GP2 Series facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
GP2 Series

Category	Single seaters
Country	International
Inaugural season	2005
Drivers	26
Teams	13
Constructors	Dallara
Engine suppliers	Renault
Tyre suppliers	Pirelli
Drivers' champion	Jolyon Palmer (2014)
Teams' champion	Russian Time (2013)
Official website	gp2series.com

GP2's logo.

The GP2 Series, often called GP2, was a type of open-wheel car racing. It started in 2005 after another series called Formula 3000 ended. The idea for GP2 came from Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore.

GP2 was created to be a racing series that wasn't too expensive. It also aimed to help young drivers train for Formula One, which is the highest level of racing. To make it fair and affordable, all teams in GP2 had to use the same car parts. This included the same chassis (car frame), engine, and tyres. Most GP2 races happened on the same weekends as Formula One races. Many drivers who raced in GP2 later moved on to compete in Formula One.

What are GP2 Series Cars Like?

All teams in the GP2 Series used the same type of car. These cars featured a special frame, or chassis, made by Dallara. They were powered by a V8 Renault engine. The tyres for the cars were supplied by Bridgestone.

Engine Details

The Renault V8 engine used in GP2 cars was 4 litres in size. It had special updates to make it perform better and use fuel more efficiently. This engine could produce about 620 horsepower. GP2 engines were limited to 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). This means the engine could spin its parts up to 10,000 times every minute.

Tyres and Brakes

Bridgestone provided three types of slick tyres for dry races. These were soft, medium, and hard tyres. They also supplied special tyres for wet weather. The type of tyre used for each race was chosen by Bridgestone and the GP2 organizers. The brakes for the cars were supplied by a company called Brembo.

How Does a GP2 Race Weekend Work?

A GP2 race weekend usually had two main races. There were also practice and qualifying sessions.

Friday Sessions

On Friday, drivers had a 30-minute practice session. This allowed them to get used to the track. After practice, there was a 30-minute qualifying session. The times from this session decided where each driver would start in Saturday's race. This is called the grid order.

Saturday's Main Race

Saturday's race was longer, covering about 180 kilometres. During this race, every driver had to make at least one pit stop. In this pit stop, at least two tyres had to be changed. This added strategy to the race.

Sunday's Sprint Race

On Sunday, there was a shorter sprint race, about 120 kilometres long. The starting grid for this race was different. The top eight drivers from Saturday's race started in reverse order. So, the driver who finished 8th on Saturday would start from pole position (1st place) on Sunday. The winner from Saturday would start from 8th place. This made Sunday's race very exciting.

How Drivers Earn Points

GP2 had a point system to decide the champions. Points were given for finishing in the top positions in both races. Extra points were also given for getting pole position and the fastest lap.

Point System (2005-2011)

• Pole position for Saturday's race: 2 points

• Fastest lap: 1 point in each race. To get this point, a driver had to complete 90% of the race laps. From 2008, they also had to start from their grid position and finish in the top ten.

The most points a driver could get in one weekend was 20. This happened only twice. Nelson Piquet Jr. did it in Hungary in 2006. Nico Hülkenberg also did it in Germany in 2009.

Point System (2012-Present)

The point system changed in 2012 to give more points.

The top eight drivers in Sunday's sprint race also received points:

• Fastest Lap and Pole position points remained the same as in the earlier system.

Who Were the GP2 Champions?

Many talented drivers and teams won the GP2 Series championship.

Season	Champion	Second	Third	Team Champion
2005	Nico Rosberg (ART Grand Prix)	Heikki Kovalainen	Scott Speed	ART Grand Prix
2006	Lewis Hamilton (ART Grand Prix)	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Alexandre Prémat	ART Grand Prix
2007	Timo Glock (iSport International)	Lucas di Grassi	Giorgio Pantano	iSport International
2008	Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering)	Bruno Senna	Lucas di Grassi	Barwa International Campos Team
2009	Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix)	Vitaly Petrov	Lucas di Grassi	ART Grand Prix
2010	Pastor Maldonado (Rapax)	Sergio Pérez	Jules Bianchi	Rapax
2011	Romain Grosjean (DAMS)	Luca Filippi	Jules Bianchi	Barwa Addax Team
2012	Davide Valsecchi (DAMS)	Luiz Razia	Esteban Gutiérrez	DAMS
2013	Fabio Leimer (Racing Engineering)	Sam Bird	James Calado	Russian Time
2014	Jolyon Palmer (DAMS)

Drivers Who Moved to Formula One

Many drivers used GP2 as a stepping stone to reach Formula One. Here are some of them:

2005	Nico Rosberg	Heikki Kovalainen ‡	Scott Speed
2006	Lewis Hamilton	Nelson Piquet, Jr. ‡
2007	Timo Glock	Kazuki Nakajima †
2008	Bruno Senna ‡	Sébastien Buemi
2009	Nico Hülkenberg	Vitaly Petrov	Lucas di Grassi	Romain Grosjean †	Kamui Kobayashi †	Karun Chandhok
2009	Sergio Pérez
2010	Pastor Maldonado	Sergio Pérez	Jérôme d'Ambrosio
2011	Jules Bianchi ‡	Charles Pic
2012	Max Chilton	Esteban Gutierrez	Giedo van der Garde
2013	Marcus Ericsson

Drivers are listed by their last year in the GP2 Series. They usually started in F1 at the beginning of the next season. ^‡ = graduated to F1 later ^† = started in F1 in the middle of a season

Note: Timo Glock had four Grand Prix starts in 2004. He then drove in the GP2 Series in 2006-2007 before moving to F1 in 2008.

Related Racing Series

• Formula One
• Formula 3000
• Formula Two

See also

In Spanish: GP2 Series para niños