Season of Formula One feeder championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2012 GP2 Series season was the forty-sixth season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also eighth season under the GP2 Series moniker and also the first season after merging with the GP2 Asia Series.[1] The championship was expanded to include rounds in Malaysia, Bahrain and Singapore, in support of the 2012 Formula One season.
The series adopted the points system used by Formula One for the feature race, with points awarded to the top ten drivers and twenty-five points on offer for victory. The points awarded in the sprint race were also changed, with the winner receiving fifteen points and top eight drivers receiving points. Further changes mean that drivers must use two compounds of tyres over a race weekend, as is the case in Formula One.[2] The points awarded for pole position and the fastest lap of the race were doubled as well.
The title was won by Italian Davide Valsecchi, driving for DAMS. After leading in the championship after winning sprint race in Silverstone, Luiz Razia ultimately got to second in the championship after score four victories. Esteban Gutierrez came third with 3 victories and finished just ahead of Max Chilton, who had 2 wins.
After competing as LotusART in 2011, ART Grand Prix was renamed as Lotus Grand Prix in both the GP2 and GP3 Series championships, reflecting their increased relationship with title sponsor Lotus Cars.[14] The cars will carry a black and gold livery modelled on the livery used by parent team Lotus F1.
Giedo van der Garde switched from teams' champions Barwa Addax Team to Caterham Racing; he also joined parent team Caterham F1 as test and reserve driver.[19]
Tom Dillmann, who finished 14th in the GP3 Series, joined Rapax.[29] Dillmann competed for iSport at the 2011 GP2 Final in Abu Dhabi.
Rio Haryanto, who finished seventh in both the GP3 Series and Auto GP in 2011, joined MarussiaCarlin.[38] Haryanto competed for DAMS at the 2011 GP2 Final in Abu Dhabi.
Dutch driver Nigel Melker, who finished third in the GP3 Series, joined Ocean Racing Technology.[37] Melker had previously competed in the 2011 GP2 Final with DAMS.
Dani Clos replaced Josef Král at the Barwa Addax Team for the Bahrain rounds of the championship.[6] No explanation was given for the replacement. Král returned to the seat in Montmeló[50] after Clos drove for HRT F1 in the first practice session of the Grand Prix;[51] under the rules of the GP2 Series, no driver who takes part in a Grand Prix weekend is permitted to drive in the event's GP2 support races.
Daniël de Jong joined Rapax for the Valencia round after regular driver Ricardo Teixeira was taken ill.[30]Tom Dillmann was moved to Teixeira's car to represent Teixeira's sponsors, while de Jong drove Dillmann's vacated car. Teixeira returned to his car for the Silverstone round, with de Jong replacing Dillmann; Dillmann rejoined the team in his original car for Hockenheim, before sitting out the remainder of the season.
The calendar for the 2012 series was unveiled on 16 December 2011.[55] The calendar was expanded to twelve rounds, featuring new races in Malaysia, Singapore, and Bahrain. The championship featured twenty-four races, a record high for the series.
The series also supported the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix on the weekend of 22 April, with an independent round of the championship also taking place at the circuit during the following week.
The series travelled to Singapore for the first time in its history, supporting the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix.
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.
Feature race points
More information Position, Points ...
Position
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6th
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8th
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Pole
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18
15
12
10
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1
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Sprint race points
Points were awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.
Cecotto, Serenelli and González competed under a civil Venezuelan racing licence in rounds 1–3 and a state Venezuelan licence for the rest of the season.
Lotus GP competed under a French licence.
Venezuela GP Lazarus competed under an Italian licence.
Fabrizio Crestani set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Rio Haryanto was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
James Calado set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Davide Valsecchi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Jolyon Palmer set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Luiz Razia was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Victor Guerin set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Luiz Razia was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Felipe Nasr set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Fabio Leimer was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Julián Leal set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Marcus Ericsson was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Fabio Onidi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Johnny Cecotto Jr. was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Stéphane Richelmi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. James Calado was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Simon Trummer set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Davide Valsecchi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Esteban Gutiérrez set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Giedo van der Garde was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Max Chilton set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Stefano Coletti was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Luca Filippi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Davide Valsecchi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Luca Filippi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Esteban Gutiérrez was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Nathanaël Berthon set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Stefano Coletti was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
Barwa Addax Team were disqualified from the Feature race in Valencia due to a technical infringement.[57]
Following what the team described as a "disagreement" between the team and series organisers, Scuderia Coloni announced its intentions to leave the GP2 Series at the end of the 2012 season, and formally forfeited all of the points it had received to date and would receive for the remainder of the season.[58]
"2012 GP2 Series Round 1 Preview– Sepang". GP2 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012. The opening round of the 2012 season sees three rookies join: Felipe Nasr (DAMS), Giancarlo Serenelli (Venezuela GP Lazarus), and Jon Lancaster (Ocean Racing Technology).
"2012 GP2 Series Round 2 Preview– Sakhir, Bahrain". GP2 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012. There will be two driver changes this week: Dani Clos replaces Josef Kral at Barwa Addax Team whilst Brendon Hartley takes over Jon Lancaster at Ocean Racing Technology.