Schedule:Friday 8th July: Free Practice 17.50 – 18.35Saturday 9th July: Qualifying: 08.45 – 09.45Saturday 9th July: Race 1: 16.20 – 17.05Sunday 10th July: Race 2: 08.15 – 08.50
Round Data:Lap Record: Kevin Korjus (Koiranen GP) 1:46.360 in 2013 (199.349 km/h)Pole 2015: Marvin Kirchhöfer (ART Grand Prix) 1:47.040Race 1: 20 laps, 117.686 km // 40 minutesRace 2: 15 laps, 88.231 km // 30 minutes
THE STAKES
The GP3 Series has set up camp in Silverstone after completing Round 2 in Spielberg just a few days ago. July marks the busiest month on the calendar with four races in five weeks, which is a real test to drivers’ and teams.
Series leader Charles Leclerc had dominant start to proceedings in Austria after topping Free Practice and taking pole position by over half a second – a lap he described as one of “the best of his life”. It was his ART Grand Prix teammate Alexander Albon who made the better start in Race 1 as the two enjoyed a tussle, with the Monegasque diving down the inside of his Thai rival to reclaim the lead of the race. With six laps to go, rain fell on selected areas of the track making it very tricky for all of the drivers. Leclerc ran wide at T2 and was followed by both Albon and De Vries. They managed to continue to make history by completing an all ART GP podium with Leclerc posting his second win.
DAMS’ rookie Jake Hughes started from reverse pole on a very wet Sunday. Due to the poor visibility, the race was started behind the safety car. At the midway point of the race, the safety car went in and the real racing got underway. Unfortunately there was light contact between Hughes and Matt Parry which sent the DAMS driver into a spin and down to P6. Koiranen GP’s Ralph Boschung seized the opportunity to pounce into the lead. There were two further safety cars after incidents in the difficult conditions, including Lelcerc who made contact with Tatiana Calderon. The Series leader has been served with a five place grid penalty for Race 1 after the incident. Boschung held on to secure his maiden win in the Series ahead of Albon and Trident’s Antonio Fuoco.
There is just five points between Leclerc and Albon in the battle for the crown in the drivers’ standing, with Fuoco, Hughes and De Vries completing the top five. ART Grand Prix holds a huge lead in the teams’ standings ahead of Koiranen GP and Trident.
Silverstone is one of the historic circuits and one the drivers really enjoy with its challenging high-speed corners. Pirelli have selected the Medium compound tyre for this event.
Warm Up: Jake Dennis – Arden International
“Silverstone is my home track. I went well around it last year in F3 and I hope I can do the same again this year. It’s known for being quite a high-speed circuit, especially through the Becketts and Maggots section. That’s one of my favourite sections of any track in the world. I really like the flow to it and how much you can attack it. It really depends how much confidence you have. Sector 2 is going to be where you need a lot of down-force on the car. There are some long straights which assist with overtaking. There are also some slow speed corners for overtaking. Silverstone is a great circuit and it brings in a lot of fans. I’m really looking forward to driving there and I’m aiming for a win or a podium.”
Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola commented: “The high demands of the Silverstone circuit have led us to nominate the medium tyre for the GP3 drivers. The high degradation means this will need to be managed carefully in the race though, and precision will be important to a good qualifying time. The strategic opportunities in the race should be high however, and it’s a circuit where overtaking is certainly possible in GP3.”
Noteworthy:
Charles Leclerc has a five place grid penalty for Silverstone Race 1 after being penalised for causing an incident in Spielberg Race 2.
Jenzer Motorsport’s Akash Nandy also have a five place grid penalty for Race 1 this weekend after being found guilty of speeding in the pitlane in the second race in Austria.
Indian rookie Arjun Maini will replace Oscar Tunjo in the #20 Jenzer Motorsport car for this event.
Jenzer Motorsport will run with just two drivers this weekend: Akash Nandy and Arjun Maini. Richard Gonda will not participate in this event.
ART Grand Prix made GP3 history by becoming the first team to lock-out a podium in the category with three of their drivers (Leclerc, Albon & De Vries).
Race 2 in wet Spielberg saw the lowest number of classified finishers in the Series’ history – only 14 finished.
Series leader Charles Leclerc will take part in the FP1 session in Formula 1 for Haas F1 Team.
Season stats
3 The number of different race winners so far this season: Leclerc, Albon and Ralph Boschung.
5 The number of points between Series leader Leclerc and Albon in second.
7 rookies fill the top ten places in the Drivers’ Standings.
8 different drivers have stepped onto the podium (Leclerc, Hughes, Albon, Fukuzumi, Tunjo, Fuoco, De Vries and Boschung).
