A look back at the history of the GP3 Series (1/2)

2010
Unveiled at the end of November 2009 at Paul-Ricard (Var) with Mark Webber at the wheel, the GP3/10 model will be used for three years. The organizers source their supplies from Italy, with the single-seater manufacturer Dallara. The engine is original Renault Sport and development 280 horses from a 2 Liter four-cylinder turbo.

The first GP3 ​​Series event was held in Barcelona (Spain) in May and saw the victory of an anonymous person, Pal Varhaug. The Norwegian will not score any more points this year and has disappeared from the radar since participating in GP2 in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

Let's forget this surprising start to say the least and remember the totally crazy weekend at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium). In Race 1, Robert Wickens won despite a spin and a damaged nose in the rain; the next day, the climatic hazards smile on Adrian Tambay. The Frenchman comes back from 27th place to achieve an unexpected success!

Extremely consistent (nine podiums in 16 rounds and five victories), the Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez defeated Robert Wickens and Nico Müller. “Our goal was consistency and to finish all the events, explained the 2010 champion. I live in Paris, which allows me to often visit my team (ART Grand Prix) and build a good relationship with each team member. »

2011
Among the champions of this first retrospective part, he is undoubtedly the best known. Valtteri Bottas was far from being supported by Mercedes or even Williams in 2011, but he had the advantage of being covered by ART Grand Prix, the most successful French team in the category.

The Finn has started his season slowly, but has scored winning points four times in the last eight meetings. “It was really difficult to imagine such an outcome after the first meeting, he remembered. After Silverstone, things weren't looking good at all. Every weekend we changed the car's settings to see what was wrong. We finally got the tires to work. »

2012
The access series towards the F1 are often judged against its list of champions. Seven of them have/had their chance in F1, but this was far from being the case for the top three in 2012. Narrowly titled (two points difference), the New Zealander Mitch Evans will end up at the next level. After four attempts in GP2, the New Zealander responded favorably to Jaguar's call to Formula e (7th in 2018).

Runner-up Daniel Abt and his pursuer Antonio Félix Da Costa did the same by joining their father's team Audi Sport Abt and Andretti respectively in the electric series.

2013
Visually, almost nothing changes. But under the GP3/13 bodywork, what a leap forward! Dallara placed an AER atmospheric block developing 400 horses, with the aim of erasing the performance gaps between GP3 and GP2 and facilitating the adaptation of drivers to the second championship.

Airside, the Russian rocket Daniil Kvyat (Arden) surprises the whole paddock. In difficulty during the first half of the campaign (zero podiums until the ninth race), he found the trigger to sign three regular victories, associated with two poles and three best laps. He thus wins the internal duel with Carlos Sainz Jr (10th overall) and will go directly to F1 at Toro Rosso the following year, before celebrating its 20th anniversary.

2014
Red Bull takes control of the GP3 Series. For the second time in a row, a member of the Junior Team wins the championship. This time it is Alex lynn who gets rid of his young rivals.

Conversely, the French shun this discipline. No Habs are present on the starting grids, like the two previous seasons! Conversely, the British are curling their mustaches with six representatives of the Queen in the final top 10. A special mention goes to Dean Stoneman, vice-champion with more victories than Alex Lynn (5 against 3) but above all a survivor of testicular cancer in 2011.