F O L LO W I N G Y O U N G D R I V E R S O N T H E I R W AY T O T H E P I N N A C L E O F M O T O R S P O R T

59

2013, MARCH 22-24

KUALA LUMPUR

ROUND 1

COLETTI CONQUEROR
Rapax driver makes title intentions clear in season opener

GP3 SERIES

2013 SEASON

RECORD BREAKING!
Sainz Jnr and Niederhauser top testing
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NEWS

ROUND 1 RACE REPORTS // CLICK HERE

BEST BITS
#Close
Fifteen drivers running within 1 second in practice and qualifying, with the top three drivers covered by 0.008s, Thats close racing!

GOOD WEEK
STEFANO COLETTI
Pole, podium, win and bonus points for fastest lap. Thats a total of 36 points scored in one race weekend and the Series lead ahead of Round 2 for the Rapax driver.

#ComebackKid
Jolyon Palmer fought his way from P22 to 6th in Race 1. He then stalled on the grid, started from the pitlane and sliced his way up to P9.

2013 CLASSIFICATIONS

#Finally
Fabio Leimer felt as though he was cursed, hunting down a third win since Barcelona 2011. A strong drive in Race 1 led to victory and relief.

#OhBaby
At eighteen years old and nine months, Mitch Evans has become the youngest GP2 podium finisher ever with a 3rd place in Round 1 Sprint Race.

FABIO LEIMER
A well-deserved win in the feature race thanks to a mature drive and a great strategy. As expected, the Racing Engineering man adds his name to the list of title contenders.

DRIVERS STANDINGS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. Stefano Coletti 1M Fabio Leimer 1M Felipe Nasr James Calado Stphane Richelmi Mitch Evans Rookie Julin Leal Jolyon Palmer Sam Bird Johnny Cecotto Jr. Simon Trummer Conor Daly Rookie Rene Binder Kevin Giovesi Rookie Tom Dillmann Marcus Ericsson Daniel De Jong Pl Varhaug Sergio Canamasas Daniel Abt Rookie Kevin Ceccon Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rookie Jake Rosenzweig Rio Haryanto Ma Qin Hua Rookie Nathanal Berthon 36 25 24 18 12 11 10 8 8 6 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BRAND NEW ME
Whats new? you ask. The true essence of The Insider remains: since 2008, it brings you all the fresh news and gossip straight from the GP2 and GP3 paddock. The ever-growing number of readers however called for more pages, more features and more fun! We have tweaked the design shooting for a more vivid, colourful and user-friendly magazine. We have also added some news chronicles, starting with A day in the life. Ever wondered what we were all doing on a race day at the circuit? Its not just about being on the track, in the pitlane or on the pitwall as the lights go off. The drivers will also reveal their favourite track not the one to race on, but the perfect tune to listen to before jumping into their beast. We also added a feature with all the best bits of the race weekend, a social media centre where you can play a part but we have kept fan favourites too such as good/ bad week. We dont want to spoil too much. Just see for yourself. You are no longer a fly on the wall. You are now fully part of our world. Welcome!

JAMES CALADO
Second in qualifying and in the feature race, the Brit made a mistake in Race 2 that led to three cars retiring prematurely and the ART man penalised for Bahrain feature race.

DAMS
A difficult first round for the reigning champions with only Stphane Richelmi scoring points for the French outfit. But as everyone likes to say: The season is long and were only at the beginning!

READY FOR THE OSCARS

First video up and running: the highlights of the 2012 season. Relive all the heart-stopping action and drama from last season now available online for your viewing pleasure at gp2series.com. Who can forget the magical fight between Luiz Razia and James Calado during the final lap in Valencia? One of many races which truly captured the ferocity and skills of the best young drivers in the world on their path to the pinnacle of motorsport: Formula 1. This short compilation video shows the best moments from another memorable year in the series. In a season which saw the title go down to the wire, this video is a must-see for any GP2 fan. And tell your friends to check it out too once they have seen what GP2 has to offer, they too will become firm GP2 supporters!

IN THE HEAT OF THE TRACK

Is there a tougher place to open a season than Kuala Lumpur? The weather conditions are one of the trickiest of the year for both men and machines. With the high temperatures and humidity levels off the scale, everything is put to the test and the number one rule is to drink, drink and drink some more water for the drivers. However, they came prepared to Malaysia: James Calado for instance trained for hours in a heat acclimatisation room whilst Jake Rosenzweig chose to arrive a week prior to the event to get his body used to the conditions. But no matter how well-prepared they were, one look at them in parc-ferme at the end of both races it was obvious that they had all had gone beyond their strengths to cross the finish line. Series leader Stefano Coletti could not even stand at the end of the podium ceremony the Monegasque driver sat on the top step, head in hands, trying to collect himself before getting interviewed. The heat also puts a lot of strain on the mechanical aspects of the car. Managing tyres was of course key to success even more than usual: Saturdays race saw drivers struggling with high degradation, with race leader Coletti having to surrender to both Fabio Leimer and James Calado in the final stages. Rookie Mitch Evans was also a victim of the phenomenon earlier in the race having to pit on lap 6. But lesson learned: on Sunday, both men adapted their set-up and driving style to grab P1 and P3 respectively.

TEAMS STANDINGS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Rapax 1M Racing Engineering 1M Carlin ART Grand Prix Arden International DAMS RUSSIAN TIME Hilmer Motorsport Venezuela GP Lazarus MP Motorsport Caterham Racing Trident Racing Barwa Addax Team 42 35 32 18 17 12 8 2 1 0 0 0 0

MP MOTORSPORT
Probably not the outcome the newcomers had expected for their first round. An unfortunate incident in Race 1 involving both cars ruined their weekend. Lesson learned.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RESULTS

Drum roll please! We are pleased to present to you, our loyal fans: a brand new video module on the GP2 Official website.

BAD
WEEK

A DAY IN THE LIFE

RAIN AND RUBBER RESTRICT GP2 RUNNERS IN MELBOURNE

Tyre wear was the key to success in the first F1 race of the 2013 season in Melbourne: an aggressive choice of compounds by Pirelli gave the teams a challenge to solve. Nico Hlkenberg looked to be the best placed driver to take advantage of the Q3 runners, starting from P11 in a handy looking Sauber, but a fuel system problem relegated the former GP2 champion to a disappointed spectator. Up ahead Lewis Hamilton made a storming start to third, with teammate Nico Rosberg sliding into P5, but their races were now reliant on how well their Mercedes dealt with the abrasive surface of the Albert Park circuit: the Briton struggled on to finish fifth, but the German was forced into retirement with an electrical issue. Further back Romain Grosjean was struggling with a poorly handling car throughout the race, switching strategy but never finding clear air: he limped home 10th. One place behind him Sergio Prez could be forgiven for expecting more: his McLaren was a handful all weekend, and P11 was probably the best he could do given the conditions. It was still better than what Pastor Maldonado managed to bring home: after complaining that his Williams was undriveable, the Venezuelan demonstrated his point by beaching himself in the gravel midway through the race.

SATURDAY (03) MARCH

Codello, GP2 Series Head of Operatio

Marco

ns

23

Shushsleeping 6:00 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Wake up call (one eye open) 7:00 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Breakfast 7:30 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Leave the hotel with my Bentley NOT!!!! We have a crappy PROTON 8:00 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Arrive at the circuit and have a real espresso (second eye open) 8:30 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Meeting with Allsport about Paddock Club for the season 9:00 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Visit Caterham Racing in order to organize grid access for some of their VIP guests (home race for Caterham) 9:30 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... T ell the teams to move their equipment to the pit lane. Racing cars will follow 10:20 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Put Safety Car overalls on for Race1. Its SUPER HOT TODAY 10:30 ......................................................................................................................................................................................

PETROV SLOWS GROSJEANS MARCH TO TITLE

Romain Grosjean arrived in Malaysia determined to wrap up the 2008 GP2 Asia Series early, and claimed a scorching pole position in qualifying by over 0.5 secs to lay down a marker. The rest of the grid, however, had other plans. Grosjean made a mess of the feature start, dropping back to fifth as the lights went out, but the rain saw the race red flagged for crashes on the first lap, and then restarted behind the safety car. The Frenchman fought back to challenge Vitaly Petrov for the lead, but Grosjean was soon back in the pits after a tap from Pavlovic for a damage check. The Russian held on for the win, with the championship leader limping home to finish 9th, albeit with a point for the fastest lap. A slow start from the front row saw Kobayashi and Petrov jump to an early lead in the sprint race, with Grosjean fighting his way forward to put himself on the Russians tail once again, resuming the fight which was cut short the day before. Petrov put up his usual robust defence, but the Frenchman finally sliced past and was soon chasing down the Japanese driver: the gap was too big, however, and Kobayashi held on for his first GP2 victory, with Grosjeans lead in the title down to 11 points over his Russian rival.

The new drivers had a torrid baptism in torrential conditions in qualifying, with Esteban Gutirrez, Giedo van der Garde and even Charles Pic all finding the wall in Q1, but the Mexican made a strong race debut by calmly slicing up the order to a P13 finish. The Caterham pair were stuck in a race long battle with Marussia rivals, with Pic eventually splitting Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton for P16, while his Dutch teammate had to make do with a P18 finish.

Lewis collects his first Mercedes trophy.

STEFANO COLETTI
Thrift Shop
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

GP2 pit lane opens 11:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Safety car leaves the grid 11:05 ......................................................................................................................................................................................

GP2 Race 1 formation lap And lights are off for the first race of the season. I watch from the Safety car 11:15 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... GP2 Race 1 is over. No safety car deployed. NOT A BUSY RACE FOR US TODAY 12:30 ......................................................................................................................................................................................

HAMILTON ON THE PODIUM IN KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia saw an upturn in the fates of the former GP2 drivers, with champions Hamilton and Rosberg finishing nose to tail behind the lead pairing of Red Bull. Grosjean improved too, handily outperforming his world champion teammate (who finally held off Hlkenberg in a race long fight for P7) with a solid drive to P6, while Perez brought home his first McLaren points with a long run to P9. Gutirrez solidified his growing reputation in the top paddock with a strong run to P12, while Maldonado was left on the side of the road once again after retiring on lap 45. The Marussia vs Caterham continued apace, but this time Caterham pair were both able to ahead of Chilton: the trio finished to 16. war the stay P14

Lunch and debrief with Bruno Michel and Didier Perrin at Pirelli. Finally some good food :-) 13:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Debrief with GP2 race director and stewards 14:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Post race administration, posting results and stewards decisions 15:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Try a short cut to enter into the stewards room Almost made it before running into PASQUALE! I had to go back and find another way around the building 15:30 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Meeting with Race director and stewards 16:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... GP2 administration 17:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... check-in online (we go home tomorrow!) 18:30 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... We take the Bentley (PROTON) back to the hotel 19:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... We (AQ/DP/RS/MC) leave the hotel for dinner with our boss! 20:30 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Dinner at the Japanese restaurant (NOTHING SPECIAL) 21:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Back to our hotel 23:00 ...................................................................................................................................................................................... zzzzzz GOOD NIGHT 00:00 ......................................................................................................................................................................................

Vitaly Petrov takes the lead at the start of the race. Romain Grosjean on pole position with ART Grand Prix.

A battling drive from the Frenchman saw him come home in P6.

Social media centre

#yoursay

@hannahjepson @gp2_official time! Keeping me awake at 4am #loveit #shutupanddrive

@Kateafan Deciding if I can get up at 3am for @GP2_Official first race... Beauty Sleep verses Real Racing?? #ShutUpAndDrive @Rachi16

PREVIEW
@felipenasr @jjwebster954

Dang! What time is it? 03:10? What am I doing up? Watching the 1st @GP2_Official race of 2013, thats what!! Whos with me? #shutupanddrive

SAKHIR BAHRAIN

Max Chilton @ maxchilton

Just popped into say hi to my old team @CarlinRacing in the @GP2_Official paddock! Top blokes and wish @JolyonPalmer & @FelipeNasr good luck

PIRELLI GETS 2013 GP2 SEASON UNDERWAY IN MALAYSIA

This year, Pirelli is entering its third season as official tyre supplier to the GP2 Series, the premier feeder category to Formula One. The 2013 GP2 tyres are all new when it comes to compound and construction, designed to mirror the characteristics of the latest Formula One tyres. The changes brought by Pirelli to the GP2 tyres this year are the most comprehensive since Pirelli entered the category. Only the hard compound was changed last year, but for this season all the compounds and constructions have been revised. The aim is to make sure that the emphasis is always on high performance. The new tyres a successful hallmark of Pirellis philosophy in Formula One will also prepare the drivers for the demands they face at the very pinnacle of the sport, where tyre management is an essential skill. In another change for 2013, the GP2 tyres are now produced at Pirellis cutting-edge competition tyre factory in Slatina, Romania. Tyre research and development is carried out by specialists based at Pirellis headquarters in Milan, while the companys motorsport logistics facility is located in Didcot, United Kingdom. But while the tyres themselves are brand new, the basic tyre rules in GP2 are the same as those of last year. Every car has five sets of dry tyres and three sets of wet weather tyres available for the race weekend. The five sets of dry tyres comprise three sets of the harder compound and two sets of the softer compound. Each car has to return one set of the harder compound after free practice, meaning that the drivers are left with two sets of each nominated compound for qualifying and the race. Judging by all the action in the first two races of the season at Malaysia, the new tyres are already set to help provide another championship thriller this year. Tyre management had a key influence on how the action unfolded in both races, with the drivers rapidly beginning to understand what is needed to unlock the best performance from them. Pirellis racing manager Mario Isola commented: Were all very excited about the new GP2 tyres for this year, which are designed to offer more performance than ever before. In fact, the lap times in free practice were actually quicker than we saw in qualifying at Sepang last year. However, the difficult track conditions of Malaysia showed that there is an impressive degree of durability as well. Knowing how to get the best out of the tyres is designed to form an integral part of the overall race strategy, together with driving style and car set-up. So all the ingredients are in place for another exciting season!

@HuskerF1 Fantastic first race of the @GP2_Official 2013 season. Well done @fabioleimer ! #ShutUpAndDrive Giovanni Venturini @VenturiniGio

@jamescalado

@conordaly22

APRIL, 19-20-21
Bahrain International Circuit
5.543 km

TYRES CHOICE

Prime Option

I love u #love #car #gp3 #macchina #auto #motorsport http://instagr.am/p/ V9iWs7HLZo/

Hard Soft

Dino Zamparelli @DinoZamparelli

Great first day at Estoril! Love my new #GP3 car! Learning and improving all the time. Cant wait for tomorrow!#POWER pic.twitter.com/vUpElYL2

@trident_team

@nickcassidy_

PAST WINNERS

Melville McKee @melvillemckee

Back in the UK. Rushing to prep for Estoril! 4 days til Im back in a car, this time with 400hp #nonstop #grinning

Esteban Gutierrez @EstebanGtz

2012 STAND ALONE

Race 1 Valsecchi (DAMS) Race 2 Dillmann (Rapax)

All the best to my friends @ARTGP and @GP3_Official in Estoril! #GP3Estoril

2012
Race 1 Valsecchi (DAMS) Race 2 Valsecchi (DAMS)

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS GP2 PADDOCK

@gp2_official

@gp3_official

When March, 23 _ 11:56 Where Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur Who Stefano Coletti . Rapax, Fabio Leimer . Racing Engineering

What Canon EOS 1-D X EF50mm f/1.4 USM 50 ISO 50mm 1/10 @ F14.0

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GP2 SERIES PHOTOS

When March, 12 _ 16:58 Where Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona Who Emanuele Zonzini . Trident

What Canon EOS 1-D X EF200mm f/2L IS USM 160 ISO 200mm 1/500 @ F6.0

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GP3 SERIES PHOTOS

PRE-SEASON TEST REPORTS CLICK HERE

#HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

Up to Speed: Sainz Jnr leads the way in Estoril.

NOTHING BUT THE BITS

#EARPLUGS
The thunderous roar of the new 400hp GP3/13 car wowed everyone and signaled the start of 2013 pre-season testing.
GP3 broke the previous Patric Niederhauser ve ssi a testing by a ma lap record in Barcelon . GP3/13 machine 4.2 seconds in the new

#FOUR

PATRICK KUJALA
On Mika Hkkinen
I think there is something very unique about him and his personality. Hes got a great sense of humour too!

#CARLIN
British squad Rookie Luis Sa Silva and his feed onto the ld wou Carlin won the war of who car. ion erat gen ond track first in the sec

#WELCOME
Finnish outfit Koiranen GP join the GP3 Series along with Bamboo Engineering who replaced Atech CRS GP.

WHATS UP!
AARO VAINIO
On Ari Vatanen
Ari is a Finnish rally driver and I like the fact he is always going sideways and gives maximum attack. He is very fun to watch and I always want to give my maximum too.

New GP3 car 4.2s faster in Barcelona

MW Arden rookie Carlos Sainz Jnr topped the timesheets for two successive days in Portugal, recording a best lap of 1:26.81, three seconds quicker than its previous generation on the same track. The second test at Barcelona saw Jenzer Motorsports Patric Niederhauser wow everyone: his laptime of 1:33.750 was a mammoth 4.2 seconds quicker than the former GP3 lap record.
Coletti & Evans all smiles in Sepang.

We are back! All eyes (and ears) were on the GP3/13 car at the first official pre-season test in Estoril as the full grid of 27 drivers fed onto the circuit. Not only did the cars look even better with their revised nose, sidepods and engine cover, the roar of the 400hp engine was immense.

HEAR ME

Bottas best rookie in F1 qualifying in season opener.

Challenge Accepted: Yelloly enjoys more focus on driver skill.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

KEVIN KORJUS
On Ari Gold
Hes a character from the TV show Entourage played by Jeremy Piven. I dont really have any heroes but I like Aris TV persona, hes a very cool guy. Nick Yelloly (Carlin) has driven both generations of the GP3 car and explained the differences: The GP3/13 car is more challenging to drive and great fun with so much power. Fast corners are much trickier to manage in the new car, meaning driver skill is even more important. Therefore I think you need to be braver driving this machine. In higher temperatures I believe the car can go even quicker. This season will be vital learning about tyre degradation in order to progress up the ranks to GP2 and Formula 1.

Mighty Mitch on podium in Malaysia

Valtteri Bottas made a great start to his F1 campaign becoming the only rookie to progress to Q2 in Melbourne in treacherous and challenging conditions. The Finn also out-qualified his teammate Pastor Maldonado. Race day saw the 2011 GP3 Series Champion finish 14th just one place behind our inaugural GP3 title winner Esteban Gutirrez in 13th also making a strong debut. Hot and sticky Sepang hosted Round 1 of the GP2 Series season which featured 11 drivers graduated from GP3. Former GP3 victors Stefano Coletti and James Calado qualified on the front row for the Feature Race, the Brit finished second with the Monegasque driver third. Reigning GP3 Champion Mitch Evans pocketed a point in his maiden race despite a bout of food poisoning. Coletti took a lightsto-flag victory in the Sprint race with Kiwi Evans in a fantastic third place. Rookie Conor Daly finished a brilliant seventh. Bottas missed out on scoring his first point in F1 by a mere 1.486s to come home in 11th, with Gutirrez 12th in their second race of the season.

MOMENT 4 LIFE
The Chosen One celebrates victory at Hockenheim in 2010.

Gutierrez glides towards title glory

While Esteban Gutirrezs GP3 title looked a fait accompli in hindsight, at the time the championship battle was a knockdown fight all season: with so many drivers in a position to win races, it was clear that the smartest, most consistent driver was going to have an advantage over his rivals. The Hockenheim weekend was a case in point: with 22 drivers handed penalties by the race stewards after practice it would have been easy to lose focus and allow events to dictate results, but the Mexican is not a driver known to give in so easily. He suffered another blow in the feature race when title rival Robert Wickens claimed a dominant win, but Gutirrez had made the most of a poor hand by moving up from tenth on the grid to P4 when the flag dropped. And then Sunday happened. The Mexican made a storming start and was soon all over leader Daniel Juncadella, but a lengthy safety car period meant he had to bide his time. The Spaniard set a string of fastest laps when they were released, but it was to no avail: a small mistake in the stadium handed Gutirrez his fourth win of the season, and set him up for championship glory.

Robert Visoiu
Dont You Worry Child
Swedish House Mafia

SHAKE YO HELMET

As a proud Spaniard, I of course wanted the Spanish flag to be displayed on my helmet for my fans. Red Bull features strongly in the design thanks to the backing I receive from them. For 2013, I wanted to revamp my lid so I have added some silver sparkle to make it look special, I hope everyone likes it!

CARLOS SAINZ JR.

I wanted a unique design and stand out amongst the field this season so I have chosen a very glittery design with lots of circles which I think looks really funky. It was important to represent my country Venezuela with the flag and of course my principal sponsors.

SAMIN GOMEZ

I have kept a similar helmet design from my karting days but I always play with colours/lines to see how I can enhance it. I really like matt colours so thats what I have used along with the Red Bull Sponsor logos. I like a traditional but fierce look with the design.

Daniil Kvyat