The 2008 GP2 Series season was the forty-second season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fourth season under the GP2 Series moniker. It began on 26 April at Montmeló, Spain and it finished on 14 September at Monza, Italy. This is the first season using a new car design to be used during the following 3 seasons. The series was won by Giorgio Pantano.
The fourth GP2 Series season started in Circuit de Catalunya. Pastor Maldonado took first pole position of the season, but he couldn't use the advantage after a very bad start. Alvaro Parente won in his debut race in the series. In the sprint race, Romain Grosjean was heading for victory until late-race safety car. When the safety car went back to the pits, Grosjean straight-lined chicane and lost momentum. He then blocked Kamui Kobayashi, receiving drive through penalty. Kobayashi won the race while Grosjean was left without points.
At Turkey, Giorgio Pantano won from pole in the feature race. Grosjean won the sprint race which included several incidents on the first lap, as well as two stray dogs on the track. One of them was hit by Bruno Senna whose car was damaged and he had to retire. Luckily Senna escaped without injury. Senna then won at Monaco, on the track where his uncle Ayrton had won six times. In the sprint race, which was held for the first time in Monaco, Mike Conway was victorious. He was heading for third place in feature race before being punted off by Javier Villa on the final lap. He was lucky in the event, as only eight drivers were unlapped, so he ended in eight and therefore for the pole in the sprint.
Magny-Cours feature race was won by Pantano after Grosjean and Senna suffered mechanical retirements. The sprint race started on damp track and few drivers gambled starting with slicks. This worked well for Arden drivers, as Sébastien Buemi won from 21st on the grid. His teammate Yelmer Buurman was second. At Silverstone Pantano won the feature again, and wet sprint race was dominated by Senna.
At Hockenheim Grosjean finished first on the road, but he was later penalized for overtaking under yellow flag, giving Pantano third straight feature race victory. Karun Chandhok won the sprint race from pole. At Hungaroring, Lucas di Grassi who had returned to GP2 in Magny-Cours, won the feature race, while Buemi won the sprint after polesitter Andy Soucek made a small mistake.
The feature race at Valencia ended in dramatic fashion. Pantano was on road for victory before he ran out of fuel on the final lap. Several other drivers suffered same fate, including Senna who could get his car over the finish line but in 9th place. Vitaly Petrov inherited the win. Pantano recovered well in sprint race to take third place while Senna crashed out. di Grassi was the winner.
With four races to go, Pantano led by 13 points on Senna and 20 on di Grassi. Senna took the pole in Spa, but his race was destroyed by drive through penalty for unsafe release by the team in his pit stop. Pantano suffered mechanical glitch during safety car and was dropped to back of the field. He was recovering until he collided with di Grassi on the final lap. Pantano was disqualified for the race and also excluded from the sprint. Grosjean won the feature while Maldonado took his first victory of the season in the sprint, overtaking Jérôme d'Ambrosio on the final lap.
Pantano got perfect start for final weekend with pole, therefore knocking di Grassi out from the championship hunt. A race started in wet conditions and mandatory pit stop was done as late as possible, as the track was ready for slicks. di Grassi won while Pantano ended in 10th after drive through penalty for crossing white line at the pit exit. It didn't matter much: while Senna couldn't finish better than 5th, Pantano clinched the title with one race to go. The sprint race was held in wet conditions as well and won by polesitter Davide Valsecchi.
All of the teams used the Dallara GP2/08 chassis with Renault-badged 4.0 litre (244 cu in) naturally-aspirated Mecachrome V8 engines order and with tyres supplied by Bridgestone. On 19 October 2007, it was announced that the same 13 teams which took part in 2007 would continue into 2008. [1]
The original calendar was released on 25 March 2008 and had a standalone event on the 31 May – 1 June at the Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit. However, on the 18 April 2008, it was confirmed that a deal had been agreed for a GP2 event to run alongside the new European GP at the Valencia Street Circuit instead of the original date at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Also, for the first time in the history of GP2, two races were held at Monaco. All of the races supported the Formula One Grands Prix indicated by the relevant flags, except the round at Valencia which supported the 2008 European Grand Prix.
Round | Location | Circuit | Date | Time [34] | Tyres [lower-alpha 3] | Supporting | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Local | UTC | |||||||
1 | F | ![]() | Circuit de Catalunya | 26 April | 16:00 | 14:00 | Hard | Spanish Grand Prix |
S | 27 April | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
2 | F | ![]() | Istanbul Park | 10 May | 16:00 | 13:00 | Hard | Turkish Grand Prix |
S | 11 May | 11:30 | 08:30 | |||||
3 | F | ![]() | Circuit de Monaco | 23 May | 11:15 | 09:15 | Super Soft | Monaco Grand Prix |
S | 24 May | 16:00 | 14:00 | |||||
4 | F | ![]() | Circuit de Magny-Cours | 21 June | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | French Grand Prix |
S | 22 June | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
5 | F | ![]() | Silverstone Circuit | 5 July | 15:00 | 14:00 | Medium | British Grand Prix |
S | 6 July | 09:30 | 08:30 | |||||
6 | F | ![]() | Hockenheimring | 19 July | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | German Grand Prix |
S | 20 July | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
7 | F | ![]() | Hungaroring | 2 August | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | Hungarian Grand Prix |
S | 3 August | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
8 | F | ![]() | Valencia Street Circuit | 23 August | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | European Grand Prix |
S | 24 August | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
9 | F | ![]() | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 6 September | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | Belgian Grand Prix |
S | 7 September | 10:30 | 08:30 | |||||
10 | F | ![]() | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | 13 September | 16:00 | 14:00 | Medium | Italian Grand Prix |
S | 14 September | 10:30 | 08:30 |
The following rounds were included on the provisional calendars published by the FIA but were cancelled:
Round | Location | Circuit | Date | Supporting |
---|---|---|---|---|
F | ![]() | Circuit Ricardo Tormo | 31 May | Stand-alone event |
S | 1 June |
Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 6 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race will also receive two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | Pole | FL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | FL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
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Giorgio Pantano is an Italian professional racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock. He also raced in Formula 3000. He retired from racing at the end of 2014.
Álvaro Parente is a Portuguese professional racing driver.
The 2006 GP2 Series season was the second season of the Formula One feeder championship GP2 Series. The season began at Circuit de Valencia, Spain on 8 April 2006 and ended in Monza, Italy on 10 September 2006. The championship was won by ART Grand Prix driver Lewis Hamilton, over Piquet Sports driver Nelson Piquet Jr.
Luca Filippi is an Italian auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver.
Andreas "Andi" Zuber is a motor racing driver. An Austrian by birth, he is based in Dubai and once raced under a licence issued by the United Arab Emirates.
Bruno Senna Lalli is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula One world champion. He is also the first driver to win a race in every class in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and was the 2017 WEC world champion in the LMP2 class.
The 2007 GP2 Series season was the forty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also third season under the GP2 Series moniker. The series began on 14 April at Bahrain. Timo Glock was crowned series champion on 30 September after winning the final round at Valencia, with Brazilian Lucas di Grassi finishing second.
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean is a French and Swiss professional racing driver, competing under the French flag. He currently drives in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing team. Grosjean previously spent nine full-time seasons in Formula One for a variety of teams, picking up 10 podiums, all with Lotus.
The 2008 GP2 Asia Series season was the first GP2 Asia Series season. It started on 25 January and ended on 12 April.
Davide Valsecchi is an Italian former racing driver and the 2012 GP2 Series champion.
The 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season was the second season of the GP2 Asia Series. It began on 18 October 2008 and ended on 26 April 2009 and consisted of eleven races at six events.
The 2009 GP2 Series season was the forty-third season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fifth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season consisted of twenty races at ten rounds, beginning on 9 May at the Circuit de Catalunya and finishing on 20 September at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. The Algarve circuit hosted its first GP2 weekend, and was the only new circuit on the calendar. The Nürburgring also returned as part of its rotation with Hockenheim as the home of the German Grand Prix.
The 2009 Turkish GP2 Race was the third race of the 2009 GP2 Series season. It was held on June 6 and 7, 2009 at Istanbul Racing Circuit in Tuzla, Turkey. The race was used as a support race to the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix.
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The 2011 GP2 Series season was the forty-fifth season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also seventh season under the GP2 Series moniker, the pan-European motor racing series for single specification open wheel GP2 cars. Thirteen teams competed over a nine event series that run from 7 May at Istanbul Park in Turkey to September 11 at Monza in Italy. The series again performed the role of a series for developing emerging young drivers, acting as the principal supporting motor racing series that fills in time between sessions of the nine World Championship Formula One Grands Prix that are held in Europe. The championship was won by reigning GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at the penultimate round of the series. Luca Filippi, Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic were all divided just by two points in their battle for the second, third and fourth places respectively. Christian Vietoris, Davide Valsecchi, Stefano Coletti, Esteban Gutiérrez and Fabio Leimer was the other race winners.
The 2011 GP2 Asia Series was the fourth and final season of the GP2 Asia Series, and the second to be held entirely in a single calendar year.
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