GP3

Alessio Lorandi has claimed his first GP3 Series win with a strong race from pole to flag in this morning’s Race 2 at the Circuito de Jerez, leading home Dorian Boccolacci and Niko Kari, while behind them George Russell brought home enough points to become the 2017 GP3 Series Champion with one round remaining in the season.

The sunny and warm conditions enjoyed by the teams all weekend continued as the drivers went out to form the grid, and when the lights went out Lorandi got away well and easily contained Boccolacci and Kari into turn 1: the trio ran together all the way round the circuit before the Italian started to build a small but significant gap to his rivals as Anthoine Hubert and Dan Ticktum started to close, with the Frenchman running wide on lap 2 to clear a path into P4 for the Briton.

If the leaders were focused on their shot at victory, all other eyes were on the fight for the title: Russell started behind Jack Aitken but forced his way past at Dry Sac, with the Renault junior driver running slightly wide at the exit and allowing Nirei Fukuzumi to run through too.

When Russell grabbed the fastest lap the potential points difference was 47, 1 short of a title confirmation, but with Giuliano Alesi just 0.5s behind Aitken anything could still happen.

Up front Lorandi was easily controlling the pace, running his own lines and looking comfortable even if he was unable to break the 1s DRS barrier back to Boccolacci, who had a similar problem with Kari.

Aitken was pushing hard to grab the fastest lap but was unable to close down the time set by Russell, and with the laps rolling down it looked as though the fight was going to continue to Abu Dhabi.

But on lap 13 Ticktum, who had been fast all weekend and was looking for more than another P4, pushed hard and got inside Kari, towing Hubert with him as they ran 3 wide into turn 4, where there was only space for 2: Ticktum was into the gravel and retirement, Kari just held off an attack from Hubert, the safety car was out to allow the marshals to retrieve the stranded DAMS, and the points bump meant that the gap from Russell to Aitken was now 50, enough to claim the title.

The race restarted for the final lap, with Lorandi comfortably controlling Boccolacci and Kari for his maiden win, with Hubert leading home his ART teammates Russell, Fukuzumi and Aitken, the latter two having a look at Russell at Dry Sac but unable to make anything stick, with Alesi rounding out the points in P8 as Jenzer celebrated their second win of the season and ART basked in the glory of success after claiming the 2017 GP3 Series Drivers’ and Teams’ titles ahead of the final round of the season, in Abu Dhabi on 24-26 November.

Provisional Race 2 Classification

source: gp3series.com

Nirei Fukuzumi reminded everyone of his abilities with a strong, unopposed victory in this morning’s Race 1 at the Circuito de Jerez, making a tremendous start and soaring off into the distance untroubled by the intra-team battle behind him for his first win since Barcelona, leading home an ART 1-2-3 ahead of teammates George Russell and Jack Aitken.

If most eyes were on the title fight between his teammates, the Honda development driver was determined to make the most of his opportunity and grab the win on offer: under gloriously sunny skies Fukuzumi tore away when the lights went out for a lead which never looked in question, while Aitken made a strong start from P2 but was slightly conservative into turn 1, opening the door to Russell.

The Series leader didn’t need any further invitation: the Mercedes F1 junior driver slid inside his teammate into turn 1, with the pair running side by side through 2 before Russell edged ahead at turn 3, with Aitken left thinking about DRS strategies and the mounting challenge behind him from newcomer Dan Ticktum, who made a good start and was running on the same pace as his countryman.

Fukuzumi shook off his rivals early, building a gap to avoid any DRS attacks while Russell, Aitken and Ticktum were running at a similar to each other but were unable to capitalise given the tight, technical nature of the circuit.

As the race ran down it became clear that the combination of the new, smoother surface and the hard compound tyres meant that degradation was not going to affect the race, as there was little in the way of overtaking up and down the order.

Fukuzumi slowed slightly at the end before greeting the flag with delight 1.6s ahead of Russell, who extended his lead in the title fight over teammate Aitken, with Ticktum a strong P4 behind the title contenders.

Anthoine Hubert held station behind the Briton all race long, ahead of Niko Kari, who dispatched Dorian Boccolacci at the start for 6^th place, while Giuliano Alesi barged his way past Alessio Lorandi on the last lap for P8 and the reverse pole, with Julien Falchero grabbing the final point of the day after blasting past Steijn Schothorst midway through the race.

Provisional Race 1 Classification

Alessio Lorandi has been given a 3 place grid penalty for impeding a rival in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Circuito de Jerez.

The Italian was called to the race stewards after the session, and has been judged to have impeded countryman Leonardo Pulcini: Lorandi, who was provisionally in P6, will now start in 9^th position, promoting Dorian Boccolacci, Niko Kari and Tatiana Calderon.

Nirei Fukuzumi has stolen pole with a last gasp lap in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Circuito de Jerez, grabbing the top spot and stopping the clock at 1:30.678 after the flag dropped to claim his second pole position of the season ahead of teammates and title rivals Jack Aitken and George Russell.

The session opened under gloriously sunny conditions, with everyone running straight out on track to get the fight underway.

Dorian Boccolacci set the pace straight out of the box before running wide and tagging the barriers at turn 10 before returning to the pitlane to check for damage, with a string of drivers sharing the top spot: Raoul Hyman, Marcos Siebert, Giuliano Alesi, Arjun Maini, Tatiana Calderon, Alessio Lorandi and Dan Ticktum all spent time in P1 before the ART machine got underway.

Aitken annexed the top of the timesheets just before halfway through the session, with Russell, Anthoine Hubert and Fukuzumi slotting in behind the Briton, and as everyone returned to the pits the question was would anyone be able to improve on their second set of tyres.

Everyone returned to the track with 5 minutes remaining, and Russell set the target, grabbing P1 as everyone tried to pry it from his grip.

As the flag dropped it looked as though the Series leader had done enough for pole, but first Aitken and then Fukuzumi put in a pair of astonishing laps on an emptying circuit to push their teammate back to the second row.

Behind him Ticktum had done enough to break up an all-ART top 4, pushing Hubert back to P5 ahead of Lorandi, Boccolacci, Kari, Calderon and Steijn Schothorst in another tight session which saw the top 12 separated by just one second.

The fight for tomorrow’s Race 1, already so important for the shape of the championship, looks set to be a scorcher.

Provisional Qualifying Classification

George Russell has got his penultimate race weekend underway in fine style by topping free practice this morning at the Circuito de Jerez, grabbing the top spot halfway through the session and continuing to improve on his own time all the way to the flag to claim the honours by less than a tenth from ART teammates Jack Aitken and Anthoine Hubert.  

The Briton’s best time of 1:30.214 came late in the session with all of the field on track: the closing minutes saw improvements all along the pitlane, with Aitken closing down his title rival to just 0.073s but unable to reclaim the top spot.

The track opened to warm and sunny conditions, with Tatiana Calderon leading all of her rivals straight out on track: the Colombian was the first driver to set a competitive time but was soon displaced by Raoul Hyman as the times tumbled: Aitken, Hubert and Kevin Joerg all spent time on top of the timesheets, with the Briton in P1 at the halfway mark just before teammate Russell grabbed it from him.

The session calmed down until the closing minutes, with everyone on track and looking to improve. Russell pushed past his previous best time, with most of the field also improving behind him, but no one was able to overturn the Mercedes F1 junior driver before the flag emerged to close the session.

Fukuzumi will be disappointed to round out the ART 1-2-3-4 behind his teammates but ahead of Dan Ticktum, Leonardo Pulcini, Steijn Schothorst, Niko Kari, Calderon and Bruno Baptista, all of whom were within a second of the top spot and will be looking to improve in this afternoon’s qualifying session.

Provisional Qualifying Classification

Giuliano Alesi’s great run of Sunday form continued this morning when he nabbed his third consecutive Race 2 victory after leading from lights to flag in this morning’s GP3 Series race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, looking unruffled as he lead home series leader George Russell and Trident teammate Ryan Tveter.

The victory was set up at the start when poleman Julien Falchero made a slow getaway, allowing fellow front row starter Alesi to storm across his bow and into the lead at La Source, with Falchero just holding back Tveter, Dorian Boccolacci, Jack Aitken and Arjun Maini. Niko Kari was soon on a charge, blasting past George Russell on the Kemmel Straight and then Kevin Jörg to grab P7 at the end of the first lap.

Next time by and Kari dispatched Maini at Kemmel, with Russell following suit on Jörg behind him: the pair were soon given a helping hand when Jack Aitken and Boccolacci came together on the Kemmel straight, with both men coming into the pits next time through to promote their rivals, and Aitken picking up a 10 second time penalty to make matters worse for the Briton.

But the 2 places weren’t enough for Russell: he was all over the back of Kari and soon dispatched the Finn for P4. Tveter wasn’t waiting around and finally found a way by Falchero for 2^nd on lap 6, with Russell compounding the Frenchman’s problems by mugging him for P3 at Les Combes the next time through.

Russell was still pushing hard, and almost inevitably outdragged Tveter on the Kemmel Straight on lap 9 to grab P2 before trying to break down the gap Alesi had built back to everyone else.

Nirei Fukuzumi had the same pace as his teammate, and brought it to bear as the laps rolled down: he blew past Maini at Kemmel for P7 before putting himself on Kari’s rear wing and attacking on lap 12 at Kemmel. The Finn pushed back hard, causing the Japanese driver to have a hairy moment on the grass before slicing inside and through before Les Combes.

But out in front Alesi was untouchable, imperiously leading Russell across the line by 3 seconds with Tveter a similar margin back to round out the Trident 1-3. Fukuzumi mugged Falchero on the last lap for P4, compounding the heartache for the Frenchman, while Kari just held off Maini and a tremendously fast Anthoine Hubert at the line but dropped out of the points due to a time penalty for the Fukuzumi incident, allowing Jörg to claim the final point for 8^th.

Russell has extended his lead in the drivers’ championship to 36 points over teammate Aitken, 137 points to 101, with Fukuzumi closing in on 95 points ahead of Alesi on 87 and Hubert on 80, while in the teams’ title ART Grand Prix push further ahead on 399 points to Trident’s 202 and Jenzer Motorsport on 116 as the grid heads to Round 6 next week in Monza.

George Russell has cruised to his third win of the season with a demonstration run of pace and guile in this afternoon’s Race 1 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, dealing with an attack from teammate Nirei Fukuzumi early on before cruising to victory by over 7 seconds from the race-long fight between Jack Aitken and Fukuzumi for another all ART Grand Prix podium.

The Mercedes F1 junior driver made a slow getaway compared to his rivals but had just enough to hold them back at La Source, with Fukuzumi lining up behind Russell on the run down to Eau Rouge and Aitken running around the outside of Arjun Maini at La Source for P3: the Honda development driver had the run on his rival and eased past at Les Combes for the lead, and the fight was on.

Maini and Dorian Boccolacci came together at Les Combes, with the Indian just able to hold back his rivals but the Frenchman losing to teammate Ryan Tveter as the order shook out behind them.

Two more teammates squabbling over positions saw a fight between Tatiana Calderon and Bruno Baptista end early on lap 3, when the Colombian ran wide at Les Combes before jumping the kerb on the way back and clattering into the Brazilian, who was into the wall and retirement ahead of a brief VSC period to remove the stricken DAMS vehicle.

Russell was biding his time (and his DRS), but 2 laps after the restart he pounced, using the advantage to blast past Fukuzumi and into the lead into Les Combes, towing Aitken behind him to engage the Japanese driver: while his teammates fought each other for P2 Russell sailed away into an unassailable lead, setting the fastest lap as he built a gap that would deny his teammates the DRS advantage he used to good effect.

Further back Giuliano Alesi was on a charge, making great use of his speed on the Kemmel straight to find a way up the order, outdragging Niko Kari, Alessio Lorandi and Julien Falchero and he did so.

Aitken used much the same move as Russell to steal P2 from Fukuzumi, running outside and through his teammate at Les Combes to give him track advantage, although he was unable to shake Fukuzumi all race long as the pair fought all the way to the flag.

And when it dropped the paddock applauded a superb drive from Russell, who put his Budapest disappointments behind him as he got his title fight back in order, while Aitken overturned a late attack from Fukuzumi for P2 at the line.

Maini closed on the pair late in the race but was just unable to find a way by, while Boccolacci reclaimed P5 at the restart and held it all race long ahead of Tveter and Alesi, with Falchero racing alone to the flag and tomorrow’s reverse pole, ahead of a late fight between Kari and Kevin Jörg which resolved in the Finn’s favour.

source: gp3.com

George Russell has nabbed pole position in a wet/dry qualifying session at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, grabbing the top spot late in a tricky session which saw little rain but ran on a wet circuit throughout, to finish almost three tenths ahead of teammate Nirei Fukuzumi and Arjun Maini.

The Briton stopped the clocks on 2:27.042 with 3 minutes remaining in a session which was drying late on, but not quite enough to switch to slicks: as a result his rivals had little left in their tyres to push ahead in the closing minutes.

The track opened to warm but damp conditions, with most of a previous rain storm blowing over as all of the field emerged on track as the lights went green.

The times were soon tumbling as Alessio Lorandi, Jack Aitken, Dorian Boccolacci and Russell ran quicker each time around to top the timesheets, with the Mercedes F1 junior driver going purple on the first 2 sectors before following his rivals into the pits for fresh rubber at the halfway mark.

Lorandi, Steijn Schothorst and Boccolacci were all improving, swapping P2 between themselves behind Russell, until Maini grabbed the top spot with 4 minutes remaining: unfortunately for the Haas junior driver first Russell and then Fukuzumi improved on his time as the clock wound down, setting up another ART front row for tomorrow’s Race 1.

Aitken will be disappointed to finish just outside of the top 3, ahead of an impressive lap from Matthieu Vaxivière, Boccolacci, Ryan Tveter and Schothorst, all of whom will be looking for better luck with the weather to try and peg back some of the gap up to Russell tomorrow. 

Provisional Qualifying Classification  

source: gp3.com

Dorian Boccolacci has claimed the early honours after topping this morning’s free practice session at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, grabbing the top spot late in an uneventful session by four tenths from Tatiana Calderon and Kevin Jörg.

The Frenchman’s time of 2:06.163 came with 3 minutes remaining in a session where most of the drivers held a lot in reserve and working on race runs, given the expected difference in temperatures between practice and this afternoon’s qualifying session.

The track opened to cold but clear conditions, with everyone running straight out on track to get some laps: Anthoine Hubert and then Jack Aitken set the early pace, with Nirei Fukuzumi grabbed P1 at the half hour mark, and it looked like the session was done for fast laps.

But with 7 minutes remaining Calderon grabbed the top spot by over a second, prompting a number of her rivals to push to match her time: the Campos drivers squabbled with the other DAMS teammates as Calderon returned to the pits, and with 3 minutes to go Boccolacci nicked the top spot as teammate Jörg slotted into P3.

On the final lap Boccolacci was pushing again, running purple on sector 1 until a yellow in sector 2 slowed everyone, and the session was done: Leonardo Pulcini, Matthieu Vaxivière, Ryan Tveter, Marcos Siebert and Raoul Hyman were within a second of the top spot, with new driver Juan Manuel Correa a creditable P9 in his first session, with the ART teammates ran P13-16, led by Aitken. Qualifying promises a lot of change this afternoon.

Provisional Free Practice Classification

Jack Aitken has taken his second pole position of the season with a fine lap late in this morning’s GP3 Series qualifying session at the Hungaroring, grabbing the top spot just before a red flag brought proceedings to a halt two minutes early ahead of ART teammates George Russell and Nirei Fukuzumi.

The Renault development driver stopped the clocks at 1:31.754, claiming pole by almost two tenths from his disappointed rivals, who will be ruing their luck at not getting their quickest laps in before the session was brought to a halt alongside Arjun Maini’s stopped car on the front straight.

All of the field were straight out on track when the green lights came on, and the warm and sunny conditions meant that the times were soon tumbling: Aitken set the first competitive time but was soon sharing the top spot with his teammates as Fukuzumi, Anthoine Hubert and Russell swapped it between them.

With all of the teams running at the recent test here most of the grid were able to put together a competitive lap, with Raoul Hyman setting quickest sectors but not quite able to string them together, and Dorian Boccolacci also pushing them hard all session long.

5 minutes from the end Aitken drove a great lap to take provisional pole, but more was expected from his rivals: unfortunately for them Arjun Maini was struck by mechanical gremlins and pulled over at turn 1, bringing out the yellow flags before re-starting again, only to grind to a halt just out of the final corner, bringing out the red flags with 2 minutes remaining.

The decision was made to close the session early, to the disappointment of everyone outside of the top 3: Boccolacci, Hubert, Giuliano Alesi, Nico Kari, Kevin Joerg, Alessio Lorandi and Tatiana Calderon will all have expected more, and will be looking to demonstrate their pace in this afternoon’s race 1.

Provisional Qualifying Classification

source: gp3series.com

George Russell claimed the top spot in this afternoon’s free practice session at the Hungaroring with a late, fast lap as the chequered flag dropped, capping a fast and frantic session which saw the lead change countless times across the 45 minutes before the Briton finally snatched P1 from Raoul Hyman and Nirei Fukuzumi.

The Mercedes Junior driver stopped the clock at 1:32.255, going fastest in the first 2 sectors but running slightly wide at the final turn to steal the top spot from Hyman by just 0.085s in a very close session at a track where the teams had tested just one month ago.

The session opened to warm, sunny conditions and lengthening shadows all around the circuit, with all of the field except for Alessio Lorandi running straight out on track: the times started tumbling as almost the entire grid swapped the top spot right from the start.

Nevertheless there were no real problems on track until Giuliano Alesi hit a marker board at the halfway mark, spreading debris across the track and prompting a red flag period to deal with it all.

The field were back on track 8 minutes later as the circuit went live, apart from Jack Aitken who struggled to get going at the restart and was pushed back to the pits by his team to investigate as his rivals looked to steal P1 from the likeable Briton.

Over the closing minutes the battle for the top spot was hotter than ever: Arjun Maini claimed it with 10 to go, with teammate Lorandi on a charge before running wide at turn 11, and then it swapped between Fukuzumi, Russell, Fukuzumi and Hyman, with the South African quickest in the tricky middle sector.

It looked like he’d done enough to claim the honours as the clock ticked down to zero, returning to the pits as Russell hit his final lap: the Briton’s first two sectors were purple, giving him enough margin despite the small mistake at the final corner to take the session for himself.

Behind the top 3 Niko Kari, Maini, Aitken, Kevin Joerg, Leonardo Pulcini, Tatiana Calderon and Bruno Baptista were all well with a second of Russell and will be looking to overturn his advantage in tomorrow morning’s qualifying session. 

George Russell will stay in Budapest following the upcoming Round 4 at the Hungaroring to join Mercedes AMG F1 for both days of the Formula 1 test at the circuit, on 1-2 August.

The Briton, who currently leading the drivers’ standings following his pole position and win in race 1 at the last round in Silverstone, will step up to the test as a part of his role as Mercedes Junior driver, expanding on his simulator work and previous tests.

“I’m just so excited to be testing the W08,” Russell noted, “I’ve probably driven more virtual laps than anyone else with this car, so it’s going to be incredible to drive it in reality! My biggest priority is to do a good job for the team, to tick off the items on the engineers’ programme, and make sure we get the most out of the car and our running over the two days.”