GP2 drivers will have to manage tyre allocations from next season.
Mimicking the current F1 rules, drivers will be given a limited number of ‘prime’ and ‘option’ tyres per race weekend.
Three sets of the harder tyre and just one of the softer tyres will be available, and the harder tyres must be used in the Sunday sprint race. The mandatory pit stop in the longer Saturday race will remain.
GP2 and GP3 will adopt an F1-style points system from 2012. In the Saturday race the top ten will score 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points respectively.
In the Sunday race, where the top eight on the grid are reversed, points will be awarded to the top eight finishers 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1.
The Saturday pole sitter will be awarded an extra four points and two points will be given for the fastest lap in each race.
GP2 CEO Bruno Michel said: “Our series’ main goal has always been to prepare them to Formula 1 and so far we have been very successful at it.
“More than ever, tyre management is key to how quickly young drivers can adapt to the pinnacle of motorsport. However, although we will introduce a second compound, we have decided to keep only four sets of tyres per race weekend in order to control the costs.
“It will be interesting to watch as our teams will put in place the best possible strategy. It will add even more suspense, but it will also make tyre management all the more delicate.”
Image © GP2 Series
mantolwen (@mantolwen)
4th October 2011, 15:44
Along with the flyaway races, this can only make the GP2 series even better. For GP3 drivers coming up to GP2, however, it will be a big challenge. They will not only have to get used to pit stops, but also the different tyres. I think we may see more people going to Formula Renault before they go to GP2, to get used to the pit stops without having multiple compounds to worry about.
On the other hand, if a driver can successfully manage the new regulations, they are going to be watched very closely by F1 teams.
Race strategists in the GP2 teams should immediately demand more pay!
naz3012 (@naz3012)
4th October 2011, 15:57
I think formula 1 should adopt points for pole and fastest lap. And maybe some sort of reward for topping practices, eg an extra set of tyres. Obviously it would have to be implemented properly and fairly but it Would add a whole new competetive dimension to race weekends
RagingInferno (@raginginferno)
4th October 2011, 16:22
It would be a bit of an anti-climax if WDC was decided during qualifying though.
Herman (@)
4th October 2011, 16:51
I would *hate* to see this happen. A tight battle for the championship decided by an obscure fastest lap would not be good. Plus practice should be what it says on the tin: practice.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th October 2011, 16:58
I’m with Herman, it’s a terrible idea:
https://www.racefans.net/2008/10/02/four-mistakes-f1-must-avoid/#pointpolefastestlap
SimBri (@f1addict)
4th October 2011, 17:07
I agree with you too, Herman, no points should be given for pole and fastest lap. I would however quite like to see league tables for these and perhaps a small trophy at the end of the season (maybe this happens already and I’m unaware) – it would give drivers something to chase in years like this when the WDC is effectively sewn up early on. Mind you, Vettel would probably get both of these too!
Alfie NLI
4th October 2011, 18:14
Most fastest laps in a season gets the DHL fastest lap trophy.
BasCB (@bascb)
4th October 2011, 19:35
I really don’t like that either. Qualli is done to get the best starting position, that is an advantage for the race.
And if we start putting in points for FLAP, how long till someone comes up with “Most laps led” to decide the championship, like they have in Indycars.
Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher)
4th October 2011, 21:52
I disagree! I would love to see a point for pole and fastest lap. Pole would mean something again. The 4 and 2 points for GP2 is too extreme but I would love to see drivers battling for fastest laps at the end of a race.
Herman (@)
4th October 2011, 22:42
Pole already means a lot – you get front row and clean side of the track. If you capitalise on it in the race, you get clean air, pit stop decision advantage, etc. It doesn’t need points attached to it; the benefits it brings already mean that the action in battling for pole would not intensify in my opinion. Also, when it’s not actually part of the race, merely qualifying for the start, why should it have points attached to it?
At the moment fastest lap is a bit useless and is only for bragging rights. If I am honest, adding a point to this probably would mean that drivers would battle harder on the racetrack for this and it would be more meaningful.
But, the elephant in the room for me is the fact that if this is allowed to happen you could see championships decided by these, and this just doesn’t sit right with me and probably with all other fans who want to see the championship decided on position alone.
Because of this a separate trophy would be a much better idea.
Mr draw
5th October 2011, 18:30
I like the idea, although it may cause some midfield drivers to switch to fresh soft tyres at the very end of the race, in order to get that valuable fastest-lap point, which would be a nasty side-effect.
JCost (@jcost)
5th October 2011, 8:45
If points for pole were already in Place, Vettel would be champion in Spa! :)
No Points For Pole Please! Starting in front of everybody is per se an incentive.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th October 2011, 9:22
Exactly.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:09
No, can’t agree with that. I love how F1 works currently. For all the myriad of combinations you can have for driver, team, car, set-up etc, only having the 1 opportunity to score points just adds to the excitement.
However, I do think this type of system works well for feeder series, it gives the F1 teams a much broader view of exactly what they’re looking at with up coming drivers.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
4th October 2011, 15:57
Once the F1 guys have got the flymo engines in 2014, this will be closest series to F1 that we will have.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
4th October 2011, 18:20
GP2 will probably have a new car up and running by then (it has been three year cycles so far, 2005-2007, 2008-2010, 2011-?), and since it’s supposed to be so close to F1, it’s going to be with turbo engines as well, me thinks.
The tyre thing certainly sounds interesting, I just hope they make the markings clear and/or improve the on-screen graphics (jeez, aren’t they still exactly the same as in 2005?).
BasCB (@bascb)
4th October 2011, 19:36
But its a pretty low tyre allocation.
Just think about it, if you want to do qualifying on it, you will go into that without any previous running on those tyres!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 7:10
GP2 races are half the length of a Grand Prix. Therefore, they need less tyres. They’ll probably use prime compounds in practice and the feature race, and options in qualifying, the feature race (where a pit stop is compulsory) and the sprint race (which is short enough to do a full race on options).
BasCB (@bascb)
5th October 2011, 7:39
Not quite possible to do that PM:
Lets assume, they use on set of the primes for practice, the single option set for qualifying and first stint in the saturday race, before going on the primes. Then they must use the last set of primes for Sunday.
Not much room to have any flatspotted tyres
etc., or they would have to re-use the set from practice
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 8:54
I don’t think the softer option has to be used in the feature race. In fact, Autosport’s article suggests the drivers will actually be free to use it whenever they like, so long as they use it:
I’m guessing this is what Bruno Michel is talking about when he mentions the strategic use of the tyres. Do the drivers qualify on options and do the whole feature race on primes? Or do they qualify on primes and finish the race on options? Or do they qualify and start on the options and try and make it home on primes? There is, after all, nothing forcing them to start on the tyres they qualified with.
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 16:31
I hate the graphics! :P Also I don’t like GP3’s whoch are grey instead of red, as GP2’s are blue.
I’d like to see the same as F1 but with different colours, i.e. blue instead of red for the leader (as the colour of the logo). Maybe white would be better than black but some similarities would be better.
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 16:33
*which
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 6:56
The 2014 engines will produce the same power as the current engines. They will just produce that power differently to the way they do now.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:21
I believe the power-weight ratio is pretty much staying the same.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th October 2011, 16:14
Good thing. GP2 has really succeded so far, unlike F3000 at the time.
dcp84
4th October 2011, 16:24
It’s good that GP2 and GP3 are mirroring F1, but it doesn’t mean that awarding 25 points for the win and 18 for second is anything other than a stupid idea.
David-A (@david-a)
4th October 2011, 16:51
The points system is different to what it was before, but that doesn’t make it stupid.
SimBri (@f1addict)
4th October 2011, 17:13
I think I preferred the previous points system. I watched the 2009 season review the other day and at the beginning it felt a lot closer even though in relative terms the gap was probably the same as this year.
Off topic I know but I really hope the new teams can significantly improve next year. In 2008 we had a ‘backmarker’ team take a win and in 2009 another took a second place. I can’t see that happening now.
mantolwen (@mantolwen)
4th October 2011, 17:16
I dunno. Under the old points system, Vettel would have already won the championship in F1. This year it’s at least postponing the celebrations.
Interestingly, GP2 would have had a different runner-up this season with the 2012 points system, as Jules Bianchi would have beaten Luca Filippi by four points.
mantolwen (@mantolwen)
4th October 2011, 17:17
My first sentence isn’t entirely clear. He would have already won this year’s championship.
Dizzy
4th October 2011, 21:53
i don’t get why gps needs to start bringing in silly tyre rules, the racing is good enough already.
the best thing about gp2 is the purity, no silly power boosts, no silly wings & all drivers on identical tyres. this means its the drivers which make the difference.
now it will all be down to tyres, sure it adds strategy but it removes some of the purity which has made gp2 so brilliant since 2005.
going back to hamiltons great drive at istanbul in 2006, it was extra special because everyone had identical equipment, i dont think it would have been so great if he was only doing it because he’d been on a softer/faster tyre compound.
the support championships should be pure without the silly gimmicks to force strategy etc…
its bad eough the renault world series will run drs next year.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
4th October 2011, 22:16
I completely agree with Dizzy. We are in danger of losing championships where the drivers are on a level playing field.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 1:39
The intention is to make GP2 a direct feeder series for Formula 1. Given that it’s becoming a two-year program, is quite expensive compared to other categories, and that there is only ever a handful of seats available in Formula 1 at any given time, GP2 needs to adopt a model closer to Formula 1 to give GP2 drivers the most experience and Formula 1 teams the most information about them. GP2 does not use KERS or DRS (though the World Series by Renault is adopting one of them), but the tyre rule is in place because the tyres can be difficult to manage, and of all the elements introduced to Formula 1 – Pirelli tyres, KERS, DRS, fuel-heavy cars, etc. – the tyres are the one thing the drivers much always be managing. Honestly, it’s common sense that the category has introduced the two-compound rule.
Also, the way drivers must use two compounds is not a rule that has been criticised before. In fact, the introduction of Pirelli tyres has barely even made it necessary, because drivers cannot get to the end of the race on a single set of tyres.
King Six
4th October 2011, 22:30
I’m tired of GP2 being exactly like F1 in every single way, almost. The drivers bore me, we need more Paul Di Resta’s coming in as champions of other series.
It’ll be interesting to see though if the 2014 F1 cars will be slower than these GP2 cars, right now the top GP2 teams can beat the bottom F1 teams. Race pace isn’t that different considering the budget.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 7:00
But GP2 is the closest racing series to Formula 1 – and it’s intended to be – so naturally, teams are going to draw drivers from it. Di Resta was the champion in DTM, which is a very different category. It’s very, very difficult to assess drivers based on their performances in touring cars or GT racers simply because they are driven so differently to open-wheel cars in general.
UKfanatic (@)
4th October 2011, 22:54
I wish I could relie on eurosport to trasmit this races.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:23
You and me both.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th October 2011, 8:30
Actually, the thing I’m most curious about is the expanded calendar. I’m very curious to see where GP2 goes for the flyaway races next year.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:23
I’m not usually big on bonus points but I think this is a good idea for GP2. It should make for a more interesting, rounded view of a driver.
48 maximum points from one weekend? That’s one hell of a grand slam and almost double what you get in F1!