2015 GP3 Series

The 2015 GP3 Series was the sixth season of the third-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also sixth season under the moniker of GP3 Series, a motor racing feeder series that was run in support of the FIA Formula One World Championship and sister series GP2. Thirty-one drivers represented eight teams over the course of the season's nine rounds, starting in Spain on 9 May and ending in Abu Dhabi on 29 November. It was the final season for the Dallara GP3/13-AER P57 V6 chassis and engine package that debuted in 2013. A new Dallara-built chassis was introduced for 2016 along with a Mecachrome normally-aspirated V6 engine.

French driver Esteban Ocon (ART Grand Prix) finished the campaign as the drivers' champion after a season-long battle with Trident driver Luca Ghiotto. Despite winning only one race in 2015 – the first race in Barcelona – Ocon took fourteen podium finishes, including a run of nine successive runner-up placings over the mid-course of the season. Ocon ultimately finished eight points clear of Ghiotto, who won a season-high five races. Another five-time winner, Marvin Kirchhöfer, completed the championship top three, some fifty-three points behind team-mate Ocon. The performances of Ocon and Kirchhöfer were more than enough for ART Grand Prix to regain the teams' championship title they had missed out on for the first time in 2014. Five other drivers took race victories during the 2015 season; Arden International pairing Emil Bernstorff and Kevin Ceccon each took two victories, while Jimmy Eriksson, Álex Palou and Óscar Tunjo each took sprint race victories, which were held with partially-reversed grids – an inversion of the top eight finishers in the previous day's feature race.

Teams and drivers The following teams competed in the 2015 season:

Team Drivers Rounds Carlin 1 Antonio Fuoco All 2 1–5, 7–8 Adderly Fong 9 3 Mitchell Gilbert All ART Grand Prix 4 Alfonso Celis Jr. 1–5, 7–9 5 Marvin Kirchhöfer All 6 Esteban Ocon All 7 Seb Morris All 8 Alex Fontana All 9 Sandy Stuvik All Koiranen GP 10 Adderly Fong 1–5, 7 Matevos Isaakyan 8–9 11 Jimmy Eriksson All 12 Matt Parry All 14 Kevin Ceccon All 15 Emil Bernstorff All 16 Aleksander Bosak All Jenzer Motorsport 20 Pål Varhaug All 21 Mathéo Tuscher All 22 Ralph Boschung All Campos Racing 23 Zaid Ashkanani All 24 Álex Palou All 25 Samin Gómez 1–2, 4 Christopher Höher 3 Brandon Maïsano 6 Konstantin Tereshchenko 7–9 Trident 26 Artur Janosz All 27 Luca Ghiotto All 28 Óscar Tunjo 1–3 Beitske Visser 5 Amaury Bonduel 6 Michele Beretta 7–9

Driver changes

Changing teams Emil Bernstorff switched from Carlin to Arden International. Kevin Ceccon switched from Jenzer Motorsport to Arden International. Alfonso Celis Jr., who raced for Status Grand Prix switched to ART Grand Prix. Adderly Fong moved from Jenzer Motorsport to Koiranen GP. Alex Fontana left ART Grand Prix to join Status Grand Prix. Mitchell Gilbert and Jann Mardenborough, who raced for Trident and Arden International respectively in 2014, raced for Carlin.

Entering GP3 2014 European Formula 3 Championship winner Esteban Ocon stepped up to the series with ART Grand Prix. Zaid Ashkanani, the 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East champion, moved into the series with Campos Racing. Aleksander Bosak graduated from the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series, joining Arden International. Seb Morris stepped up to the series from Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, joining Status Grand Prix. Matt Parry graduated to the series with Koiranen GP, having competed in various Formula Renault series in 2014. ADAC Formel Masters driver Ralph Boschung graduated to the series with Jenzer Motorsport. Antonio Fuoco, who finished fifth in the 2014 European Formula 3 Championship, moved into the series – as a Ferrari Driver Academy member – with Carlin. The top three drivers from the 2014 Euroformula Open Championship competed in the GP3 Series in 2015. Sandy Stuvik, Artur Janosz and Álex Palou made their débuts with Status Grand Prix, Trident and Campos Racing respectively. 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Óscar Tunjo moved to the GP3 Series with Trident.

Leaving GP3 2014 series champion Alex Lynn left the series to compete in GP2 with DAMS. 2014 series runner-up Dean Stoneman left the series to compete in Formula Renault 3.5 with DAMS, after joining the Red Bull Junior Team. Kang Ling left the series to compete in the European Formula 3 Championship with kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport. Patric Niederhauser left the GP3 Series and moved to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe with the Raton Racing team. Santiago Urrutia left the series to compete in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey. Robert Vișoiu left the series to compete in GP2 with Rapax. Dino Zamparelli left the series to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain with Parr Motorsport. Richie Stanaway left the series to compete in GP2 with Status Grand Prix.

Team changes Following the bankruptcy of the Marussia F1 team, Marussia Manor Racing decided to leave the GP3 Series. With no replacement team found, the number of teams competing in the 2015 season was reduced to eight. Campos Racing entered the series, replacing Hilmer Motorsport.

Calendar In December 2014, the full 2015 calendar was revealed with nine events.

Round Circuit/Location Country Date Supporting 1 R1 9 May R2 10 May 2 R1 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 20 June R2 21 June 3 R1 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 4 July R2 5 July 4 R1 Hungaroring, Budapest 25 July R2 26 July 5 R1 22 August R2 23 August 6 R1 Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza 5 September R2 6 September 7 R1 Sochi Autodrom, Sochi 11 October R2 8 R1 Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 20 November 6 Hours of Bahrain R2 9 R1 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi 28 November R2 29 NovemberSources:

Calendar changes The series was scheduled to run in support of the German Grand Prix, at a venue that, at the time of the calendar's publication, had not yet been decided. With the cancellation of the German Grand Prix, the planned GP2 meeting was rescheduled to Bahrain International Circuit in the 2015 6 Hours of Bahrain weekend.

Results Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report 1 1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Luca Ghiotto Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon ART Grand Prix Report R2 ART Grand Prix 2 R1 Red Bull Ring Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Trident Report R2 Luca Ghiotto Óscar Tunjo Trident 3 R1 Silverstone Circuit Luca Ghiotto Marvin Kirchhöfer ART Grand Prix Report R2 Kevin Ceccon Kevin Ceccon 4 R1 Hungaroring Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Trident Report R2 Esteban Ocon Kevin Ceccon Arden International 5 R1 Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Emil Bernstorff Arden International Report R2 Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Trident 6 R1 Autodromo Nazionale Monza Luca Ghiotto Emil Bernstorff Emil Bernstorff Arden International Report R2 Luca Ghiotto Marvin Kirchhöfer ART Grand Prix 7 R1 Sochi Autodrom Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon Luca Ghiotto Trident Report R2 Esteban Ocon Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen GP 8 R1 Bahrain International Circuit Esteban Ocon Luca Ghiotto Marvin Kirchhöfer ART Grand Prix Report R2 Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto Trident 9 R1 Yas Marina Circuit Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon Marvin Kirchhöfer ART Grand Prix Report R2 Álex Palou Álex Palou Campos RacingSource:

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 Driver CAT RBR SIL HUN SPA MNZ SOC BHR YMC PointsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 1 Esteban Ocon 1 7 3 DSQ 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 4 3 253 2 Luca Ghiotto 2 8 1 3 4 7 1 4 5 1 Ret 3 1 8 4 1 5 4 245 3 Marvin Kirchhöfer 5 1 6 2 1 8 3 5 3 Ret 4 1 9 7 1 6 1 7 200 4 Emil Bernstorff 3 5 4 4 2 6 4 Ret 1 Ret 1 Ret 3 6 2 4 2 6 194 5 Jimmy Eriksson 6 2 20† 10 5 4 6 6 13 16 5 5 8 1 5 7 3 5 118 6 Antonio Fuoco 8 4 2 Ret 18 23 8 Ret 4 Ret Ret 11 6 4 9 5 7 2 88 7 Kevin Ceccon 7 6 Ret DNS 7 1 7 1 Ret 13 3 4 Ret DNS 14 18 Ret 10 77 8 Matt Parry 13 9 13 7 3 5 5 3 Ret Ret DSQ Ret 7 Ret 11 3 6 24 67 9 4 3 5 13 17 15 Ret 17 Ret 12 5 3 7 Ret 58 10 Álex Palou 12 20 14 Ret Ret 13 19 18 7 5 7 10 4 9 Ret 10 8 1 51 11 Ralph Boschung Ret 14 8 8 8 3 13 8 9 8 9 7 11 DNS 10 9 12 11 28 12 Alfonso Celis Jr. 10 10 15 Ret 13 11 18 15 6 3 13 12 8 8 Ret 19 24 13 Mathéo Tuscher 14 13 12 DSQ 10 9 10 9 Ret 4 6 6 Ret Ret 12 Ret 16 14 22 14 Artur Janosz 15 12 21 9 9 17 16 Ret 12 7 16 Ret 10 5 6 12 10 9 20 15 Óscar Tunjo 16 11 9 1 11 10 17 16 Alex Fontana 9 16 10 6 19 18 14 13 10 6 8 16 19 11 19 19 15 13 16 17 Sandy Stuvik 18 17 7 Ret 22 20 22 14 Ret 17 11 8 16 17 13 Ret 17 16 7 18 Seb Morris Ret 24 19 5 15 12 12 12 Ret 14 DSQ Ret 14 10 16 Ret 13 15 6 19 Pål Varhaug 21 18 11 Ret 16 19 9 7 Ret 10 Ret 14 Ret 14 Ret Ret 11 8 5 20 Aleksander Bosak 19 23 16 15 14 16 17 19 8 Ret 15 Ret Ret 20 Ret 16 18 23 4 21 Matevos Isaakyan Ret 14 9 12 2 22 Mitchell Gilbert 22† 22 Ret 11 20 21 11 10 11 11 10 9 12 15 15 11 14 17 1 23 Adderly Fong 17 21 17 12 12 14 15 11 15 9 15 18 Ret 22 0 24 Zaid Ashkanani 11 15 18 14 21 22 20 16 14 18 13 15 20 19 17 13 19 21 0 25 Brandon Maïsano 12 13 0 26 Amaury Bonduel 14 12 0 27 Michele Beretta 18 13 20 15 20 18 0 28 Beitske Visser Ret 15 0 29 Konstantin Tereshchenko 17 16 18 17 Ret 20 0 30 Samin Gómez 20 19 Ret 16 21 Ret 0 31 Christopher Höher 23 24 0DriverR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2Points CAT RBR SIL HUN SPA MNZ SOC BHR YMCSources: Notes † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

Team CAT RBR SIL HUN SPA MNZ SOC BHR YMC PointsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 1 ART Grand Prix 4 10 10 15 Ret 13 11 18 15 6 3 13 12 8 8 Ret 19 477 5 5 1 6 2 1 8 3 5 3 Ret 4 1 9 7 1 6 1 7 6 1 7 3 DSQ 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 4 3 2 Trident 26 15 12 21 9 9 17 16 Ret 12 7 16 Ret 10 5 6 12 10 9 282 27 2 8 1 3 4 7 1 4 5 1 Ret 3 1 8 4 1 5 4 28 16 11 9 1 11 10 Ret 15 14 12 18 13 20 15 20 18 3 14 7 6 Ret DNS 7 1 7 1 Ret 13 3 4 Ret DNS 14 18 Ret 10 275 15 3 5 4 4 2 6 4 Ret 1 Ret 1 Ret 3 6 2 4 2 6 16 19 23 16 15 14 16 17 19 8 Ret 15 Ret Ret 20 Ret 16 18 23 4 Koiranen GP 10 17 21 17 12 12 14 15 11 15 9 15 18 Ret 14 9 12 187 11 6 2 20† 10 5 4 6 6 13 16 5 5 8 1 5 7 3 5 12 13 9 13 7 3 5 5 3 Ret Ret DSQ Ret 7 Ret 11 3 6 24 5 Carlin 1 8 4 2 Ret 18 23 8 Ret 4 Ret Ret 11 6 4 9 5 7 2 147 2 4 3 5 13 17 15 Ret 17 Ret 12 5 3 7 Ret Ret 22 3 22† 22 Ret 11 20 21 11 10 11 11 10 9 12 15 15 11 14 17 6 Jenzer Motorsport 20 21 18 11 Ret 16 19 9 7 Ret 10 Ret 14 Ret 14 Ret Ret 11 8 55 21 14 13 12 DSQ 10 9 10 9 Ret 4 6 6 Ret Ret 12 Ret 16 14 22 Ret 14 8 8 8 3 13 8 9 8 9 7 11 DNS 10 9 12 11 7 Campos Racing 23 11 15 18 14 21 22 20 16 14 18 13 15 20 19 17 13 19 21 51 24 12 20 14 Ret Ret 13 19 18 7 5 7 10 4 9 Ret 10 8 1 25 20 19 Ret 16 23 24 21 Ret 12 13 17 16 18 17 Ret 20 8 Status Grand Prix 7 Ret 24 19 5 15 12 12 12 Ret 14 DSQ Ret 14 10 16 Ret 13 15 29 8 9 16 10 6 19 18 14 13 10 6 8 16 19 11 19 19 15 13 9 18 17 7 Ret 22 20 22 14 Ret 17 11 8 16 17 13 Ret 17 16TeamR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2Points CAT RBR SIL HUN SPA MNZ SOC BHR YMCSources:

Footnotes

References

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