The 2014 GP3 Series was the fifth season of GP3 Series, a third-tier motor racing feeder series for Formula One and sister series GP2. The series continued to use the Dallara GP3/13 car, AER V6 engines and Pirelli tyres.
The title was claimed by Red Bull Junior driver Alex Lynn; despite having fewer wins than Dean Stoneman, Lynn showed consistency to surpass him by 44 points.
This was the only season in the GP3 Series in which a team other than ART Grand Prix secured the constructors' title, with Carlin winning the teams' championship by 17 points over ART.
Teams and drivers The following teams competed in the 2014 season: Team Driver name Rounds ART Grand Prix 1 Alex Fontana All 2 Marvin Kirchhöfer All 3 Dino Zamparelli All Arden International 4 Robert Vișoiu All 5 Patric Niederhauser All 6 Jann Mardenborough All Koiranen GP 7 Carmen Jordá 1–7 Dean Stoneman 8–9 8 Jimmy Eriksson All 9 Santiago Urrutia All Carlin 10 Alex Lynn All 11 Emil Bernstorff All 12 Luís Sá Silva All Marussia Manor Racing 14 Patrick Kujala 1–7 15 Ryan Cullen 1–7 16 Dean Stoneman 1–7 Hilmer Motorsport 17 Ivan Taranov 1 Nikolay Martsenko 2, 8 Sebastian Balthasar 3–7 18 Nelson Mason All 19 Beitske Visser 1 Riccardo Agostini 2–9 Jenzer Motorsport 20 Pål Varhaug All 21 Mathéo Tuscher All 22 Adderly Fong 1–4 Christopher Höher 5 Kevin Ceccon 6–9 Trident 23 Victor Carbone 1–4 Konstantin Tereshchenko 6 Luca Ghiotto 7 Kang Ling 9 24 Roman de Beer 1–5 John Bryant-Meisner 6–7 Patrick Kujala 8 Ryan Cullen 9 25 Denis Nagulin 1 Mitchell Gilbert 3–5, 7–8 Luca Ghiotto 6 Patrick Kujala 9 Status Grand Prix 26 Nick Yelloly All 27 Richie Stanaway All 28 Alfonso Celis Jr. All
Team changes Bamboo Engineering left series after the last race of the 2013 season. Their place was due to be taken by GP2 Series champions Russian Time, but after Motopark Academy parted ways with the team following the death of team founder Igor Mazepa, their place was taken by GP2 Series team Hilmer Motorsport.
MW Arden changed its name to Arden International and was re-registered as a British, rather than an Australian team. The changes coincided with Mark Webber's retirement from Formula One and subsequent move to the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Driver changes
ART Grand Prix saw all three of their 2013 drivers leave the series; Conor Daly and Facu Regalia graduated to GP2, and Jack Harvey moved to Indy Lights. The team signed two returning drivers, Alex Fontana and Dino Zamparelli, who had previously driven for Jenzer and Marussia respectively, as well as German Formula Three champion Marvin Kirchhöfer, who joined last-minute from Russian Time.
Arden International signed two new drivers, as reigning champion Daniil Kvyat stepped up to Formula One, racing with Scuderia Toro Rosso, and Carlos Sainz Jr. moved to Formula Renault 3.5 Series. They were replaced by returning driver Patric Niederhauser, who previously raced for Jenzer, and Nissan GT Academy driver Jann Mardenborough.
Koiranen GP completely changed its lineup for 2014. Patrick Kujala and Dean Stoneman moved to Marussia, while Kevin Korjus moved to the European Le Mans Series. They were replaced by two returning drivers, Carmen Jordá and Jimmy Eriksson, who previously drove for Bamboo and Status respectively, and rookie Santiago Urrutia. Eriksson had initially signed for Russian Time.
Carlin also made two changes to their lineup. Nick Yelloly moved to Status, and Alexander Sims switched to the British GT Championship. They were replaced by two rookies, Red Bull Junior Team member Alex Lynn and Emil Bernstorff.
Marussia Manor Racing saw one of their 2013 drivers leave the series — Tio Ellinas graduated to the GP2 Series — whilst Dino Zamparelli moved to ART. They were replaced by Patrick Kujala and Dean Stoneman, who had both previously driven for Koiranen.
Russian Time had planned a lineup of Marvin Kirchhöfer, Jimmy Eriksson and Markus Pommer before the team collapsed. Kirchhöfer and Eriksson found new homes in GP3 with ART and Koiranen, while Pommer returned to Motopark's German Formula Three programme. Instead, Hilmer Motorsport brought three rookies to the series: Ivan Taranov, Nelson Mason and Beitske Visser.
Jenzer Motorsport brought a brand new lineup. Two of their 2013 drivers moved to other teams — Alex Fontana to ART and Patric Niederhauser to Arden — and Samin Gómez left the sport. Adderly Fong moved to the team from Status and was joined by rookie Mathéo Tuscher, and Pål Varhaug, who last competed in GP3 in 2010.
Trident also brought a new lineup for 2014. Robert Cregan left the sport, David Fumanelli moved to the Blancpain Sprint Series and Emanuele Zonzini moved to the Italian GT Championship. They were replaced by three rookies; Victor Carbone, Roman de Beer and Denis Nagulin.
Status Grand Prix saw two of their 2013 drivers move to different teams — Jimmy Eriksson to Koiranen and Adderly Fong to Jenzer — whilst Josh Webster switched to Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. Nick Yelloly moved to the team from Carlin, and was joined by a rookie, Alfonso Celis Jr., and Richie Stanaway, who had last driven in GP3 in 2011.
Mid-season changes
Hilmer Motorsport made two changes to their lineup before the second round at the Red Bull Ring. Riccardo Agostini replaced Beitske Visser, whilst Nikolay Martsenko replaced his compatriot Ivan Taranov Martsenko was then replaced by Sebastian Balthasar in Silverstone. Martsenko returned for his home race in Sochi, but did not compete in Yas Marina.
Denis Nagulin was not present for the second round at the Red Bull Ring. He was replaced at Trident by Mitchell Gilbert in Silverstone.
Christopher Höher replaced Adderly Fong at Jenzer Motorsport for the round at the Hungaroring, as Fong had a race in the Audi R8 LMS Cup that weekend. Kevin Ceccon replaced Höher from the next round at the Spa.
Trident replaced their whole line-up for the round at Spa-Francorchamps. Instead of Victor Carbone, Roman de Beer and Mitchell Gilbert, the team fielded Konstantin Tereshchenko, John Bryant-Meisner and Luca Ghiotto. They altered the lineup further in Monza; Ghiotto replaced Tereshchenko in the #23 car, while Gilbert returned to his seat in the #25.
Marussia Manor Racing pulled out of the Sochi round due to financial troubles. Patrick Kujala signed with Trident, replacing Bryant-Meisner, for Sochi; in Yas Marina he instead replaced Gilbert, while fellow Marussia driver Ryan Cullen took his place in the #24 car. Dean Stoneman signed with Koiranen GP, replacing Carmen Jordá.
Kang Ling made his GP3 Series début at Abu Dhabi with Trident, replacing Ghiotto.
Calendar After the final race of the 2013 GP3 season, series organisers announced that the 2014 championship would include an event in Russia, supporting the 2014 Russian Grand Prix. On 6 December 2013, the full 2014 calendar was revealed with nine events, including races in Austria for the first time.
Round Circuit/Location Country Date Supporting 1 R1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona 10 May Spanish Grand Prix R2 11 May 2 R1 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 21 June Austrian Grand Prix R2 22 June 3 R1 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 5 July British Grand Prix R2 6 July 4 R1 Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 19 July German Grand Prix R2 20 July 5 R1 Hungaroring, Budapest 26 July Hungarian Grand Prix R2 27 July 6 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps 23 August Belgian Grand Prix R2 24 August 7 R1 Monza Circuit, Monza 6 September Italian Grand Prix R2 7 September 8 R1 Sochi Autodrom, Sochi 11 October Russian Grand Prix R2 12 October 9 R1 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi 22 November Abu Dhabi Grand Prix R2 23 NovemberSources:
Calendar changes The stand-alone round at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, introduced in 2013, was discontinued for 2014. The GP3 Series visited two circuits — the Red Bull Ring in Austria and the Sochi Autodrom in Russia — for the first time in 2014.
Results Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report 1 R1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Alex Lynn Alex Lynn Alex Lynn Carlin Report R2 Patric Niederhauser Dean Stoneman Marussia Manor Racing 2 R1 Red Bull Ring Alex Lynn Alex Lynn Alex Lynn Carlin Report R2 Emil Bernstorff Emil Bernstorff Carlin 3 R1 Silverstone Circuit Jimmy Eriksson Alex Lynn Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen GP Report R2 Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 4 R1 Hockenheimring Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer ART Grand Prix Report R2 Jann Mardenborough Jann Mardenborough Arden International 5 R1 Hungaroring Richie Stanaway Jann Mardenborough Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix Report R2 Patric Niederhauser Arden International 6 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Luca Ghiotto Dean Stoneman Marussia Manor Racing Report R2 Alex Fontana Alex Lynn Carlin 7 R1 Monza Circuit Jimmy Eriksson Dino Zamparelli Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen GP Report R2 Marvin Kirchhöfer Dean Stoneman Marussia Manor Racing 8 R1 Sochi Autodrom Dean Stoneman Dean Stoneman Dean Stoneman Koiranen GP Report R2 Patric Niederhauser Arden International 9 R1 Yas Marina Circuit Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer Dean Stoneman Koiranen GP Report R2 Nick Yelloly Status Grand PrixSource:
Championship standings Scoring system Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the race 1, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the race 2. The pole-sitter in the race 1 also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the race 1 and race 2. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the race 2.
Race 1 points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 4 2
Race 2 points Points were awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Points 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 2
Drivers' championship