The 2010 GP3 Series season was the first season of the GP3 Series, a feeder series for the GP2 Series. The championship was contested over sixteen races held at eight rounds, beginning on 8 May at Circuit de Catalunya and ending on 12 September at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.^[1] Ten teams were announced, running three cars each.

The inaugural title was claimed by ART Grand Prix driver Esteban Gutiérrez, having taken the final pole position of the season at Monza to put him out of reach of title rival Robert Wickens.^[2] Gutiérrez took five race wins during the season, four of which coming in the higher points-rewarding races held on Saturdays. He also took four further podium finishes en route to a 17-point championship win over Wickens. Wickens eventually ended the season with three victories at Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps – despite spinning in wet conditions and damaging the nose of his Status Grand Prix car against the pit wall^[3] – and Monza, as well as four second-place finishes, two of which being behind Gutiérrez.

Nico Müller finished in third position for Jenzer Motorsport, taking victories in Valencia and at the Hungaroring. He finished 15 points clear of Gutiérrez's team-mate Alexander Rossi, who took wins from pole position in the sprint races in Barcelona and at the Hungaroring. Rio Haryanto was fifth for Manor Racing, winning in Istanbul from a reverse-grid pole position. Other victories were taken by Status Grand Prix's Daniel Morad at Silverstone, Pål Varhaug won the season-opening race in Barcelona and Adrien Tambay won from 27th on the grid at Spa in a wet/dry race.^[4] ART Grand Prix also claimed the teams' championship, having done so at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing 44 points clear of nearest challengers Status Grand Prix, while Jenzer Motorsport finished in third position ahead of Manor Racing.

Teams and drivers

For the first two tests of the season, teams were given numbers in relation to alphabetical order. Thus, Addax were given 1, 2 and 3, with ART receiving 4, 5 and 6, and so forth. However, a "qualifying" session was held at Circuit Paul Ricard on 1 April 2010, where Alexander Rossi ended quickest. With this, ART ran cars 1, 2 and 3 during the season.^[5]

Team	No.	Driver name	Rounds
ART Grand Prix[6]	1	Alexander Rossi[7]	All
	2	Esteban Gutiérrez[7]	All
	3	Pedro Nunes[7]	All
Status Grand Prix[6][a]	4	Robert Wickens[8]	All
	5	Ivan Lukashevich[9]	All
	6	Daniel Morad[10]	All
Manor Racing[6]	7	James Jakes[11]	1–5, 8
		Adrien Tambay[12]	6–7
	8	Rio Haryanto[13]	All
	9	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs[10]	All
RSC Mücke Motorsport[14]	10	Nigel Melker[14]	All
	11	Renger van der Zande[15]	All
	12	Tobias Hegewald[16]	All
Carlin[17]	14	Josef Newgarden[18]	All
	15	Dean Smith[19]	All
	16	Lucas Foresti[20]	1, 3–5, 8
		Mikhail Aleshin[21]	2
		António Félix da Costa[22]	6–7
Addax Team[6]	17	Felipe Guimarães[23]	All
	18	Pablo Sánchez López[24]	All
	19	Mirko Bortolotti[25]	All
MW Arden[6][b]	20	Michael Christensen[26]	All
	21	Miki Monrás[27]	All
	22	Leonardo Cordeiro[28]	All
Jenzer Motorsport[6]	23	Pål Varhaug[24]	All
	24	Simon Trummer[29]	1–5, 7–8
		Marco Barba[30]	6
	25	Nico Müller[31]	All
Tech 1 Racing[6]	26	Doru Sechelariu[32]	All
	27	Daniel Juncadella[33]	1
		Stefano Coletti[34]	2–8
	28	Jean-Éric Vergne[10]	1, 3
		Jim Pla[34]	2
		Daniel Juncadella[35]	4–5, 7–8
Atech CRS GP[36]	29	Patrick Reiterer[10]	1–2
		Roberto Merhi[37]	3–8
	30	Oliver Oakes[38]	All
	31	Vittorio Ghirelli[10]	All

ART Grand Prix signed Esteban Gutiérrez, who drove for the team in the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series. He was joined by Pedro Nunes, who drove in the same series for Manor Motorsport, and former ISR Racing International Formula Master driver Alexander Rossi.

After missing the 2009 racing season, Ivan Lukashevich drove for the Status Grand Prix team. He was joined by the Canadian pairing of Formula Two runner-up Robert Wickens and former Formula BMW USA champion Daniel Morad, who did not have a drive in 2009.

After a podium in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series in Abu Dhabi, James Jakes joined Manor Racing. He was joined by Rio Haryanto, the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific champion, and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, who abandoned his campaign in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Jakes was injured at Hockenheim and was replaced by Auto GP driver Adrien Tambay in Hungary and Belgium. Jakes returned for the season finale at Monza.

Nigel Melker, who drove for MP Motorsport in the 2009 Formula Renault Eurocup signed to drive for RSC Mücke Motorsport. Melker was joined by Renger van der Zande, who finished third in the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship. The third driver at the team was Tobias Hegewald, who moves from Formula Two.

Carlin signed British Formula Renault champion Dean Smith and British Formula Ford runner-up Josef Newgarden to drive full-time for the team. Lucas Foresti, one of the team's current British Formula 3 drivers raced for the team in selected rounds of the series. Foresti missed the Turkish round due to prior British Formula 3 commitments, and was replaced by one of the team's Formula Renault 3.5 drivers, Mikhail Aleshin. Foresti returned for the rounds from Valencia onwards, but would miss the rounds in Hungary and Belgium due to British Formula 3 racing at Spa and Snetterton. Formula 3 Euro Series driver António Félix da Costa stepped in to replace Foresti in Hungary and Belgium.

Pablo Sánchez López stepped up from Italian Formula Three to compete for the Addax Team. Mirko Bortolotti moved across from Formula Two to partner Sánchez López, while Felipe Guimarães completed the team, having contested selected races in Indy Lights.

Michael Christensen, who raced in the 2009 Formula BMW Europe season for Mücke Motorsport, joined MW Arden. Christensen was joined by Miki Monrás, who was fifth in the Formula Renault Eurocup, and Leonardo Cordeiro, the 2009 Formula Three Sudamericana champion.

Simon Trummer, who raced in 2009 in International Formula Master driver for Iris Project, joined Jenzer Motorsport. He was joined by Pål Varhaug, who raced for Jenzer in Formula Master in 2009, and Nico Müller, who raced for Jenzer in the Formula Renault Eurocup and was champion in the Swiss Formula Renault 2.0 series. Trummer was injured at Hockenheim and was replaced by European F3 Open championship leader Marco Barba in Hungary. Trummer returned at Spa.

Doru Sechelariu, 2009 Formula BMW Europe driver for Eifelland Racing drove for Tech 1 Racing. He was joined in Barcelona by two drivers who were dovetailing GP3 commitments with other series. Daniel Juncadella contested the first round at Barcelona, but his main focus was a campaign in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Stefano Coletti combined his Formula Renault 3.5 programme with his GP3 commitments, replacing Juncadella from Turkey onwards. Jean-Éric Vergne's main focus was to win the British Formula 3 Championship, and with Vergne racing at Hockenheim in British Formula 3, he was replaced by ART Grand Prix Formula 3 Euro Series driver Jim Pla in Turkey. Vergne returned for Valencia, but was replaced by Juncadella for Silverstone, as he signed a deal to complete the season in GP3, as well as Euro Series commitments. With Juncadella missing the round in Hungary due to a guest drive in British Formula 3 at Spa, Tech 1 had wished to field their Eurocup Formula Renault driver Arthur Pic at the meeting. However, they fielded just two cars, as they have used up their allotment of five drivers for the season, and did not receive total approval from the other teams for Pic to drive. Juncadella returned at Spa.

Atech CRS GP signed Formula Master graduate Patrick Reiterer and former British Formula 3 racer Oliver Oakes to drive two of their cars. The third was driven by Vittorio Ghirelli, after he stepped down from Team Ghinzani in Italian Formula Three. Reiterer was replaced for the round in Valencia by Formula 3 Euro Series racer Roberto Merhi.

Season

First ever round in GP3 Series began in Catalunya. Qualifying was won by Nigel Melker. Feature race was won by Pål Varhaug and sprint race was taken in top by American driver Alexander Rossi. In the second round, at Istanbul, Nigel Melker take again pole position for the feature race. The feature race was won by Esteban Gutiérrez, and Rio Haryanto storms to epic Race 2 victory. Third stop, was in Portimão, taking to 19–20 June, but event was cancelled along with GP2 Series. Then, the battle was reversed on Valencia, and win in Race 1 was taken by Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez, while Nico Müller dominates in Race 2. Fourth round was in Silverstone, second consecutive feature race win for Esteban Gutiérrez. Daniel Morad take victory Race 2 from 2nd on the grid. Fifth round was in Hockenheim, first race was won by Robert Wickens, while Mexican dominates in Race 2. Sixth stop was at the Hungaroring. For the first time, Esteban Gutiérrez doesn't have win in each races. First race was won by Nico Müller, and second was dominated by Alexander Rossi. In seventh stop, at Spa-Francorchamps, there was a lot of rain in first race and the race would be stopped. The winner was Robert Wickens, and in second race there was again rain, and all drivers goes to slicks, except Adrien Tambay, who won from 27th on the grid! Final round, at Monza there was only two title contenders - Esteban Gutiérrez and Robert Wickens. Mexican win in qualifying with victory in Race 1 and fastest lap. He won the title, but in second race, he crashed and the race was over for him. Robert Wickens set the victory and the fastest lap. He crashed in the pit lane, but comfortably last win of the first ever year of GP3 Series.

The car

The first chassis used by the GP3 Series was the GP3/10 built by Dallara, who also produces cars in the championship's sister series GP2. It is equipped with a 6-speed paddle shift gearbox and a four-cylinder 2.0 litre (122 cu in) turbocharged engine with 280 bhp developed by Renault Sport. The chassis used tyres supplied by Pirelli, who would then go on to be the tyre supplier for Formula One and GP2 from 2011.

2010 Schedule

An eight-round calendar was announced on 18 December 2009.^[39] On 30 April 2010, it was announced that the series would increase to nine rounds, with a round in support of the Turkish Grand Prix added.^[40] With the cancellation of the round in Portimão, the calendar returned to eight rounds.^[41]

Round		Location	Circuit	Date	Supporting
1	R1	Catalunya, Spain	Circuit de Catalunya	8 May	Spanish Grand Prix
	R2			9 May
2	R1	Istanbul, Turkey	Istanbul Racing Circuit	29 May	Turkish Grand Prix
	R2			30 May
3	R1	Valencia. Spain	Valencia Street Circuit	26 June	European Grand Prix
	R2			27 June
4	R1	Silverstone, UK	Silverstone Circuit	10 July	British Grand Prix
	R2			11 July
5	R1	Hockenheim, Germany	Hockenheimring	24 July	German Grand Prix
	R2			25 July
6	R1	Budapest, Hungary	Hungaroring	31 July	Hungarian Grand Prix
	R2			1 August
7	R1	Spa, Belgium	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	28 August	Belgian Grand Prix
	R2			29 August
8	R1	Monza, Italy	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	11 September	Italian Grand Prix
	R2			12 September

The following rounds were included on the provisional calendars published by the FIA but were cancelled:

Round	Location	Circuit	Date	Supporting
R1	Portimão, Portugal	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve	19 June	GP2 Series
R2			20 June

Results

Round		Circuit	Pole Position	Fastest lap[42]	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Report
1	R1	Circuit de Catalunya	Nigel Melker	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs[c]	Pål Varhaug	Jenzer Motorsport	Report
	R2			Alexander Rossi	Alexander Rossi	ART Grand Prix
2	R1	Istanbul Park	Nigel Melker	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Robert Wickens[d]	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing
3	R1	Valencia Street Circuit	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Roberto Merhi	Nico Müller	Jenzer Motorsport
4	R1	Silverstone Circuit	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Daniel Morad	Daniel Morad	Status Grand Prix
5	R1	Hockenheimring	Josef Newgarden[e]	Robert Wickens	Robert Wickens	Status Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	ART Grand Prix
6	R1	Hungaroring	Nico Müller	Esteban Gutiérrez	Nico Müller	Jenzer Motorsport	Report
	R2			Robert Wickens	Alexander Rossi	ART Grand Prix
7	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Robert Wickens[f]	Nico Müller	Robert Wickens	Status Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Nico Müller	Adrien Tambay	Manor Racing
8	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	Esteban Gutiérrez	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Pål Varhaug[g]	Robert Wickens	Status Grand Prix

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver CAT IST VAL SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ Points 1 Esteban Gutiérrez 3 3 1 7 1 7 1 3 4 1 2 5 16 7 1 Ret 88 2 Robert Wickens 2 4 11 21 2 16 9 5 1 5 4 2 1 11 2 1 71 3 Nico Müller 13 9 6 4 7 1 3 4 Ret 17 1 6 4 6 4 3 53 4 Alexander Rossi 8 1 4 3 Ret Ret 5 2 Ret 8 8 1 13 2 Ret 15 38 5 Rio Haryanto 20 25 8 1 6 4 2 Ret Ret Ret 20 11 18 18 3 23 27 6 Roberto Merhi 3 2 Ret 19 16 Ret Ret 22 2 22† 6 4 26 7 Dean Smith 4 5 22† 10 17 23 6 22 9 12 5 3 6 4 Ret 16 24 8 James Jakes 9 7 2 8 8 3 Ret 11 2 Ret 13 Ret 21 9 Stefano Coletti 24† 14 10 6 10 Ret 5 3 3 4 Ret 24 16 20 18 10 Miki Monrás 10 23 7 2 5 13 15 18 Ret 15 Ret 20 9 3 11 6 17 11 Mirko Bortolotti 16 Ret 25† 12 18 10 8 13 6 4 11 8 Ret 14 5 2 16 12 Daniel Morad Ret 22 5 5 19 12 7 1 Ret 9 21 12 Ret 16 9 7 15 13 Pål Varhaug 1 Ret 15 18 11 8 14 9 12 Ret 17 23 15 17 14 19 10 14 Daniel Juncadella 11 11 Ret Ret 8 2 5 DSQ 22 Ret 10 15 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 21 26 Ret Ret 12 5 Ret Ret DNS 18 12 7 3 5 17 22 10 16 Felipe Guimarães Ret 20 3 6 Ret 18 Ret 23 7 7 13 Ret Ret 9 Ret 17 9 17 Jean-Éric Vergne 5 21 4 17 9 18 Josef Newgarden Ret 16 10 23 Ret 26 16 10 18† 19 7 Ret Ret 21 7 5 8 19 Lucas Foresti 7 2 21 28 18 16 Ret 14 20 Ret 7 20 Adrien Tambay 18 9 Ret 1 6 21 Renger van der Zande 15 24 Ret Ret Ret 24 11 7 3 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 22 Tobias Hegewald 17 13 16 15 9 29† 4 6 Ret Ret 15 Ret 11 8 10 11 6 23 Nigel Melker Ret 14 23 17 Ret 15 12 Ret Ret Ret 23 14 12 15 8 13 5 24 Pedro Nunes 12 6 Ret 19 15 11 Ret 20 14 6 19 Ret 7 19 24 Ret 4 25 Simon Trummer 6 8 20 13 13 27 17 12 11 Ret 8 Ret Ret 24 4 26 António Félix da Costa 6 17 Ret 12 3 27 Leonardo Cordeiro 18 12 18 24 Ret 21 Ret Ret Ret Ret 22 13 14 Ret Ret 8 1 28 Oliver Oakes 14 10 12 Ret Ret 19 13 8 13 20† 16 10 17 10 12 9 0 29 Doru Sechelariu 22 Ret 9 9 Ret 20 Ret 17 10 DSQ 14 21 Ret 20 21 18 0 30 Pablo Sánchez López Ret 15 21 16 14 9 21 14 Ret 11 Ret 16 Ret 25 18 12 0 31 Michael Christensen Ret 18 13 11 Ret 14 Ret 15 Ret 10 10 Ret 10 23† 15 10 0 32 Ivan Lukashevich 19 19 19 27 16 25 19 Ret 17 13 25 18 Ret 13 19 14 0 33 Patrick Reiterer NC 17 14 25 0 34 Vittorio Ghirelli DNS DNS 17 26 20 22 20 21 15 16 24 15 Ret Ret 23 21 0 35 Marco Barba Ret 19 0 36 Jim Pla Ret 20 0 37 Mikhail Aleshin Ret 22 0 Pos Driver CAT IST VAL SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position point(s) Italics Fastest lap point(s)

Teams' Championship

Pos Team No CAT IST VAL SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ Points 1 ART Grand Prix 1 8 1 4 3 Ret Ret 5 2 Ret 8 8 1 13 2 Ret 15 130 2 3 3 1 7 1 7 1 3 4 1 2 5 16 7 1 Ret 3 12 6 Ret 19 15 11 Ret 20 14 6 19 Ret 7 19 19 Ret 2 Status Grand Prix 4 2 4 11 21 2 16 9 5 1 5 4 2 1 11 2 1 86 5 19 19 19 27 16 25 19 Ret 17 13 25 18 Ret 13 19 14 6 Ret 22 5 5 19 12 7 1 Ret 9 21 12 Ret 16 9 7 3 Jenzer Motorsport 23 1 Ret 15 18 11 8 14 9 12 Ret 17 23 15 17 14 19 67 24 6 8 20 13 13 27 17 12 11 Ret Ret 19 8 Ret Ret 24 25 13 9 6 4 7 1 3 4 Ret 17 1 6 4 6 4 3 4 Manor Racing 7 9 7 2 8 8 3 Ret 11 2 Ret 18 9 Ret 1 13 Ret 64 8 20 25 8 1 6 4 2 Ret Ret Ret 20 11 18 18 3 23 9 21 26 Ret Ret 12 5 Ret Ret DNS 18 12 7 3 5 17 22 5 Carlin 14 Ret 16 10 23 Ret 26 16 10 18† 19 7 Ret Ret 21 7 5 42 15 4 5 22† 10 19 12 6 22 9 12 5 3 6 4 Ret 16 16 7 2 Ret 22 21 28 18 16 Ret 14 6 17 Ret 12 20 Ret 6 Tech 1 Racing 26 22 Ret 9 9 Ret 20 Ret 17 10 DSQ 14 21 Ret 20 21 18 37 27 11 11 24† 14 10 6 10 Ret 5 3 3 4 Ret 24 16 20 28 5 21 Ret 20 4 17 Ret Ret 8 2 5 DSQ 22 Ret 7 Atech CRS GP 29 NC 17 14 25 3 2 Ret 19 16 Ret Ret 22 2 22† 6 4 26 30 14 10 12 Ret Ret 19 13 8 13 20† 16 10 17 10 12 9 31 DNS DNS 17 26 20 22 20 21 15 16 24 15 Ret Ret 23 21 8 Addax Team 17 Ret 20 3 6 Ret 18 Ret 23 7 7 13 Ret Ret 9 Ret 17 25 18 Ret 15 21 16 14 9 21 14 Ret 11 Ret 16 Ret 25 18 12 19 16 Ret 25† 12 18 10 8 13 6 4 11 8 Ret 14 5 2 9 MW Arden 20 Ret 18 13 11 Ret 14 Ret 15 Ret 10 10 Ret 10 23† 15 10 18 21 10 23 7 2 5 13 15 18 Ret 15 Ret 20 9 3 11 6 22 18 12 18 24 Ret 21 Ret Ret Ret Ret 22 13 14 Ret Ret 8 10 RSC Mücke Motorsport 10 Ret 14 23 17 Ret 15 12 Ret Ret Ret 23 14 12 15 8 13 17 11 15 24 Ret Ret Ret 24 11 7 3 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 17 13 16 15 9 29† 4 6 Ret Ret 15 Ret 11 8 12 11 Pos Team No CAT IST VAL SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position point(s) Italics Fastest lap point(s)

• Drivers who did not finish the race but were classified are marked with †.