The biggest weekend of the GP2 series has arrived, with Monaco playing host to the third round of the championship.
After the first two rounds, ART’s Stoffel Vandoorne has taken a commanding lead collecting two Feature Race victories, four podiums, two pole positions and two fastest laps. Although the Belgian holds a comfortable lead there have been impressive drives from his rivals. Rio Haryanto, who is second in the championship, wasn’t able to make it to the podium in Barcelona, however, he collected handy points for his championship campaign.
Alexander Rossi (Racing Engineering)
Racing Engineering’s Alexander Rossi is three points behind Haryanto in third and is a strong contender for a race win this weekend, having come so close last round in Barcelona. The American, along with an in form Mitch Evans, lost out to Vandoorne on an alternate tyre strategy and finished third behind Evans.
Four drivers on the current grid have achieved podium finishes in Monaco previously, with Johnny Cecotto, Mitch Evans, Rio Haryanto and Sergio Canamasas all having stood on the unique podium.
Just like Formula One, the GP2 cars will run the super soft and soft compound tyres around Monaco’s narrow streets. Given the twisting nature of the circuit, strategy will play an important role come the feature race on Friday and gain track position through the pit stops.
The qualifying format is different in Monaco than other races, where the field is split into two groups; Group A will carry the drivers with even numbers while group B will have the drivers with odd numbers. Group A will take to the track for the first 16 minutes of qualifying, while group B will follow for the remaining 16 minutes.
| Group A: | Group B: |
| 02 Alex Lynn | 01 Pierre Gasly |
| 04 Marco Sørensen | 03 Julián Leal |
| 06 Nobuharu Matsushita | 05 Stoffel Vandoorne |
| 08 Alexander Rossi | 07 Jordan King |
| 10 Artem Markelov | 09 Mitch Evans |
| 12 Rene Binder | 11 Raffaele Marciello |
| 14 Arthur Pic | 15 Rio Haryanto |
| 16 Sergio Canamasas | 17 Daniël de Jong |
| 18 Sergey Sirotkin | 19 Robert Vişoiu |
| 20 Andre Negrão | 21 Norman Nato |
| 22 Marlon Stöckinger | 23 Richie Stanaway |
| 24 Nick Yelloly | 25 Johnny Cecotto Jr. |
| 26 Nathanael Berthon | 27 Zoel Amberg |
Images via GP2 Series Media
Josh Kruse
Latest posts by Josh Kruse (see all)
- Join our writing team! - 20 February, 2017
- Manor F1 team folds after no buyer found - 27 January, 2017
- Formula 1 amends on-track collision penalties - 25 January, 2017
- Brawn returns to F1 in senior Liberty role - 24 January, 2017
- Ecclestone removed as F1’s CEO - 24 January, 2017
