2008 GP2 Series
The 2008 GP2 Series season was the forty-second season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fourth season under the GP2 Series moniker. It began on 26 April at Montmeló, Spain and it finished on 14 September at Monza, Italy. This is the first season using a new car design to be used during the following 3 seasons. The series was won by Giorgio Pantano.
2008 GP2 Series | |||
Previous: | 2007 | Next: | 2009 |
- For the Asian-based series, see 2008 GP2 Asia Series season.
Season summary
4th GP2 Series season started in Circuit de Catalunya. Pastor Maldonado took first pole position of the season, but he couldn't use the advantage after a very bad start. Alvaro Parente won in his debut race in the series. In the sprint race, Romain Grosjean was heading for victory until late-race safety car. When the safety car went back to the pits, Grosjean straight-lined chicane and lost momentum. He then blocked Kamui Kobayashi, receiving drive through penalty. Kobayashi won the race while Grosjean was left without points.
At Turkey, Giorgio Pantano won from pole in the feature race. Grosjean won the sprint race which included several accidents on the first lap, as well as two stray dogs on the track. One of them was hit by Bruno Senna whose car was damaged and he had to retire. Luckily Senna escaped without injury. Senna then won at Monaco, on the track where his uncle Ayrton had won six times. In the sprint race, which was held for the first time in Monaco, Mike Conway was victorious. He was heading for third place in feature race before being punted off by Javier Villa on the final lap. He was lucky in the event, as only eight drivers were unlapped, so he ended in eight and therefore for the pole in the sprint.
Magny-Cours feature race was won by Pantano after Grosjean and Senna suffered mechanical retirements. The sprint race started on damp track and few drivers gambled starting with slicks. This worked well for Arden drivers, as Sébastien Buemi won from 21st on the grid. His teammate Yelmer Buurman was second. At Silverstone Pantano won the feature again, and wet sprint race was dominated by Senna.
At Hockenheim Grosjean finished first on the road, but he was later penalized for overtaking under yellow flag, giving Pantano third straight feature race victory. Karun Chandhok won the sprint race from pole. At Hungaroring, Lucas di Grassi who had returned to GP2 in Magny-Cours, won the feature race, while Buemi won the sprint after polesitter Andy Soucek made a small mistake.
The feature race at Valencia ended in dramatic fashion. Pantano was on road for victory before he ran out of fuel on the final lap. Several other drivers suffered same fate, including Senna who could get his car over the finish line but in 9th place. Vitaly Petrov inherited the win. Pantano recovered well in sprint race to take third place while Senna crashed out. di Grassi was the winner.
With four races to go, Pantano led by 13 points on Senna and 20 on di Grassi. Senna took the pole in Spa, but his race was destroyed by drive through penalty for unsafe release by the team in his pit stop. Pantano suffered mechanical glitch during safety car and was dropped to back of the field. He was recovering until he collided with di Grassi on the final lap. Pantano was disqualified for the race and also excluded from the sprint. Grosjean won the feature while Maldonado took his first victory of the season in the sprint, overtaking Jérôme d'Ambrosio on the final lap.
Pantano got perfect start for final weekend with pole, therefore knocking di Grassi out from the championship hunt. A race started in wet conditions and mandatory pit stop was done as late as possible, as the track was ready for slicks. di Grassi won while Pantano ended in 10th after drive through penalty for crossing white line at the pit exit. It didn't matter much: while Senna couldn't finish better than 5th, Pantano clinched the title with one race to go. The sprint race was held in wet conditions as well and won by polesitter Davide Valsecchi.
Teams and drivers
On 19 October 2007, it was announced that the same 13 teams which took part in 2007 would continue into 2008.[1]
Schedule and results
The original calendar was released on 25 March 2008 and had a standalone event on the 31 May – 1 June at the Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit. However, on the 18 April 2008, it was confirmed that a deal had been agreed for a GP2 event to run alongside the new European GP at the Valencia Street Circuit instead of the original date at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Also, for the first time in the history of GP2, two races were held at Monaco.
All of the races supported the Formula One Grands Prix indicated by the relevant flags, except the round at Valencia which supported the 2008 European Grand Prix.
Championship standings
Drivers
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Teams
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- Pole-winners in bold; feature race pole-winners are awarded two points, whereas no points are given for the reverse-grid pole winner in the sprint race.
- Drivers who achieve fastest lap in italics; earn one point, if classified in the top ten.
- Drivers who didn't finish the race but were classified are marked with †.
Notes
- Arden International competed under a Dutch license.
- Zuber is an Austrian driver who raced this year under Emirati racing license.
- Adrián Vallés set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Álvaro Parente was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Romain Grosjean set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Kamui Kobayashi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Andreas Zuber set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Mike Conway was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Sébastien Buemi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Romain Grosjean set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Pastor Maldonado was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Mike Conway set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Pastor Maldonado was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- Andy Soucek set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Giorgio Pantano was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
References
- "Current teams confirmed for 2008". autosport.com. 2007-10-19. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- "Chandhok and Senna sign for iSport". autosport.com. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- "Filippi confirmed at ART for 2008". autosport.com. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "ART replace Filippi with Yamamoto". autosport.com. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- "Grosjean to race for ART in 2008". autosport.com. 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "Campos sign Hanley to partner Petrov". autosport.com. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
- "Di Grassi in GP2 return with Campos". autosport.com. 2008-06-09. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- "Super Nova confirm Parente, Bakkerud". autosport.com. 2008-02-07. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- "Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud". autosport.com. 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- "Soucek secures Super Nova drive". autosport.com. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- "D'Ambrosio completes Dams line-up". autosport.com. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "Kobayashi to race for DAMS". autosport.com. 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "Racing Engineering sign Pantano". autosport.com. 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- "Buemi lands Arden seat for 2008". autosport.com. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "Buurman signes for Arden seat for 2008 & 2009". f1today.nl. 2007-01-24. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
- "Filippi replaces Buurman at Arden". autosport.com. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- "Durango confirm 2008 line-up". autosport.com. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- "Puglisi to stand in for Valsecchi". autosport.com. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- "Hanley grabs last-gasp Durango drive". autosport.com. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- "FMS International sign Rodriguez". autosport.com. 2008-04-21. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- "Valles to race for FMS in 2008". autosport.com. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- "Carroll: Simple to say yes". crash.net. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- "Asmer to race in GP2 with FMS". autosport.com. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
- "Conway Joins Trident". pitpass.com. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
- "Tung joins Trident for second season". autosport.com. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
- "Zuber joins Minardi Piquet". GPUpdate.net. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- "Maldona confirma su fichaje por Piquet Sport" (in Spanish). GPUpdate.net. 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- "Ricci to replace Herck at DPR". autosport.com. 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- "Soucek to stand in for Herck at DPR". autosport.com. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- "DPR sign Herck and Nunes for '08". autosport.com. 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- "Paolo Maria Nocera joins BCN Competicion for 2008". motorsport.com. 2007-12-22. Archived from the original on 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
- "BCN confirma fichaje de Pavlovic y Tahinci" (in Spanish). GPUpdate.net. 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- "BCN resorts to Iaconelli". crash.net. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- "GP2 Fastest laps". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
External links
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