Three-way battle for the GP2 Series title


November 24, 2016
Featured, News
Alexander S


  • GP2 Series

The GP2 Series season comes to the end this weekend. The final round will be held in Abu Dhabi and three drivers have a chance to win the title.

After 10 rounds and 20 races, the 2016 season concludes with the races at Yas Marina Circuit. Three drivers are the title contenders but it is better to say that only two of them are the real contenders knowing that Raffaele Marciello needs an enormous amount of luck to finish the season ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi and Pierre Gasly.

Giovinazzi (Prema Racing) leads the standings with 197 points. Despite the very slow start of the season, his performance improved and he scored five wins over the year. The 22 years old Italian is in very fine form as he won three of the last six races which propelled him to the top, seven points ahead of his teammate Pierre Gasly.

Giovinazzi GP2 Series

Antonio Giovinazzi

Over the year the Frenchman was in more stable form than Giovinazzi. Gasly has three wins on his account which could be very important for the final standings but it is hard to believe that these drivers could be tied in points after the last race. However, Gasly has a chance to grab the title, especially if he beats Antonio in the feature race on Saturday.

GP2 Series, Spa, Pierre Gasly

GP2 Series, Spa, Pierre Gasly

Finally, Marciello is the third driver who can become the GP2 Series champion. He is 39 points behind his compatriot Giovinazzi and with 48 points at stake, Raffaele’s chances are very slim. The Russian Time driver must win both races in Abu Dhabi which is quite impossible knowing that he was without a victory in 2016 but it is also good to know that Marciello is one of only two drivers who managed to finish every race so far.

Raffaele Marciello

Raffaele Marciello at Hungaroring

That’s why Marciello’s main task should probably be to keep the 3rd position in the Drivers’ Championship. Sergey Sirotkin (ART Grand Prix) is 23 points behind the Italian, while Jordan King and Norman Nato (Racing Engineering) are 36 points shorter and their chances to move into the top 3 are pretty small.

Prema Racing already secured Teams’ Championship title, leaving Racing Engineering and Russian Time to battle for the runner-up title. ART Grand Prix has small chances to reach top 3 in the final standings after being 40 points behind Russian Time.

The Feature race of the GP2 Series final round in Abu Dhabi will go on Saturday 15:40 CET, while the Sprint race is scheduled for Sunday 11:20 CET.

Photo: gp2series.com