2011 GP3 Series

2011 GP3 Series season
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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.

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.

Teams and drivers

Team	No.	Driver	Rounds
Lotus ART	1	Pedro Nunes	1–6
		Richie Stanaway	7–8
	2	Valtteri Bottas	All
	3	James Calado	All
Status Grand Prix	4	Alexander Sims	All
	5	António Félix da Costa	All
	6	Ivan Lukashevich	All
Jenzer Motorsport	7	Nico Müller	All
	8	Maxim Zimin	All
	9	Vittorio Ghirelli	1–6
		Alex Fontana	7
		Christophe Hurni	8
Marussia Manor Racing	10	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	All
	11	Rio Haryanto	All
	12	Matias Laine	All
Carlin	14	Conor Daly	All
	15	Tom Dillmann	1
		Daniel Morad	2–4
		Callum MacLeod	5–8
	16	Leonardo Cordeiro	All
Tech 1 Racing	17	Aaro Vainio	All
	18	Andrea Caldarelli	1–2
		Thomas Hylkema	3–8
	19	Tamás Pál Kiss	All
ATECH CRS GP	20	Marlon Stöckinger	All
	21	Nick Yelloly	All
	22	Zoël Amberg	All
Addax Team	23	Dominic Storey	1–2
		Tom Dillmann	3–8
	24	Gabriel Chaves	All
	25	Dean Smith	1–7
		Vittorio Ghirelli	8
MW Arden	26	Mitch Evans	All
	27	Simon Trummer	All
	28	Lewis Williamson	All
RSC Mücke Motorsport	29	Luciano Bacheta	1–6
		Daniel Mancinelli	7–8
	30	Michael Christensen	All
	31	Nigel Melker	All

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. It supported every other European Formula One event.

Round		Location	Circuit	Date	Supporting
1	R1	Istanbul, Turkey	Istanbul Racing Circuit	7 May	Turkish Grand Prix
	R2			8 May
2	R1	Catalunya, Spain	Circuit de Catalunya	21 May	Spanish Grand Prix
	R2			22 May
3	R1	Valencia. Spain	Valencia Street Circuit	25 June	European Grand Prix
	R2			26 June
4	R1	Silverstone, UK	Silverstone Circuit	9 July	British Grand Prix
	R2			10 July
5	R1	Nürburg, Germany	Nürburgring	23 July	German Grand Prix
	R2			24 July
6	R1	Budapest, Hungary	Hungaroring	30 July	Hungarian Grand Prix
	R2			31 July
7	R1	Spa, Belgium	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	27 August	Belgian Grand Prix
	R2			28 August
8	R1	Monza, Italy	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	10 September	Italian Grand Prix
	R2			11 September

Results

Round		Circuit	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Report
1	R1	Istanbul Park	Tom Dillmann	Andrea Caldarelli	Nigel Melker	RSC Mücke Motorsport	Report
	R2			Alexander Sims	Alexander Sims	Status Grand Prix
2	R1	Circuit de Catalunya	Mitch Evans	Valtteri Bottas	Mitch Evans	MW Arden	Report
	R2			Andrea Caldarelli	Tamás Pál Kiss	Tech 1 Racing
3	R1	Valencia Street Circuit	Lewis Williamson	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Marussia Manor Racing	Report
	R2			James Calado	James Calado	Lotus ART
4	R1	Silverstone Circuit	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Alexander Sims	Nico Müller	Jenzer Motorsport	Report
	R2			Dean Smith	Lewis Williamson	MW Arden
5	R1	Nürburgring	Mitch Evans	Lewis Williamson	Rio Haryanto	Marussia Manor Racing	Report
	R2			Nigel Melker	Valtteri Bottas	Lotus ART
6	R1	Hungaroring	Valtteri Bottas	Michael Christensen	Valtteri Bottas	Lotus ART	Report
	R2			Nigel Melker	Rio Haryanto	Marussia Manor Racing
7	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	James Calado	Valtteri Bottas	Valtteri Bottas	Lotus ART	Report
	R2			James Calado	Richie Stanaway	Lotus ART
8	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Rio Haryanto	Valtteri Bottas	Lotus ART	Report
	R2			Callum MacLeod	António Félix da Costa	Status Grand Prix

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver TUR TUR ESP ESP VAL VAL GBR GBR GER GER HUN HUN BEL BEL ITA ITA Points 1 Valtteri Bottas 4 8 10 7 7 3 15 12 3 1 1 2 1 19 1 17 62 2 James Calado 17 13 2 21 8 1 6 5 4 6 25 3 2 2 2 14 55 3 Nigel Melker 1 3 6 2 Ret 19 Ret 8 10 3 8 4 3 Ret 9 Ret 38 4 Nico Müller 11 15 5 Ret Ret 14 1 11 15 7 4 5 7 3 4 3 36 5 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 24 16 11 23 1 8 4 15 5 Ret 3 10 4 Ret Ret 6 36 6 Alexander Sims 8 1 Ret Ret 6 2 2 3 12 2 DSQ 9 Ret Ret 21† Ret 34 7 Rio Haryanto 26 10 20 11 19 22† 10 4 1 10 9 1 12 9 3 2 31 8 Lewis Williamson Ret 20 14 9 2 6 7 1 2 14 6 Ret 9 DNS 18 10 31 9 Mitch Evans 6 7 1 5 3 4 9 Ret 19 22 Ret 24† 11 Ret 8 Ret 29 10 Andrea Caldarelli 2 5 4 4 20 11 Michael Christensen 7 2 18 12 Ret Ret Ret 13 26† 12 2 13 15 4 12 11 19 12 Dean Smith 9 6 7 3 5 11 8 2 24 Ret 24 19 20 20 18 13 António Félix da Costa 5 4 12 17 Ret 20† 19 9 28 Ret 11 6 Ret 11 7 1 16 14 Tom Dillmann 3 9 20 Ret Ret 25† 22 5 7 22 6 Ret Ret 9 15 15 Aaro Vainio 15 Ret 3 20 Ret Ret 11 18 7 13 5 7 13 Ret 22† 8 12 16 Tamás Pál Kiss 16 18 8 1 16 13 Ret 20 8 4 10 20 17 14 Ret 12 11 17 Conor Daly 21 25 21 22 12 7 13 7 6 8 13 11 5 7 6 Ret 10 18 Simon Trummer 19 21 27 25† Ret Ret 12 10 9 16 16 12 19 5 5 4 9 19 Gabriel Chaves 10 12 13 6 4 5 Ret 14 27† 17 23 Ret 16 16 17 7 8 20 Richie Stanaway 8 1 10 19 7 21 Nick Yelloly 13 11 25 18 9 12 3 6 16 9 21 Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 7 22 Luciano Bacheta Ret 19 22 16 18 10 5 19 25 25 17 Ret 4 23 Callum MacLeod 29 21 26 18 Ret Ret 11 5 3 24 Alex Fontana 14 6 1 25 Vittorio Ghirelli 25 Ret 9 8 13 9 14 22 13 11 22 Ret Ret 18 0 26 Ivan Lukashevich 14 24 17 13 Ret Ret 18 24 11 18 28 23 10 8 Ret Ret 0 27 Maxim Zimin 23 17 Ret 19 Ret 21† DSQ EX 20 15 19 8 Ret 15 Ret 16 0 28 Zoël Amberg 12 14 16 10 11 18 Ret 16 21 20 15 16 Ret 12 Ret Ret 0 29 Marlon Stöckinger Ret 23 26 Ret 14 16 16 Ret Ret DNS 12 17 Ret 10 19 13 0 30 Leonardo Cordeiro Ret 22 23 15 10 17 17 23 17 19 20 15 21 18 13 Ret 0 31 Matias Laine 18 Ret 19 24 17 Ret Ret Ret 14 23 14 21 18 Ret 20 Ret 0 32 Pedro Nunes 22 26† 15 26† Ret 15 Ret 17 23 Ret 18 14 0 33 Daniel Morad 24 14 15 Ret DNS DNS 0 34 Thomas Hylkema Ret Ret 20 21 18 24† 27 Ret 22 21 14 Ret 0 35 Daniel Mancinelli Ret 17 15 15 0 36 Christophe Hurni 16 20 0 37 Dominic Storey 20 Ret Ret 27† 0 Pos Driver TUR ESP VAL GBR GER HUN BEL ITA Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Pos Team Car No. TUR ESP VAL GBR GER HUN BEL ITA Points 1 Lotus ART 1 22 26† 15 26† Ret 15 Ret 17 23 Ret 18 14 8 1 10 19 124 2 4 8 10 7 7 3 15 12 3 1 1 2 1 19 1 17 3 17 13 2 21 8 1 6 5 4 6 25 3 2 2 2 14 2 MW Arden 26 6 7 1 5 3 4 9 Ret 19 22 Ret 24† 11 Ret 8 Ret 69 27 19 21 27 25† Ret Ret 12 10 9 16 16 12 19 5 5 4 28 Ret 20 14 9 2 6 7 1 2 14 6 Ret 9 DNS 18 10 3 Marussia Manor Racing 10 24 16 11 23 1 8 4 15 5 Ret 3 10 4 Ret Ret 6 67 11 26 10 20 11 19 22 10 4 1 10 9 1 12 9 3 2 12 18 Ret 19 24 17 Ret Ret Ret 14 23 14 21 18 Ret 20 Ret 4 RSC Mücke Motorsport 29 Ret 19 22 16 18 10 5 19 25 25 17 Ret Ret 17 15 15 61 30 7 2 18 12 Ret Ret Ret 13 26† 12 2 13 15 4 12 11 31 1 3 6 2 Ret 19 Ret 8 10 3 8 4 3 Ret 9 Ret 5 Status Grand Prix 4 8 1 Ret Ret 6 2 2 3 12 2 DSQ 9 Ret Ret 21† Ret 50 5 5 4 12 17 Ret 20† 19 9 28 Ret 11 6 Ret 11 7 1 6 14 24 17 13 Ret Ret 18 24 11 18 28 23 10 8 Ret Ret 6 Tech 1 Racing 17 15 Ret 3 20 Ret Ret 11 18 7 13 5 7 13 Ret 22† 8 43 18 2 5 4 4 Ret Ret 20 21 18 24† 27 Ret 22 21 14 Ret 19 16 18 8 1 16 13 Ret 20 8 4 10 20 17 14 Ret 12 7 Jenzer Motorsport 7 11 15 5 Ret Ret 14 1 11 15 7 4 5 7 3 4 3 37 8 23 17 Ret 19 Ret 21† DSQ EX 20 15 19 8 Ret 15 Ret 16 9 25 Ret 9 8 13 9 14 22 13 11 22 Ret 14 6 16 20 8 Addax Team 23 20 Ret Ret 27† 20 Ret Ret 25† 22 5 7 22 6 Ret Ret 9 33 24 10 12 13 6 4 5 Ret 14 27† 17 23 Ret 16 16 17 7 25 9 6 7 3 5 11 8 2 24 Ret 24 19 20 20 Ret 18 9 Carlin 14 21 25 21 22 12 7 13 7 6 8 13 11 5 7 6 Ret 21 15 3 9 24 14 15 Ret DNS DNS 29 21 26 18 Ret Ret 11 5 16 Ret 22 23 15 10 17 17 23 17 19 20 15 21 18 13 Ret 10 ATECH CRS GP 20 Ret 23 26 Ret 14 16 16 Ret Ret DNS 12 17 Ret 10 19 13 7 21 13 11 25 18 9 12 3 6 16 9 21 Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 22 12 14 16 10 11 18 Ret 16 21 20 15 16 Ret 12 Ret Ret Pos Team Car No. TUR ESP VAL GBR GER HUN BEL ITA Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX)

• Pole-winners in bold; feature race pole-winners were awarded two points, whereas no points were given for the reverse-grid pole winner in the sprint race.
• Drivers who achieved fastest lap in italics; earning one point, if classified in the top ten.
• Drivers who did not finish the race but were classified are marked with †.

External links

• Official website