2016 GP3 Series

The 2016 GP3 Series was the seventh season of the third-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also seventh season under the moniker of GP3 Series, a motor racing feeder series that runs in support of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship and sister series GP2. In keeping with the series' philosophy of updating its technical regulations every three years, the Dallara GP3/13 chassis introduced in the 2013 season was discontinued and Dallara supplied all teams with a new model known as the GP3/16, which will be used until 2018.^[1]

2016 GP3 Series

Drivers' Champion: Charles Leclerc
Teams' Champion: ART Grand Prix

Previous

2015

Next

2017

Parent series:
Formula One
GP2 Series

Charles Leclerc (pictured in 2019), the series champion.

ART Grand Prix started the season as the defending teams' champions.

Mecachrome took over as official engine supplier of the series from 2016 onwards, replacing AER after three years but the 3.4-litre V6 naturally-aspirated would remain.

ART Grand Prix started the season as the defending teams' champions, and successfully defended their title, securing the championship after the first race at Monza.^[2] Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, who drove for ART Grand Prix, won the drivers' title after the first race in the final round in Abu Dhabi.^[3]

The most races were won by runner-up Alexander Albon, who scored 4 race wins, he lost the title by 25 points to his ART Grand Prix teammate Charles Leclerc who took 3 feature race wins; Antonio Fuoco took 2 race wins, Jake Dennis and Nyck de Vries also took 2 podiums each on the top step. Jake Hughes took 2 sprint race wins; he won in Hockenheim and Yas Marina. Jack Aitken, Matthew Parry, and Ralph Boschung each took 1 race win during the season.

Teams and drivers

Teams are allowed to run four cars to compensate for the drop in the number of entries.^[4] The starting grid for any individual race meeting may contain a possible maximum of 28 cars across seven teams.

Team	No.	Driver name	Rounds
ART Grand Prix[5]	1	Charles Leclerc[6]	All
	2	Nirei Fukuzumi[7]	All
	3	Alexander Albon[8]	All
	4	Nyck de Vries[9]	All
Trident[5]	5	Antonio Fuoco[10]	All
	6	Artur Janosz[10]	All
	7	Giuliano Alesi[10]	All
	8	Sandy Stuvik[10]	All
Arden International[5]	9	Jake Dennis[11]	All
	10	Tatiana Calderón[12]	All
	11	Jack Aitken[13]	All
Koiranen GP[5]	14	Matt Parry[14]	All
	15	Mahaveer Raghunathan[15]	1
	16	Matevos Isaakyan[16]	All
	17	Ralph Boschung[17]	1–5, 7
		Niko Kari[18]	6
Jenzer Motorsport[5]	18	Akash Nandy[19]	All
	19	Richard Gonda[20]	1–2, 4
		Óscar Tunjo[21]	6
		Alessio Lorandi[22]	8–9
	20	Óscar Tunjo[21]	1–2
		Arjun Maini[23]	3–9
Campos Racing[5]	22	Álex Palou[24]	All
	23	Steijn Schothorst[25]	All
	24	Konstantin Tereshchenko[25]	All
DAMS[5]	26	Santino Ferrucci[26]	All
	27	Jake Hughes[26]	All
	28	Kevin Jörg[26]	All

Driver changes

Entering GP3

• Alexander Albon, who finished seventh in the 2015 European Formula 3 season, entered the series, with ART Grand Prix.^[8]
• Giuliano Alesi, son of former Formula One driver Jean Alesi, graduated to the series from French F4 with Trident, with backing from Scuderia Ferrari.^[10]
• 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps runner-up Jake Hughes, 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC runner-up Kevin Jörg and European Formula 3 driver Santino Ferrucci joined the series with newcomers DAMS.
• Jake Dennis, who finished third in the 2015 European Formula 3 season, entered the series with Arden International.^[11]
• Matevos Isaakyan, who contested the last two rounds of the 2015 season for Koiranen GP, moved to the series full-time with the team.^[16]
• 2015 Euroformula Open runner-up Konstantin Tereshchenko and 2015 Renault Sport Trophy runner-up Steijn Schothorst joined the series with Campos Racing.^[25]
• 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Alps champion Jack Aitken graduated to the series with Arden.
• 2015 European Formula 3 entrant and 2015–16 MRF Challenge runner-up Tatiana Calderón entered the series with Arden International.^[12]
• Nirei Fukuzumi, who finished fourth in Japanese F3 in 2015, stepped up to the series with ART Grand Prix.^[7]
• European Formula 3 driver Mahaveer Raghunathan joined the series with Koiranen.
• 2015 European Formula 3 rookie champion Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth, entered the series with ART, with backing from Scuderia Ferrari.^[6]
• 2015 MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup and Asian Le Mans Series runner-up Akash Nandy moved to the series with Jenzer Motorsport.^[19]
• McLaren junior driver Nyck de Vries, who finished third in the 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season, joined the series with ART Grand Prix.^[9]

Changing teams

• Antonio Fuoco and Sandy Stuvik, who raced with Carlin and Status Grand Prix in 2015 respectively, switched to Trident.^[10]
• Ralph Boschung, who raced with Jenzer in 2015, moved to Koiranen.
• Óscar Tunjo, who won race at Spielberg with Trident in 2015, switched to Jenzer.^[21]

Leaving GP3

• Aleksander Bosak, who competed for Arden International in the 2015 season, switched to Formula V8 3.5 with Pons Racing.^[27]
• 2015 runner-up Luca Ghiotto left the series to continue his collaboration with Trident in GP2 Series, while Marvin Kirchhöfer, who finished behind Ghiotto also graduated to GP2 with Carlin.^[28]
• Jann Mardenborough, who finished ninth for Carlin in 2015, left the series to compete in both Super GT and All-Japan F3.^[29]
• Seb Morris, who raced with Status Grand Prix in the 2015 season, left the series to race in British GT with Team Parker Racing.^[30]
• 2015 season champion Esteban Ocon left the series as the reigning champion is not permitted to continue competing in the series. He joined the DTM with Mercedes-Benz.^[31]

Mid-season changes

• European Formula 3 driver Arjun Maini replaced Óscar Tunjo at Jenzer Motorsport from the Silverstone round onwards.^[23]
• Ralph Boschung was replaced by 2015 SMP F4 Championship winner Niko Kari, for the Spa round, with the team citing financial reasons for the decision.^[18]
• Alessio Lorandi joined Jenzer Motorsport for the last two rounds at Sepang and Yas Marina.^[22]

Team changes

• After having competed in the series since its inaugural season, Carlin and Status Grand Prix left the championship due to lack of sponsorships.
• DAMS, which operates across multiple single-seater championships, left Formula Renault 3.5 Series to join the GP3 series.^[5]
• Virtuosi Racing were scheduled to enter, but were removed from the entry list before the season.^[5]

Calendar

On 4 March 2016, the full calendar was revealed with nine rounds taking place.^[32]

Round		Circuit/Location	Country	Date	Supporting
1	R1	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona	Spain	14 May	Spanish Grand Prix
	R2			15 May
2	R1	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	Austria	2 July	Austrian Grand Prix
	R2			3 July
3	R1	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	United Kingdom	9 July	British Grand Prix
	R2			10 July
4	R1	Hungaroring, Budapest	Hungary	23 July	Hungarian Grand Prix
	R2			24 July
5	R1	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	Germany	30 July	German Grand Prix
	R2			31 July
6	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps	Belgium	27 August	Belgian Grand Prix
	R2			28 August
7	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	Italy	3 September	Italian Grand Prix
	R2			4 September
8	R1	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	Malaysia	1 October	Malaysian Grand Prix
	R2			2 October
9	R1	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	26 November	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
	R2			27 November
Sources:[33][34]

Calendar changes

• The series will return to the Hockenheimring in support of the German Grand Prix, and will make its début at the Sepang International Circuit.
• The rounds at the Sochi Autodrom and the Bahrain International Circuit were discontinued for the 2016 season.

Results

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap[35]	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya	Jake Hughes	Charles Leclerc	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Óscar Tunjo	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix
2	R1	Red Bull Ring	Charles Leclerc	Charles Leclerc	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Ralph Boschung	Ralph Boschung	Koiranen GP
3	R1	Silverstone Circuit	Alexander Albon	Alexander Albon	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Alexander Albon[a]	Antonio Fuoco	Trident
4	R1	Hungaroring	Nyck de Vries	Nyck de Vries[b]	Matt Parry	Koiranen GP	Report
	R2			Alexander Albon	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix
5	R1	Hockenheimring	Alexander Albon	Charles Leclerc	Antonio Fuoco	Trident	Report
	R2			Jake Hughes	Jake Hughes	DAMS
6	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Charles Leclerc	Charles Leclerc	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Jack Aitken	Jack Aitken	Arden International
7	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Charles Leclerc	Jake Hughes	Jake Dennis	Arden International	Report
	R2			Nyck de Vries	Nyck de Vries	ART Grand Prix
8	R1	Sepang International Circuit	Charles Leclerc	Alexander Albon	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Antonio Fuoco[c]	Jake Dennis	Arden International
9	R1	Yas Marina Circuit	Alexander Albon	Jack Aitken	Nyck de Vries	ART Grand Prix	Report
	R2			Jake Dennis	Jake Hughes	DAMS
Source:[36]

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the race 1, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the race 2. The pole-sitter in the race 1 also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the race 1 and race 2. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the race 2.^[37]

Race 1 points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pole	FL
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	4	2

Race 2 points

Points were awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.^[37]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	FL
Points	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	2

Drivers' championship

Pos. Driver CAT RBR SIL HUN HOC SPA MNZ SEP YMC Points R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Charles Leclerc 1 9 1 Ret 2 3 6 3 5 3 1 6 4 Ret 3 5 Ret 9 202 2 Alexander Albon 6 1 2 2 1 14 7 1 4 Ret 9 10 6 2 1 8 Ret Ret 177 3 Antonio Fuoco 4 3 5 3 3 1 2 10 1 18† 4 2 8 3 8 Ret 16 17 157 4 Jake Dennis 7 4 Ret Ret 12 9 3 7 12 6 2 5 1 4 6 1 2 4 149 5 Jack Aitken 20 19 9 5 13 6 9 6 6 2 5 1 2 5 2 3 3 2 148 6 Nyck de Vries 9 5 3 4 5 8 20 13 2 8 3 8 7 1 13 6 1 11 133 7 Nirei Fukuzumi 3 13 7 Ret 11 7 4 4 Ret 11 Ret 15 5 Ret 7 2 5 3 91 8 Jake Hughes 2 8 8 6 Ret 17 23 19 8 1 Ret Ret 3 10 Ret 12 7 1 90 9 Matt Parry 12 20 6 7 4 16 1 5 3 7 Ret Ret 9 17 9 4 Ret 12 82 10 Arjun Maini 8 19 8 2 7 5 Ret 16 14 6 4 7 14 14 50 11 Ralph Boschung 10 10 4 1 6 12 5 22 15 Ret 18 9 48 12 Santino Ferrucci 15 11 15 10 18 4 15 11 9 4 7 3 19† 11 Ret Ret 9 15 36 13 Steijn Schothorst Ret 22 20 12 14 5 22 20 Ret 17 6 7 13 13 5 10 6 7 36 14 Kevin Jörg 5 7 13 14 15 11 10 9 14 10 11 Ret NC 12 12 11 4 8 26 15 Álex Palou 19 14 16 11 10 2 11 14 16 19† 13 11 11 7 14 19 10 5 22 16 Óscar Tunjo 8 2 14 13 15 DNS 18 17 Matevos Isaakyan 11 6 Ret Ret 21 18 12 8 Ret 13 8 4 Ret Ret 15 14 Ret 16 17 18 Sandy Stuvik 18 15 10 8 7 10 18 18 Ret 12 Ret 17† 12 15 10 20 15 18 9 19 Konstantin Tereshchenko 17 21 18 Ret 20 13 16 17 Ret 15 17 Ret 17 14 17 17 8 6 8 20 Artur Janosz 16 12 11 9 9 15 14 12 11 Ret 12 9 16 8 Ret 16 Ret 19 3 21 Tatiana Calderón 14 18 17 Ret 17 20 21 21 10 9 14 Ret 10 16 Ret 15 Ret Ret 2 22 Giuliano Alesi 22 16 DNS DNS 16 Ret 19 16 Ret 14 10 12 DNS 19 16 13 11 10 1 23 Alessio Lorandi 11 9 12 20 0 24 Akash Nandy 21 23 12 Ret 19 21 17 Ret 13 16 16 13 15 18 Ret 18 13 13 0 25 Richard Gonda 13 17 19 Ret 13 15 0 26 Niko Kari Ret 14 0 27 Mahaveer Raghunathan 23 24 0 Pos. Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Points CAT RBR SIL HUN HOC SPA MNZ SEP YMC Sources:[37][38]

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)

Notes:

• † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

Only three best-finishing cars are allowed to score points in the championship.^[39]

Pos. Team CAT RBR SIL HUN HOC SPA MNZ SEP YMC Points R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 ART Grand Prix 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 1 2 3 1 6 4 1 1 2 1 3 588 3 5 2 4 2 7 6 3 4 8 3 8 5 2 3 5 5 9 6 9 3 Ret 5 8 7 4 5 11 9 10 6 Ret 7 6 Ret 11 2 Arden International 7 4 9 5 12 6 3 6 6 2 2 1 1 4 2 1 2 2 297 14 18 17 Ret 13 9 9 7 10 6 5 5 2 5 6 3 3 4 20 19 Ret Ret 17 20 21 21 12 9 Ret Ret 10 16 Ret 15 Ret Ret 3 Trident 4 3 5 3 3 1 2 10 1 12 4 2 8 3 8 13 11 10 170 16 12 10 8 7 10 14 12 11 14 10 9 12 8 10 16 15 17 18 15 11 9 9 15 18 16 Ret Ret 12 12 16 15 16 20 16 18 4 DAMS 2 7 8 6 15 4 10 9 8 1 7 3 3 10 12 11 4 1 152 5 8 13 10 18 11 15 11 9 4 11 Ret 19† 11 Ret 12 7 8 15 11 15 14 Ret 17 23 19 14 10 Ret Ret NC 12 Ret Ret 9 15 5 Koiranen GP 10 6 4 1 4 12 1 5 3 7 8 4 9 9 9 4 Ret 12 147 11 10 6 7 5 16 5 8 15 13 Ret 14 18 17 15 14 Ret 16 12 20 Ret Ret 21 18 12 22 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Jenzer Motorsport 8 2 12 13 8 19 8 2 7 5 15 13 14 6 4 7 12 13 68 13 17 14 Ret 19 21 13 15 13 16 16 16 15 18 11 9 13 14 21 23 19 Ret 17 Ret Ret DNS Ret 18 14 20 7 Campos Racing 17 14 16 11 10 2 11 14 16 15 6 7 11 7 5 10 6 5 66 19 21 18 12 14 5 16 17 Ret 17 13 11 13 13 14 17 8 6 Ret 22 20 Ret 20 13 22 20 Ret Ret 17 Ret 17 14 17 19 10 7 Pos. Team R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Points CAT RBR SIL HUN HOC SPA MNZ SEP YMC Sources:[37][38]

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)

Notes:

• † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Footnotes

1. Alexander Albon set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jake Dennis was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
2. Nyck de Vries set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jake Dennis was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
3. Antonio Fuoco set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jake Dennis was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.