2016 GP2 Series

2016 GP2 Series season
Previous:	2015	Next:	2017
Parent series: Formula One Feeder series: GP3 Series

ART Grand Prix will start the season as the defending teams' champions.

The 2016 GP2 Series season will be the twelfth season of the GP2 Series, a motor racing feeder series that will be run in support of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship. It will be the final season for the Dallara GP2/11 chassis package that debuted in 2011. It will be also the final season for the current Mecachrome 4.0 Litre V8 normally-aspirated engine package that debuted in 2005 before the introduction of the new GP2 Series Mecachrome V6 twin-turbocharged engine formula in 2017.

ART Grand Prix will be the defending teams' champions after securing the title–their fourth in the championship–at the series' second visit to the Bahrain International Circuit in 2015.^[1]

Teams and drivers

Team	No.	Driver
ART Grand Prix[2]	1	Nobuharu Matsushita[3]
	2	Sergey Sirotkin[4]
Racing Engineering[2]	3	Norman Nato[5]
	4	Jordan King[6]
DAMS[2]	5	Alex Lynn[7]
	6	Nicholas Latifi[7]
Jagonya Ayam Campos Racing[2][8]	7	Mitch Evans[9]
	8	Sean Gelael[9]
Russian Time[2]	9	Raffaele Marciello[10]
	10	Artem Markelov[9]
Rapax[2]	11	Gustav Malja[11]
	12	Arthur Pic[12]
Trident[2]	14	Philo Paz Armand[13]
	15	Luca Ghiotto[14]
Status Grand Prix[2]	16	TBA
	17	TBA
Carlin[2]	18	TBA
	19	Marvin Kirchhöfer[15]
Prema Racing[16]	20	Antonio Giovinazzi[17]
	21	Pierre Gasly[18]
MP Motorsport[2]	22	Oliver Rowland[19]
	23	Daniël de Jong[20]
Arden International[2]	24	Nabil Jeffri[21]
	25	Jimmy Eriksson[21]

Driver changes

Changing teams

• Mitch Evans and Sean Gelael, who drove for Russian Time and Carlin respectively in 2015, will move to Campos Racing.^[9]
• Pierre Gasly, who spent the 2015 season with DAMS, will move to newcomers Prema Racing.^[18]
• Nicholas Latifi, who took part in three rounds of the 2015 season with MP Motorsport, will race full time with DAMS.^[7]
• Sergey Sirotkin, who finished third in 2015, moved from Rapax to defending champions ART Grand Prix.^[4]
• Raffaele Marciello, who raced for Trident in 2015, will switch to Russian Time.^[10]
• Norman Nato, who raced for Arden International in 2015, will switch to Racing Engineering.^[5]
• Arthur Pic, who raced for Campos in 2014 and 2015, will switch to Rapax.^[12]
• Oliver Rowland, who previously raced part-time for MP Motorsport and Status Grand Prix, will contest the full season with MP Motorsport, with backing from Renault.^[19]
• Gustav Malja, who raced for Trident and Rapax in 2015, will switch from Formula Renault 3.5 Series to race full time with Rapax.^[11]

Entering GP2

• 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series competitor Philo Paz Armand will join the series with Trident.^[13]
• GP3 Series race winner Jimmy Eriksson will make his series début with Arden International.^[21]
• 2015 GP3 runner-up Luca Ghiotto will graduate to the series with Trident.^[14]
• 2015 European Formula 3 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi will make his début in the series with Prema Racing.^[17]
• Nabil Jeffri will join the series with Arden.^[21]
• Marvin Kirchhöfer, who placed third in the 2014 and 2015 GP3 Series will join the series with Carlin.^[15]

Leaving GP2

• 2015 season champion Stoffel Vandoorne will leave the series as the reigning champion is not permitted to continue competing in the series. He will be joining the Super Formula with Docomo Team Dandelion Racing.^[22]
• Nathanaël Berthon left Lazarus and the series to join the FIA World Endurance Championship with G-Drive Racing.^[23]
• Richie Stanaway and Marco Sørensen, who raced for Status Grand Prix and Carlin, will join the FIA World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin Racing.^[24][25]
• Dean Stoneman and André Negrão left Carlin and Arden and the series to join the Indy Lights with Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.^[26][27]
• Rio Haryanto left Campos Racing and the series to join Formula One team Manor Racing.^[28]

Team changes

• Lazarus will leave the series at the end of the 2015 season, with their place taken by Prema Racing.^[16]
• Hilmer Motorsport left the series at the end of the 2015 season. As no replacement team could be found, the grid was left at twenty-four cars.

Calendar

On 4 March 2016, the full calendar was revealed with eleven rounds taking place.^[29]

Round		Circuit/Location	Country	Date	Supporting
1	Feature	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona	Spain	14 May	Spanish Grand Prix
	Sprint			15 May
2	Feature	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	Monaco	27 May	Monaco Grand Prix
	Sprint			28 May
3	Feature	Baku City Circuit, Baku	Azerbaijan	18 June	European Grand Prix
	Sprint			19 June
4	Feature	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	Austria	2 July	Austrian Grand Prix
	Sprint			3 July
5	Feature	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	United Kingdom	9 July	British Grand Prix
	Sprint			10 July
6	Feature	Hungaroring, Budapest	Hungary	23 July	Hungarian Grand Prix
	Sprint			24 July
7	Feature	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	Germany	30 July	German Grand Prix
	Sprint			31 July
8	Feature	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps	Belgium	27 August	Belgian Grand Prix
	Sprint			28 August
9	Feature	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	Italy	3 September	Italian Grand Prix
	Sprint			4 September
10	Feature	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	Malaysia	1 October	Malaysian Grand Prix
	Sprint			2 October
11	Feature	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	26 November	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
	Sprint			27 November

Calendar changes

• The series returned to the Hockenheimring in support of the German Grand Prix, and the Sepang International Circuit.^[29]
  • With the return to Germany, the second Bahrain round—which had filled in as a replacement event in 2015—was removed from the calendar.
• The rounds at the Bahrain International Circuit and the Sochi Autodrom were discontinued after the Bahrain and Russian Grands Prix were brought forward to the start of the Formula One season.^[29]
• The series will make its début at the Baku City Circuit in support of the returning European Grand Prix.^[29]

References

1. "Vandoorne leads Matsushita for an ART 1–2". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
2. "GP2 Series announce teams for 2014-16". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
3. "ART Grand Prix confirm Matsushita for a second season". gp2series.com. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
4. "Sirotkin joins ART Grand Prix for the 2016 season". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
5. "Racing Engineering confirm Norman Nato for 2016 season". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
6. "Jordan King stays with Racing Engineering for 2016 GP2 season". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
7. "DAMS announce 2016 line up". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 18 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
8. "Campos Racing signs Jagonya Ayam". gp2series.com. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
9. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (1 December 2015). "Evans and Gelael to join Campos for 2016 GP2 campaign". motorsport.com. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
10. "Russian Time confirm 2016 line up". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
11. "Rapax to field Gustav Malja for 2016 season". gp2series.com. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
12. "Rapax and Arthur Pic join forces for 2016 GP2 Series". gp2series.com. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
13. "Armand joins Trident team for the 2016 season". Trident Racing. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
14. "Ghiotto secures GP2 promotion with Trident". motorsport.com (Valentin Khorounzhiy). 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
15. "Kirchhofer graduates to GP2 with Carlin". Motorsport.com. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
16. "Prema take over Lazarus 2016 team entry". GP2Series.com (GP2 Series). 10 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
17. "European F3 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi gets Prema GP2 seat". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
18. "Gasly joins Prema Racing in 2016". GP2Series.com (GP2 Series). 25 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
19. "Rowland chooses MP Motorsport for GP2 move". Motorsport.com. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
20. "De Jong continues with MP Motorsport in 2016". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
21. "Arden International confirm 2016 line-up". gp2series.com (GP2 Series). 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
22. "Honda 2016 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
23. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (3 February 2016). "G-Drive announces JOTA link, signs Berthon". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
24. DiZinno, Tony (5 February 2016). "32 Full Season Entries for WEC". Sportscar365. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
25. Watkins, Gary (19 February 2016). "Aston Martin switches to Dunlop for 2016 WEC, names driver line-ups". Autosport. Haymarket Press. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
26. O'Connell, R.J. (24 February 2016). "Dean Stoneman switches to Indy Lights with Andretti". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
27. "Enerson heads Schmidt Peterson 1-2-3 in Phoenix test". February 26, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016. Ex-GP2 journeyman Andre Negrao, from Brazil, at 22.0128 admitted he was behind the eight ball learning ovals, but felt better by the end of the test.
28. Barretto, Lawrence (18 February 2016). "Manor Racing confirms Rio Haryanto as second Formula 1 driver". Autosport. Haymarket Press. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
29. "GP2 Series 2016 season calendar confirmed". gp2series.com (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.

External links

• GP2 Series official website