 51pts, 3 Clos 43pts, 4 Bianchi 39pts, 5 van der Garde 34pts, 6 Bird 26pts, 7 Turvey 25pts, 8 Pic 23pts, 9 Valsecchi 21pts, 10 Razia 20pts, 11 Vietoris 18pts, 12 Ricci 16pts, 13 Herck 12pts, 14 Ericsson 11pts, 15 d'Ambrosio 10pts, 16 Leimer 8pts, 17 Zaugg 6pts, 18 Valerio 4pts, 19 Cecotto Jr 3pts, 20 Filippi 1pt.
Teams Championship after 14 of 20 rounds -
1 Rapax Team 97pts, 2 Barwa Addax Team 85pts, 3 ART Grand Prix 65pts, 4 Racing Engineering 61pts, 5 iSport International 46pts, 6 DPR 28pts, 7 Arden International 23pts, 8 Super Nova Racing 12pts, 9 DAMS 10pts, 10 Trident Racing 9pts, 11 Ocean Racing Technology 8pts, 12 Scuderia Coloni 4pts.
GP3 Series Report
ART's Esteban Gutierrez left the Hungarian rounds of the GP3 Series with his 30 point cushion still intact, but he had to cede top spot in the races to some of his rivals, enduring his first win-less round of the series since the opener in Barcelona.
Swiss driver Nico Muller secured his second win of the season for Jenzer Motorsport in the feature race, dominating a Hungaroring-spec procession from pole position in a race that proved that even the usually crazy GP3 field couldn't inflict action on any given racetrack.
Gutierrez started and finished second, but only after Canadian driver Robert Wickens (Status GP) had leapt up from fourth on the grid to take second at the start, only for Gutierrez to force his way back through at the next corner. The Mexican then shadowed Muller to the line, but never looked like finding a way past.
Stefano Coletti secured third place for Tech 1 Racing after also re-passing Wickens on the opening tour, but finished nearly 15 seconds adrift of the winner. Wickens came home fourth with Carlin trio Dean Smith, stand-in driver Antonio Felix da Costa and American Josef Newgarden trailing in his wake.
ART driver Alex Rossi secured eighth place, and pole for the sprint race, after Mirko Bortolotti had seen his Addax car expire at the final corner.
In the sprint, things went similarly according to plan for Rossi as they had for Muller in the feature, with the American taking a dominant pole-to-flag win to secure his first top step on the podium since the opening round in Barcelona.
In a similarly uneventful race, Newgarden was on course for second place for Carlin, but his car broke down with just two laps to go. Wickens benefited and took second spot, with Smith completing the podium positions. Coletti, Gutierrez and Muller completed the points positions.
The sprint was livened up slightly by some GP3-spec action, Felipe Guimaraes (Addax) doing his best Mark Webber impression when he was launched over the back of Michael Christensen (ironically enough, driving for Webber's MW Arden team), while the third ART car of Pedro Nunes spectacularly barrel-rolled into the gravel trap at turn 15 after being tagged by Doru Sechelariu's Tech 1 car.
Despite ending the Hungarian weekend winless, though, Gutierrez remains in complete control of the championship. His 30 point cushion over Wickens means he only needs 11 more points from the remaining four races to wrap up the inaugural GP3 crown, and you'd be a brave gambler to bet against him completing the job with a weekend to spare at the next races in Belgium.
| Race 1 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | 26:27.400 | 10 |
| 2 | Esteban Gutierrez | ART Grand Prix | +1.450 | 8 |
| 3 | Stefano Coletti | Tech 1 Racing | +14.516 | 6 |
| 4 | Robert Wickens | Status Grand Prix | +14.856 | 5 |
| 5 | Dean Smith | Carlin | +18.232 | 4 |
| 6 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Carlin | +24.546 | 3 |
| 7 | Felipe Guimaraes | Carlin | +24.846 | 2 |
| 8 | Alexander Rossi | ART Grand Prix | +25.999 | 1 |
| 9 | Renger van der Zande | RSC Mucke Motorsport | +28.073 | |
| 10 | Michael Christensen | MW Arden | +29.808 |
| Race 2 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Alexander Rossi | ART Grand Prix | 26:27.165 | 6 |
| 2 | Robert Wickens | Status Grand Prix | +4.962 | 5 |
| 3 | Dean Smith | Carlin | +11.159 | 4 |
| 4 | Stefano Coletti | Tech 1 Racing | +12.399 | 3 |
| 5 | Esteban Gutierrez | ART Grand Prix | +13.257 | 2 |
| 6 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | +15.521 | 1 |
| 7 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Manor Racing | +18.743 | |
| 8 | Mirko Bortolotti | Barwa Addax Team | +24.227 | |
| 9 | Adrien Tambay | Manor Racing | +29.828 | |
| 10 | Oliver Oakes | ATECH CRS GP | +30.387 |
Drivers Championship after 12 of 16 Rounds -
1 Gutierrez 75pts, 2 Wickens 45pts, 3 Muller 36pts, 4 Rossi 33pts, 5 Rio Haryanto, James Jakes 21pts, 7 Coletti, Smith 18pts, 9 Daniel Morad 15pts, 10 Roberto Merhi, Miki Monras 12pts, 12 Pal Varhaug 10pts, 13 Felipe Guimaraes, Jean-Eric Vergne 9pts, 15 Lucas Foresti, Mirko Bortolotti 7pts, 17 Daniel Juncadella, van der Zande, Tobias Hegewald 6pts, 20 Newgarden, Nigel Melker 4pts, 22 Simon Trummer, da Costa 3pts, 24 Quaife-Hobbs, Pedro Nunes 2pts.
Teams Championship after 12 of 16 Rounds -
1 ART Grand Prix 110pts, 2 Status Grand Prix 60pts, 3 Jenzer Motorsport 49pts, 4 Manor Racing 44pts, 5 Tech 1 Racing 33pts, 6 Carlin 32pts, 7 Addax Team, RSC Mucke Motorsport 16pts, 9 ATECH CRS GP, MW Arden 12pts.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
