HEAT IS ON AT SPA AS TYRE STRATEGY PROVES KEY IN GP2: LECLERC AND AITKEN SHARE GP3 SPOILS ON PIRELLI P ZERO SOFT TYRES
Unusually high ambient and track temperatures added to the challenge of racing at the legendary Belgian track as tyre strategy came to the fore when GP2 and GP3 resumed following the summer break. Prema’s Pierre Gasly took the honours in Saturday’s GP2 Feature Race before his team mate Antonio Giovinazzi triumphed in Sunday’s Sprint. ART’s Charles Leclerc was the winner in GP3 on Saturday, while Arden driver Jack Aitken climbed to the top step of the podium on Sunday for his maiden GP3 success.
GP2
The P Zero Orange hard and P Zero Yellow soft tyres were available to the GP2 runners at the 7.004-kilometre Spa-Francorchamps circuit. But with track temperatures reaching 41 degrees centigrade on Saturday afternoon, tyre management was a key factor during the 25-lap opening race. With the top seven starting on the soft compound tyre, the focus was firmly on who would stop first for the hard compound and who would attempt to run for longer on the quicker soft tyre.
Rapax’s fast-starting Gustav Malja pitted from the lead as soon as the pit window opened on lap six, with Racing Engineering’s Jordan King and DAMS driver Alex Lynn also stopping for hard covers. Gasly completed one extra lap, resumed in eighth following his stop for the hard tyre and then set about charging through the field to take the lead and his third win of the campaign ahead of King and Williams test driver Lynn.
Meanwhile, Russian Time’s Artem Markelov, ART’s Sergey Sirotkin and MP Motorsport driver Oliver Rowland all started on the hard compound but switched to the soft tyre in the closing stages. Their decision proved inspired as they all moved into the top 10.
Giovinazzi made up for his slow getaway from pole on Saturday to win Sunday’s Sprint Race ahead of Malja, Trident’s Luca Ghiotto and Gasly, who extends his title lead.
GP3
Leclerc and Aitken took the GP3 wins in Belgium. With all drivers using the soft compound Pirelli P Zero for both races (although the medium compound was originally nominated) tyre management came into sharp focus in the heat of Saturday’s opening 17-lap race, lasting 40 minutes. However, there were no concerns for Ferrari development driver Leclerc, who strolled to victory from pole position for this third triumph of the year thanks to excellent tyre management. Arden’s Jake Dennis finished second with McLaren protégé Nyck de Vries third for ART. Renault Academy racer Aitken made it through three safety car periods to win Sunday morning’s encounter – his maiden victory in the category – as Trident’s Antonio Fuoco and DAMS driver Santino Ferrucci completed the podium ahead of Koiranen GP driver Matevos Isaakyan, who started on the reverse grid pole.
Quotes:
Pirelli’s racing manager Mario Isola said: “The high ambient and track temperatures made for a big challenge, particularly on Saturday, and those drivers who deployed effective tyre management were rewarded with strong results. We also some saw some variations in terms of pit stop strategy in GP2, which will give drivers crucial experience. As usual, tyre strategy made a real difference in the Feature Race, with the stint lengths proving to be of vital importance. In GP3 we actually decided to modify the original nomination for Spa, which was going to be medium, in favour of soft. This was a decision taken thanks to our very good co-operation with the series promoter, in order to set an additional challenge for the GP3 drivers with tyre management. By the end of the 40-minute Feature Race we saw quite a lot of degradation, with drivers able to deal with oversteer, or gain an advantage from having looked after their tyres in the early part of the race.”
The GP2 and GP3 action resumes at Monza, Italy, from September 2-4.
