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.
The calendar for the 2012 series was unveiled on 16 December 2011. [57] 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.
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. [40]
| 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 |
Points were awarded to the top 8 classified finishers. [40]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
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Notes:
| Pos | Team | Car No. | SEP | BHR1 | BHR2 | CAT | MON | VAL [q] | SIL | HOC | HUN | SPA | MNZ | MRN | Points | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 3 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 18 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 342 |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | Ret | 6 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 17 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 25† | 8 | 8 | 2 | Ret | 21 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 2 | | 9 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 2 | Ret | 20† | 8 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 14 | Ret | 10 | 336 |
| 10 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 23† | 8 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 9 | Ret | 2 | 6 | |||
| 3 | | 22 | 23 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 24† | 23 | 20 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | Ret | 14 | 226 |
| 23 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 20 | Ret | 16 | 5 | 4 | |||
| 4 | | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 18 | Ret | 4 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | Ret | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 212 |
| 6 | 11 | 8 | 21† | Ret | 12 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 15 | |||
| 5 | | 26 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 19† | 14 | Ret | 1 | 11 | 12 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 207 |
| 27 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 5 | Ret | 10 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 11 | |||
| 6 | | 7 | 13 | Ret | 13 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | Ret | 21 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 18 | Ret | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 202 |
| 8 | 17 | 12 | DNS | 7 | 24† | 22 | 9 | DNS | 6 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 5 | 18 | 18 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 3 | Ret | Ret | |||
| 7 | | 11 | Ret | 18 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 23 | Ret | 23 | 20 | 23 | 16 | Ret | 14 | 22 | 20 | Ret | 14 | 166 |
| 12 | 9 | 4 | Ret | 9 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 21† | 5 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 21 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 1 | |||
| 8 | | 1 | Ret | 22 | Ret | 22† | 9 | Ret | 18 | 13 | 1 | Ret | DSQ | Ret | 2 | 18† | 1 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 17 | Ret | 2 | 5 | Ret | 9 | 131 |
| 2 | 14 | 9 | 19† | 11 | Ret | Ret | 20 | 16 | Ret | 10 | DSQ | 11 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 24† | 17 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 17 | |||
| 9 | | 20 | 21 | 24† | 17 | 13 | 23 | 20 | Ret | 23 | 20 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 18 | 15 | DSQ | 16 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 44 |
| 21 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 11 | Ret | 16 | 9 | Ret | 13 | 9 | Ret | 15 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 8 | |||
| 10 | | 16 | 19 | 19 | 11 | Ret | 17 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 8 | Ret | 14 | Ret | 13 | Ret | 3 | 21 | 17 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 22† | 34 |
| 17 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 24 | 17 | 21 | Ret | 12 | 8 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 16 | |||
| 11 | | 24 | Ret | 17 | 10 | Ret | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 16 | Ret | 17 | 18 | 17 | DNS | Ret | 23 | 21 | 23 | Ret | 18 | 23 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 26 |
| 25 | 16 | 14 | 20† | 18 | 19 | 11 | 14 | 24 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 13 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 18 | Ret | DNS | 11 | Ret | 12 | 12 | |||
| 12 | | 18 | 10 | 21 | 14 | 19 | Ret | 23 | 17 | 10 | 19 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 11 | 22† | 22 | 14 | 22 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 11 | 16 | DSQ | 1 |
| 19 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 25 | Ret | 22 | Ret | Ret | 16 | 19 | 16 | 24 | Ret | 20 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 13 | Ret | Ret | |||
| — | | 14 | 5 | 23† | Ret | 23† | 21 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 10 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 20 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 20† | 8 | 1 | 22 | Ret | DNS | 0 [r] |
| 15 | 20 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 17 | 22 | 8 | 19 | 22 | 11 | 24 | 16 | 12 | 21 | Ret | Ret | 20 | |||
| Pos | Team | Car No. | SEP | BHR1 | BHR2 | CAT | MON | VAL [q] | SIL | HOC | HUN | SPA | MNZ | MRN | Points | ||||||||||||
| Sources: [40] [61] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
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).
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.