Both the GP2 and the GP3 Series titles could feasibly have been wrapped up at the Spa-Francorchamps weekend, but in the end neither of them were after an action-packed race weekend of rain-affected carnage and chaos.
A weekend in Belgium is rarely something that you could describe as sounding entertaining, unless of course you are talking about a weekend at Spa-Francorchamps for some racing fun. The biggest driver test left on the calendar caught out plenty of big-name F1 drivers this weekend, and unsurprisingly the feeder series racers provided even more incidents. The destiny of both titles still looks as nailed on as a picture hook following a particularly aggressive bout of hammer-based DIY, but at least the casual interest of both title races will keep going a while longer, thanks to some typically gleeful chaos in Spa.
GP2 Series Report
Driver Changes
The main expected driver change after the Hungaroring round, namely the replacement of injured Ferrari junior driver Jules Bianchi at ART Grand Prix didn't actually happen in the end, after the Frenchman recovered enough to race at Spa. DAMS driver Ho-Pin Tung, also injured in the opening lap Hungary shunt with Bianchi, was ruled out though, and was replaced by former Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean.
Elsewhere, ex-Virgin Racing test driver Alvaro Parente joined the Scuderia Coloni team in place of the anodyne Alberto Valerio, while Hungaroring sprint race winner Giacomo Ricci was somewhat surprisingly replaced at DPR by Italian driver Fabrizio Crestani.
Qualifying
After DPR's first win since 2005 in the last race in Hungary, the team seemed to have ended another long winless streak in qualifying, when a chaotic wet session was improbably topped by Michael Herck, for what would have been the DPR squad's first ever GP2 pole.
But it was not to be for Herck, who was given an amusingly-small three place grid penalty for the crime of going too fast under yellow flags during the incident-filled qualifying session. He was one of eight drivers penalised for the same crime.
All that meant that DAMS driver Jerome d'Ambrosio inherited his first ever pole position in the main GP2 Series in front of his home Belgian fans, with runaway championship leader Pastor Maldonado moving up onto the front row for Rapax.
Oliver Turvey (iSport) and the penalised Herck made up the second row, with Grosjean taking an excellent fifth place on the grid from Arden driver Charles Pic.
The qualifying session was fraught with incidents, with a heavy downpour forcing the session to be red flagged early on. Once the drivers were allowed back out, a series of crashes saw the planned 30 minute session drag on for well over an hour. Luiz Razia (Rapax), Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Coloni), Giedo van der Garde (Addax) and Adrian Zaugg (Trident) all crashed during the session, causing stoppages.
Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Grid Positions -
1 Jerome D'Ambrosio (DAMS) 2:15.942, 2 Pastor Maldonado (Rapax), 3 Oliver Turvey (iSport), 4 Michael Herck (DPR), 5 Romain Grosjean (DAMS), 6 Charles Pic (Arden), 7 Sergio Perez (Addax), 8 Christian Vietoris (Racing Eng), 9 Sam Bird (ART), 10 Fabrizio Crestani (DPR), 11 Davide Valsecchi (iSport), 12 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden), 13 Jules Bianchi (ART), 14 Dani Clos (Racing Eng), 15 Luca Filippi (Super Nova), 16 Alvaro Parente (Coloni), 17 Adrian Zaugg (Trident), 18 Fabio Leimer (Ocean). 19 Max Chilton (Ocean), 20 Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident), 21 Luiz Razia (Rapax), 22 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Coloni), 23 Giedo van der Garde (Addax), 24 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova).
Feature Race
Maldonado headed into the feature race looking to extend his implausible record of five main race victories in a row so far in 2010, and the Venezuelan promptly delivered to extend that record to six feature race wins in a row, cementing himself as a shoe-in for the most dominant title win in the history of the GP2 Series.
The race was run relatively cleanly, save for a spectacular opening lap collision when Dani Clos's Racing Engineering car was launched over the top of Sam Bird (ART) on the run out of the La Source hairpin. The crash was enough to keep the Spaniard out of the rest of the weekend after he complained of back pain.
After a brief safety car period, the racing resumed, with poleman d'Ambrosio leading away from Maldonado and a fast-starting Sergio Perez in his Addax car. The Belgian led until the round of mandatory tyre stops, when Maldonado got the jump on him.
But Maldonado rejoined second, behind the late-stopping form of Alvaro Parente, who stayed out longer on his first set of tyres after only qualifying 16th. The tactic paid off for the Poruguese driver, and he came back out in second place. Maldonado took over the lead, but his pace on worn tyres was poor compared to the fresh rubber of Parente.
Over the last few laps, Parente inexorably closed in on the race leader, but just ran out of laps to make his move. Had the race gone on for one more tour, he would almost certainly have won.
Maldonado, then, took a breathless win to extend his championship lead. Parente settled for second, while Romain Grosjean grabbed a surprise podium in third after d'Ambrosio's car expired and Perez was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
That promoted Pic to fourth place, with Luca Filippi (Super Nova) taking fifth from iSport's Oliver Turvey. Perez salvaged a couple of points from the afternoon in 7th, with the second Arden driver Rodolfo Gonzalez grabbing his first points of the season in 8th, securing the pole for the sprint race in the process.
| Feature Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax Team | 52:27.763 | 10 |
| 2 | Alvaro Parente | Scuderia Coloni | +0.243 | 8 |
| 3 | Romain Grosjean | DAMS | +4.766 | 6 |
| 4 | Charles Pic | Arden International | +13.815 | 5 |
| 5 | Luca Filippi | Super Nova Racing | +16.085 | 4 |
| 6 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +21.117 | 3 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Barwa Addax Team | +21.713 | 2 |
| 8 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Arden International | +27.375 | 1 |
| 9 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +30.834 | |
| 10 | Johnny Cecotto Jr | Trident Racing | +32.342 |
11 Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering) +32.772, 12 Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) +33.642, 13 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova Racing) +34.932, 14 Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix) +40.297, 15 Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +41.390, 16 Luiz Razia (Rapax Team) +45.553, 17 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +1 lap, 18 Davide Valsecchi (iSport International) +1 lap, 19 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) +3 laps, R Jerome D'Ambrosio (DAMS) 20 laps, R Michael Herck (DPR) 18 laps, R Fabrizio Crestani (DPR) 2 laps, R Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) 0 laps, R Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) 0 laps.
Sprint Race
The championship 'fight' was kept alive in the sprint race, with Maldonado retiring at Les Combes on the opening lap, and Perez passing unexpected poleman Gonzalez for the race win early on.
The race was disrupted by a series of predictable safety cars, with Bianchi triggering an early introduction of the pace car, followed by Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering) and Pic.
But despite the constant disruptions, Perez controlled the race from the front, crossing the line over 2.5 seconds clear of fellow Addax driver Giedo van der Garde, who made up eight places to take second place.
Parente took back-to-back podiums in third, with Gonzalez eventually taking fourth. Oliver Turvey and Romain Grosjean completed the points-paying places.
Maldonado, though, heads to rounds 17 and 18 at Monza with a 27 point championship lead, and with only 40 points left to play for across the final four races, the odds remain strong that he will become the second GP2 champion in a row to wrap up the title with a race weekend in hand.
| Sprint Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | Barwa Addax Team | 41:51.924 | 6 |
| 2 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +2.574 | 5 |
| 3 | Alvaro Parente | Scuderia Coloni | +3.583 | 4 |
| 4 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Arden International | +4.826 | 3 |
| 5 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +7.060 | 2 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | DAMS | +8.037 | 1 |
| 7 | Marcus Ericsson | Super Nova Racing | +8.740 | |
| 8 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | +9.472 | |
| 9 | Adrian Zaugg | Trident Racing | +10.282 | |
| 10 | Luiz Razia | Rapax Team | +10.587 |
11 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +11.630, 12 Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) +12.171, 13 Michael Herck (DPR) +12.553, 14 Fabrizio Crestani (DPR) +13.269, R Charles Pic (Arden International) 11 laps, R Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) , R Jerome D'Ambrosio (DAMS) 8 laps, R Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering) 6 laps, R Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident Racing) 5 laps, R Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix) 4 laps, R Luca Filippi (Super Nova Racing) 2 laps, R Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) 1 lap, R Pastor Maldonado (Rapax Team) 0 laps.
Drivers Championship after 16 of 20 rounds -
1 Maldonado 87pts, 2 Perez 60pts, 3 Clos 43pts, 4 van der Garde, Bianchi 39pts, 6 Turvey 30pts, 7 Pic 28pts, 8 Bird 26pts, 9 Valsecchi 21pts, 10 Razia 20pts, 11 Vietoris 18pts, 12 Giacomo Ricci 16pts, 13 Parente 13pts, 14 d'Ambrosio, Herck 12pts, 16 Ericsson 11pts, 17 Leimer 8pts, 18 Grosjean 7pts, 19 Zaugg 6pts, 20 Filippi 5pts, 21 Gonzalez, Alberto Valerio 4pts, 23 Cecotto Jr 3pts.
Teams Championship after 16 of 20 rounds -
1 Rapax Team 107pts, 2 Barwa Addax Team 99pts, 3 ART Grand Prix 65pts, 4 Racing Engineering 61pts, 5 iSport International 51pts, 6 Arden International 32pts, 7 DPR 28pts, 8 DAMS 19pts, 9 Scuderia Coloni 17pts, 10 Super Nova Racing 16pts, 11 Trident Racing 9pts, 12 Ocean Racing Technology 8pts.
GP3 Series Report
The GP3 Series title was kept interesting after the dominant championship leader Esteban Gutierrez endured a nightmare Spa weekend, which saw him fail to score a single point in a pair of borderline farcical wet races.
The feature race was a total shambles, the safety car called out after just a few corners when a multi-car pileup necessitated its intervention.
Two racing laps then took place, before the safety car was scrambled again when a rainstorm made conditions undriveable, and almost the entire field spun at La Source.
Early leader Robert Wickens, Gutierrez's nearest title challenger, hit the wall with his Status GP machine, but recovered through the carnage to lead the field behind the safety car, albeit with a heavily damaged car.
Wickens refused to pit for wet tyres despite the crazy conditions, and continued to lead behind the safety car. With four laps to go, the safety car was called back in, and the Canadian seemed destined to lose his lead to undamaged cars on wet tyres.
But with the 30 minute time limit approaching, Wickens slowed the field up enough so that even though the safety car pulled in, the race was classified as they came over the line for the restart, securing a crucial, if bizarre, win.
He led home Leonardo Cordeiro (MW Arden), Pal Varhaug (Jenzer) and Gutierrez (ART), but all three of those drivers, as well as 17th placed Oliver Oakes (ATECH GP) were hit with post-race 30 second time penalties for overtaking the safety car during the initial safety car period.
That left Wickens classified ahead of ATECH's Roberto Merhi, with Manor Racing's Adrian Quaife-Hobbs in third. Nico Muller took fourth for Jenzer, from pole man Daniel Juncadella (Tech 1), Dean Smith (Carlin) and Pedro Nunes (ART). Simon Trummer took an unlikely 8th place, and pole for race 2, for Jenzer.
The sprint race was also rain-affected, but saw Adrien Tambay, son of ex-F1 driver Patrick, produce an inspired tyre call to win the race.
As the rain fell midway through the race, Tambay stayed out on slicks and took a huge lead. The wet tyred drivers soon caught him, but with the track drying, Tambay was able to re-extend his lead to take the victory for Manor.
Alex Rossi came home second for ART, with Miki Monras third for MW Arden. Smith, QUaife-Hobbs and Muller completed the points paying positions.
Neither Gutierrez nor Wickens scored points, meaning that the GP3 crown will be decided at the final round at Monza. Gutierrez leads Wickens by 18 points, with just 20 available, meaning he is a shoe-in for the title.
But after the Mexican failed to score a single point in Spa, his waltz to the inaugural GP3 title suddenly looks a bit less of a foregone conclusion.
| Race 1 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Robert Wickens | Status Grand Prix | 30:10.463 | 10 |
| 2 | Roberto Merhi | ATECH CRS GP | +0.519 | 8 |
| 3 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Manor Racing | +4.094 | 6 |
| 4 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | +4.215 | 5 |
| 5 | Daniel Juncadella | Tech 1 Racing | +4.957 | 4 |
| 6 | Dean Smith | Carlin | +5.678 | 3 |
| 7 | Pedro Nunes | ART Grand Prix | +6.048 | 2 |
| 8 | Simon Trummer | Jenzer Motorsport | +7.740 | 1 |
| 9 | Miki Monras | MW Arden | +8.639 | |
| 10 | Michael Christensen | MW Arden | +10.282 |
| Race 2 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Adrien Tambay | Manor Racing | 30:11.408 | 6 |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | ART Grand Prix | +0.445 | 5 |
| 3 | Miki Monras | MW Arden | +1.203 | 4 |
| 4 | Dean Smith | Carlin | +2.788 | 3 |
| 5 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Manor Racing | +3.107 | 2 |
| 6 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | +6.131 | 1 |
| 7 | Esteban Gutierrez | ART Grand Prix | +12.160 | |
| 8 | Tobias Hegewald | Barwa Addax Team | +13.837 | |
| 9 | Felipe Guimares | Addax Team | +18.197 | |
| 10 | Oliver Oakes | ATECH CRS GP | +19.794 |
Drivers Championship after 14 of 16 Rounds -
1 Gutierrez 75pts, 2 Wickens 57pts, 3 Muller 44pts, 4 Rossi 38pts, 5 Smith 24pts, 6 Rio Haryanto, James Jakes 21pts, 8 Merhi 20pts, 9 Stefano Coletti 18pts, 10 Monras 16pts, 11 Daniel Morad 15pts, 12 Pal Varhaug, Juncadella, Quaife-Hobbs 10pts, 15 Guimares, Jean-Eric Vergne 9pts, 17 Lucas Foresti, Mirko Bortolotti 7pts, 19 Tambay, Renger van der Zande, Hegewald 6pts, 22 Nunes, Trummer, Josef Newgarden, Nigel Melker 4pts, 26 Antonio Feix da Costa 3pts.
Teams Championship after 14 of 16 Rounds -
1 ART Grand Prix 117pts, 2 Status Grand Prix 72pts, 3 Jenzer Motorsport, Manor Racing 58pts, 5 Carlin 38pts, 6 Tech 1 Racing 37pts, 7 ATECH CRS GP 20pts, 8 MW Arden, Addax Team, RSC Mucke Motorsport 16pts.
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