The 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series was the sixth season of the single–seater category. It began at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragón in Spain on 17 April, and ended at Circuit de Catalunya, also in Spain, on 10 October.
The Drivers' championship was won by Carlin's Mikhail Aleshin after a last–race title decider with Tech 1 Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Russian claimed the title by just two points after both drivers entered the final race level on 128 points each. He received his prize Renault F1 drive on the first day of the young driver test held at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi on 16 November. Tech 1 Racing won the Teams' championship from Czech squad ISR Racing.
It was due to be the final season for the current Dallara chassis, which was due to be replaced by a new car, developed by Renault Sport Technologies, in time for the 2011 season. However, the series has extended the lifespan of the current car into the 2011 season to "avoid placing undue financial pressures on teams in the prevalent tough market conditions".
Regulation changes
Technical The engines were re–tuned from 8,200 RPM to 8,500 RPM. Boost control was banned.
Sporting The duration of the two Friday practice sessions was increased from 60 minutes to 75 minutes each. The grid for the second race was no longer decided using the reverse grid and SuperPole system. Each meeting (with the exception of Monaco) now featured two 30–minute qualifying sessions and two races of 44 minutes + one lap. During the Saturday of each meeting, the cars raced in a "light-aerodynamic" configuration, which was defined by Renault Sport Technologies.
Teams and drivers = Series rookie for 2010 Team Driver name Status Rounds International DracoRacing 1 Nathanaël Berthon All 2 Omar Leal All Carlin 3 Mikhail Aleshin All 4 Jake Rosenzweig All P1 Motorsport 5 Walter Grubmüller All 6 Jan Charouz 1–7, 9 Brendon Hartley 8 Tech 1 Racing 7 1–6 Jean-Éric Vergne 7–9 8 Daniel Ricciardo All Junior Lotus Racing 9 Daniil Move 1–8 Dean Stoneman 9 10 Nelson Panciatici All Pons Racing 11 Federico Leo All 12 Daniel Zampieri All Epsilon Euskadi 15 Albert Costa All 16 Keisuke Kunimoto All Comtec Racing 17 Greg Mansell All 18 Stefano Coletti All Fortec Motorsport 23 Sten Pentus All 24 Jon Lancaster All ISR Racing 25 Esteban Guerrieri 1–2, 4–5, 7–9 Alexander Rossi 3 26 Filip Salaquarda 1–5, 7–9 KMP Racing 27 Anton Nebylitskiy All 28 Víctor García All FHV Interwetten.com 29 Bruno Méndez 1–8 Salvador Durán 9 30 Sergio Canamasas All
Driver changes Changed Teams Esteban Guerrieri: RC Motorsport → ISR Racing Jon Lancaster: Comtec Racing → Fortec Motorsport Omar Leal: Prema Powerteam → International DracoRacing Daniil Move: P1 Motorsport → Junior Lotus Racing Anton Nebylitskiy: KMP Group/SG Formula → KMP Racing Filip Salaquarda: Prema Powerteam → ISR Racing
Entering/Re-Entering FR3.5 Mikhail Aleshin: FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision) → Carlin Nathanaël Berthon: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 & Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup (Epsilon Euskadi) → International DracoRacing Sergio Canamasas: European F3 Open Championship (EmilioDeVillota.com) → FHV Interwetten.com Jan Charouz: Le Mans Series (Aston Martin Racing) → P1 Motorsport Stefano Coletti: Formula 3 Euro Series (Prema Powerteam) → Comtec Racing; Coletti raced in Monaco for Prema in 2009. Albert Costa: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 & Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup (Epsilon Euskadi) → Epsilon Euskadi Víctor García: British Formula 3 Championship (Fortec Motorsport) → KMP Racing Walter Grubmüller: British Formula 3 Championship (Hitech Racing) → P1 Motorsport Bruno Méndez: European F3 Open Championship (Campos Racing) → FHV Interwetten.com; Méndez raced for RC Motorsport at Motorland Aragón in 2009. Nelson Panciatici: GP2 Series (Durango) & Superleague Formula (Olympique Lyonnais) → Junior Lotus Racing Daniel Ricciardo: British Formula 3 Championship (Carlin Motorsport) → Tech 1 Racing; Ricciardo raced in Portimão for the same team in 2009. Jake Rosenzweig: Formula 3 Euro Series (Carlin Motorsport) → Carlin Alexander Rossi: GP3 Series (ART Grand Prix) → ISR Racing Dean Stoneman: FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision) → Junior Lotus Racing Jean-Éric Vergne: British Formula 3 Championship (Carlin) → Tech 1 Racing Daniel Zampieri: Italian Formula Three Championship (BVM – Target Racing) → Pons Racing
Leaving FR3.5 Jaime Alguersuari: Carlin Motorsport → Formula One (Scuderia Toro Rosso) Bertrand Baguette: International DracoRacing → IndyCar Series (Conquest Racing) Marco Barba: International DracoRacing → European F3 Open Championship (Cedars Motorsport) Jules Bianchi: KMP Group/SG Formula → GP2 Series (ART Grand Prix) Max Chilton: Comtec Racing → GP2 Series (Ocean Racing Technology) Dani Clos: Epsilon Euskadi → GP2 Series (Racing Engineering) Chris van der Drift: Epsilon Euskadi → Superleague Formula (Olympiacos CFP) Fairuz Fauzy: Mofaz Racing → Formula One (Lotus Racing – Test & Reserve driver) Tobias Hegewald: Interwetten.com Racing → GP3 Series (RSC Mücke Motorsport) Michael Herck: Interwetten.com Racing → GP2 Series (David Price Racing) John Martin: Comtec Racing → Superleague Formula (Atlético Madrid) Mihai Marinescu: Interwetten.com Racing → FIA Formula Two Championship Alexandre Marsoin: Comtec Racing → unknown Marcos Martínez: Pons Racing → Superleague Formula (Sevilla FC) Miguel Molina: Ultimate Motorsport → DTM (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) Guillaume Moreau: KMP Group/SG Formula → Le Mans Series (OAK Racing) Edoardo Mortara: Tech 1 Racing → Formula 3 Euro Series (Signature) Charles Pic: Tech 1 Racing → GP2 Series (Arden International) Frankie Provenzano: Prema Powerteam → unknown Pasquale Di Sabatino: RC Motorsport → Italian Formula Three Championship (Alan Racing) Oliver Turvey: Carlin Motorsport → GP2 Series (iSport International) Alberto Valerio: Comtec Racing → GP2 Series (Scuderia Coloni) Adrián Vallés: Epsilon Euskadi → Superleague Formula (Sporting CP) James Walker: P1 Motorsport → Superleague Formula (Liverpool F.C.) Adrian Zaugg: Interwetten.com Racing → Auto GP (Trident Racing)
Team changes It was announced in December 2009 that Prema Powerteam would be leaving the series to concentrate on their programs in the Formula 3 Euro Series and Italian Formula Three. Their slot was taken by Fortec Motorsport. SG Formula and KMP Group had split to form two new teams. However, SG Formula pulled out of the series just a week before the opening round. ISR Racing took over the RC Motorsport team's entry. Interwetten.com Racing, managed by Motorsport Consulting GmbH, were not selected for the series originally. They were later accepted as FHV Interwetten.com, managed by FHV GmbH, with Sergio Canamasas and Bruno Méndez driving.
Race calendar and results The calendar for the 2010 season was announced on 25 October 2009, the last day of the 2009 season. Eight of the nine rounds formed meetings of the 2010 World Series by Renault season, with an additional round in support of the .
Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 17 April Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Zampieri Mikhail Aleshin Carlin Daniel Zampieri R2 18 April Daniel Ricciardo Sten Pentus Sten Pentus Fortec Motorsport Daniel Ricciardo 2 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 1 May Mikhail Aleshin Brendon Hartley Mikhail Aleshin Carlin Stefano Coletti R2 2 May Jake Rosenzweig Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri ISR Racing Daniel Zampieri 3 R1 Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 16 May Daniel Ricciardo Brendon Hartley Daniel Ricciardo Tech 1 Racing Daniel Ricciardo 4 R1 Masaryk Circuit, Brno 5 June Filip Salaquarda Mikhail Aleshin Esteban Guerrieri ISR Racing Jan Charouz R2 6 June Filip Salaquarda Daniel Ricciardo Esteban Guerrieri ISR Racing Nathanaël Berthon 5 R1 Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 19 June Esteban Guerrieri Sten Pentus Mikhail Aleshin Carlin Stefano Coletti R2 20 June Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo 6 R1 Hungaroring, Budapest 3 July Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo Tech 1 Racing Daniel Ricciardo R2 4 July Sten Pentus Mikhail Aleshin Sten Pentus Fortec Motorsport Albert Costa 7 R1 Hockenheimring 4 September Daniel Ricciardo Esteban Guerrieri Daniel Ricciardo Tech 1 Racing Daniel Ricciardo R2 5 September Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri ISR Racing Stefano Coletti 8 R1 Silverstone Circuit 18 September Jon Lancaster Jon Lancaster Jean-Éric Vergne Tech 1 Racing Jean-Éric Vergne R2 Daniel Ricciardo Jon Lancaster Esteban Guerrieri ISR Racing Daniel Ricciardo 9 R1 Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona 9 October Tech 1 Racing R2 10 October ISR Racing Jean-Éric Vergne
Season results Points for both championships were awarded as follows: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 With each race having an individual qualifying session, the four–point bonus for pole position was removed. Also removed from the scoring system was the point for the driver who progressed the most places in each race.
Drivers' Championship Pos Driver ARA SPA MON BRN MAG HUN HOC SIL CAT Points 1 Mikhail Aleshin 1 11 1 4 2 Ret 9 1 4 2 3 5 4 6 11 2 3 138 2 Daniel Ricciardo 3 2 13 5 1 12 5 6 2 1 6 1 11 Ret 2 1 4 136 3 Esteban Guerrieri Ret Ret DNS 1 1 1 2 10 2 1 DSQ 1 4 1 123 4 Sten Pentus Ret 1 2 13 6 6 Ret 7 8 3 1 Ret 6 15 7 13 Ret 78 5 Albert Costa Ret 4 4 19 3 18 10 8 5 6 2 8 17 2 8 5 10 78 6 Stefano Coletti Ret 13 3 3 5 9 12 3 7 Ret 10 7 2 3 12 10 5 76 7 Nathanaël Berthon Ret 3 Ret 10 Ret 8 2 9 1 Ret 13 9 3 Ret Ret 6 12 60 8 Jean-Éric Vergne 11 5 1 3 3 2 53 9 Daniel Zampieri 2 Ret 12 2 Ret Ret 15 5 11 13 4 4 DSQ EX 6 Ret DSQ 51 10 Brendon Hartley 6 6 Ret 6 4 2 6 Ret Ret 4 9 Ret 15 50 11 Filip Salaquarda Ret Ret DNS 15 8 15 3 15 3 Ret 7 5 4 8 19 44 12 Nelson Panciatici 5 9 Ret Ret 9 13 8 4 9 5 12 Ret 12 4 9 16 6 44 13 Jon Lancaster 4 Ret 9 7 7 10 7 10 Ret Ret 22 3 8 13 17 14 9 39 14 Anton Nebylitskiy Ret Ret 10 Ret 17 3 Ret 11 Ret 10 7 10 Ret 7 5 Ret 7 31 15 Greg Mansell 8 Ret 5 14 15 11 14 18 12 Ret 5 6 Ret 10 Ret 9 16 23 16 Walter Grubmüller 10† 8 7 18 11 14 4 Ret 16 11 11 Ret Ret Ret 14 15 13 16 17 Federico Leo Ret 5 6 17 Ret Ret 18 Ret Ret Ret 17 16 10 11 18 7 15 16 18 Jan Charouz Ret DSQ 8 9 14 7 11 20 17 7 21 Ret 15 Ret 8 16 19 Jake Rosenzweig 7 12 14 8 13 16 16 13 13 8 8 Ret DNS 14 20 12 11 13 20 Omar Leal Ret Ret 11 12 16 4 13 Ret 19 Ret 16 13 9 Ret 10 Ret Ret 11 21 Daniil Move 9 7 16 20 10 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 14 17 16 9 19 9 22 Keisuke Kunimoto Ret 14 15 16 18 5 Ret 16 18 9 15 12 13 12 13 11 18 8 23 Bruno Méndez Ret 15 DNS 11 Ret Ret 19 14 6 14 19 14 14 Ret 16 5 24 Víctor García Ret 10 Ret Ret 12 Ret 20 19† 15 12 18 Ret 18 8 21 Ret Ret 4 25 Ret 16 DNS Ret 19 17 17 17 14 Ret 20 15 Ret Ret Ret 17 17 0 26 Dean Stoneman 18 14 0 Salvador Durán NC Ret 0 Alexander Rossi Ret 0 Pos Driver ALC SPA MON BRN MAG HUN HOC SIL CAT PointsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified
Teams' Championship