GP2 for Dummies

Myrddin

Watching GP2 here, & I realise, I actually know very little about it. So, a few questions from the uninitiated to those in the know if I may

1) There seems to be a race on Saturday AND Sunday, this seems weird to me as F1 is all I know & love. Why is this done, & how does it affect things (ie points, standings etc)?
2) What was does Quali work for GP2?
3) The cars seem to sound a lot better than F1 cars for me, what engines are they running? I see they have DRS, I assume there's no KERS/ERS for GP2?
4) Are the tire rules different, on account of shorter races?
5) Are there works teams, or are they all sponsor based teams?
6) Who makes the engines? Are there different suppliers/manufacturers?
7) How many races are there per season?

Any assistance appreciated

flazio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2_Series
Also Google is your friend.

Cian59

Good afternoon.

Sorry I'm late to reply. GP2 has become one of my favourite series lately, it's the best place to watch out for future f1 drivers.

(1) Feature race is typically run on a Saturday and sprint race on a Sunday. Feature race is longer and worth more points.
(2) Quali takes place on a Friday and runs (typically at most circuits) as one complete session. The pole sitter obtains four points for pole. The qualifying session determines the grid for Saturday's race. Sunday is done by a reverse grid based on Saturday's finishers. 1st place starts 8th, 2nd starts 7th, ..., 8th starts 1st and those from 9th down take grid positions based on their finishing places.
This really heats up the lower places later in the race. There have been brilliant races between the 8th and 9th placed drivers battling for pole in final laps.

Regarding the rest of the questions, there is a common car and engine which all teams are using with an aim to reduce costs. They're still using V8s. DRS is actually new for this year before that it was just pure racing. Generally run the same pirelli compounds as F1, there's a mandatory pit stop for the feature race while most cars just run the prime for the entire sprint race. Calendar runs typically with the European grand prix but race also in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

Vandoorne is running away with it this year. I'd say he'll put pressure on Magnussen next year for the McLaren drive. An interesting rule is that the winner of the series can't defend his title. There's been a bit of uproar on this as recently the series winners haven't made their way to F1. Jolyon is currently doing development driver for Lotus this year though.

Myrddin

Fascinating, cheers for that. The whole setup sounds really dynamic & interesting. I'd imagine that the same format applied to F1 wouldn't work because of the different cars/chassis/engines etc, but it's food for thought. I'm definitely going to try watch a bit more of GP2 as I go on, the racing seems really good in it

One of my favorite things about GP2 is something that is kind of profound. :P Just about all of the boring F1 circuits produce fantastic GP2 racing (Budapest being the best example). The better F1 tracks tend not to be as good for GP2 racing.

At the same time though money tends to win GP2 races. :P

Myrddin

Deleted User wrote: »

At the same time though money tends to win GP2 races. :P

Interesting, why is that do you think? I'd have thought the car equalisation effect would have been quite effective?

PopePalpatine

I'd imagine that the richer teams have better simulators and more staff.

Cian59

The bigger teams have the ability to hire the more competitive drivers. Yes, the majority of drivers do bring sponsorship but the likes of ART and Dams can chose who they want rather than relying on sponsorship (hence why the likes of Vandoorne, Gasly, Lynn) are all racing for the bigger teams.

There's also the spares store which travels to all the races. The more budget a team has, the easier it is for these guys to buy spare parts and replace worn or damaged parts. As the field is equalised and there is no apparent technical differences, there is a huge performance gain from a team running a new front wing compared to running a modified or repaired wing.

You should start watching some of the old GP2 races back. It will be interesting seeing some of the F1 drivers battling it out.