Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Silverstone hosted teams from GB3, GB4 and British Formula 4 this week for a two-day test with the series’ respective cew cars.

Following shakedowns at Bedford Autodrome last month the halo-shod Tatuus MSV-022, which is a heavily upgraded version of the preceding car used by GB3, appeared on track at Silverstone with six teams.

Several also ran the 2021-spec chassis, with Carlin’s Javier Sagrera running in a car that had no halo but did have the side-mounted air intake that featured on the updated design.

His 2022 team-mate Callum Voisin ran in the new GB3 car, with former IndyCar driver and Alpine Formula 1 simulator driver Jordan King shaking down the new halo-shod Tatuus T-421 that Carlin will race in British F4.

McLaren F1 junior Ugo Ugochukwu took to the track ahead of his rookie single-seater season with Carlin in F4, and the team’s former driver Zane Maloney was also present.

Chris Dittmann Racing had its signing McKenzy Cresswell in its GB3 car, and Josh Skelton shaking down its new F4 car.

Running the older F4 cars that will be used in GB4 were Elite Motorsport and Fortec Motorsports, the latter running Formula Nordic race-winner Elias Adestam on day one and Anglo-Malaysian karter Nikolas Taylor on day two.

Fortec also had two different specifications of GB3 chassis running, with Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award-winning FIA Formula 3 Championship racer Johnathan Hoggard and the team’s current GB3 driver Mikkel Grundtvig at the wheel.

Elite’s GB3 line-up of Tom Lebbon and John Bennett got some practice in with the updated car, as well as British F4 race-winner James Hedley. The team did not name who was in its Tatuus T-014 chassis.

Douglas Motorsport and Hillspeed each had a single driver doing development work with the GB3 car. Walter Hayes Trophy winner Max Esterson drove for Douglas, while Hitech GP’s recently signed karting graduate Cian Shields ran for rival team Hillspeed.

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The Mexican karting graduate is in his rookie season of car racing and is currently 11th in the British F4 points with Fortec Motorsports, and with one podium to his name.

He’s missed two rounds there to prioritise his French campaign, which was the prize for winning the Richard Mille shootout, and is currently sixth in the standings with a best finish of fourth.

The teenager replaces Matthias Luethen in Drivex’s line-up, with the German moving across to Double R Racing for the four-race Barcelona season finale. It is unclear whether Luethen will be a practice-only entry or not.

Villagomez will not be eligible to score points on his Euroformula debut.

Carlin planned to field three cars this weekend, with Formula 4 graduates Zane Maloney and Ido Cohen being joined by ex-IndyCar driver Jordan King. That plan did not come to fruition, despite the Briton being named on the entry list.

The team introduced a third Dallara 320 chassis at the Mugello round earlier this month for McLaren GT driver Ben Barnicoat, who was called in to assist in speeding up the team’s development and understanding of the series’ new car and ended up taking a win and a pole.

Clashing committments meant he wasn’t free to fill the same role for the Spa-Francorchamps round two weeks ago, and Carlin’s Formula 2 racer Yuki Tsunoda was lined up to drive the third car.

The Red Bull junior, a winner in Euroformula with Motopark, was then called for a seat fit at the Alpha Tauri base in Italy ahead of a private Formula 1 test being organised for him at Imola next week.

This prevented him from racing in Belgium, and Euroformula’s cancellation of its planned season finale at Jarama on November 6-8 has now put additional onus on the Barcelona round as it incorporates the two otherwise lost races to conclude the season.

King, who raced one of Dallara’s preceding designs to the 2013 British Formula 3 title with Carlin, was lined up to be the team’s third driver for Barcelona but that plan did also not come to fruition.

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Photo: FIA Formula 2

MP Motorsport’s Jordan King and Mahaveer Rahunathan have been handed grid penalties for the first Formula 2 race at Spa-Francorchamps, bringing Raghunathan closer to a second race ban.

Circuit stewards examined video evidence from the disrupted qualifying session, as well as conversing with the team and drivers, and found that neither driver slowed down sufficiently as per the regulations during yellow flag conditions.

As a result, each has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the feature race, dropping King from eighth to 11th and Raghunathan from 18th to 19th.

Two penalty points were also handed out to both drivers, bringing Raghunathan’s tally up to eight out of the possible 12 that can be accumulated before a race ban is administered.

Their penalties means DAMS’ title contender Nicholas Latifi will now start from 10th, nine places behind poleman and championship leader Nyck de Vries.

“[I had a] very unlucky qualifying,” Latifi said of his qualifying session. “Brake problems on my first set of tyres and a red flag on the second set of tires prevented me from even starting a timed lap.

“Frustrating when you know you had a package to fight for pole. Starting P11. A lot of ground to make up but we?ll push on.”

The loss of only one place for Raghunathan is due to his already lowly qualifying, and the fact that Sauber Junior Team by Charouz’s Callum Ilott failed to set a lap time due to a mechanical failure – a problem that stopped qualifying entirely.

Ilott has been granted permission to start from 20th and last on the grid, rather than the pitlane.

In FIA Formula 3, Ilott’s fellow Sauber junior and reigning ADAC Formula 4 champion Lirim Zendeli has also been handed a grid penalty for crashing into Campos Racing’s Sebastian Fernandez, and will start Saturday’s race from last place.

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Photo: FIA Formula 2

Luca Ghiotto and Jordan King will regain their original finishing positions from the Formula 2 feature race at the Hungaroring after penalties for a safety car infringement were overturned.

The race finished under safety car conditions when Trident’s Ralph Boschung spilt oil on to the track, and Virtuosi Racing’s Ghiotto and MP Motorsport’s King finished fourth and sixth.

They were both penalised five seconds almost immediately after the chequered flag when it was revealed they did not set the minimum delta time determined by their car’s ECUs. Between marshal sectors seven and eight, they were both more than one second under the minimum time.

The penalty dropped the pair to sixth and seventh, but following a post-race hearing they have been reinstated in the positions they finished the race.

After reviewing the evidence, the stewards discovered that four cars were running closely together, in a high-speed area of the track, prior to the incident. This would have made slowing to the delta time more difficult than it usually would be, and this Ghiotto and King have now been handed written reprimands instead.

Ghiotto’s fourth place means he moves back past DAMS’ Sergio Sette Camara into third in the standings, while King’s alternate strategy run which left him leading much of the feature race now earns him 10 points.

The removal of the penalties mean Sette Camara is now classified as finishing fifth in the feature race, with Carlin’s Nobuharu Matsushita pushed back down from fifth to seventh.

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Photo: Zak Mauger / FIA Formula 2

Artem Markelov will return to Formula 2 for next weekend’s Monaco round as a stand-in for Jordan King at MP Motorsport.

King is signed to contest the full F2 season with MP aside from Monaco, which he was always set to miss due to while he makes his Indianapolis 500 debut on the same weekend.

Markelov will be contesting his 57th race weekend across GP2 and Formula 2, but his first for a team other than the Russian Time outfit that was backed by his father.

After five years in the series, Markelov departed together with Russian Time at the end of 2018 and is now competing in Japanese Super Formula.

The 24-year-old won the Monaco feature race in both 2016 and 2018, and finished second in 2017.

?I am very happy to join MP Motorsport at Monaco,? said Markelov.

?Monaco is a special place, and I can?t think of a better occasion for a one-off return to Formula 2. I?m looking forward to meeting lots of old friends and, of course, wish Jordan all the best in his effort to win the Indy 500!?

Team boss Sander Dorsman said: ?We can?t think of a quicker man to step into Jordan?s car at Monaco than Artem.

“We are sorry to lose Jordan for the weekend, but Artem is a worthy replacement.

“I look forward to working with him during an important weekend for us and hope that he will help us to a pair of great results at Monaco.?

The post Artem Markelov returns to F2 for Monaco as substitute for Jordan King appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Glenn Dunbar / FIA F2 Championship

MP Motorsport has signed IndyCar driver Jordan King and Mahaveer Raghunathan for the upcoming Formula 2 season.

King raced for the Dutch team in F2 in 2017, ending his three year spell in the championship with 11th in the standings. He moved to IndyCar last year with Ed Carpenter Racing, driving all but the oval races, and also won the LMP2 class of the 1000 Miles of Sebring?last weekend.

?It is great to be working with and supporting the team at MP Motorsport again?, said King.

?I only have good memories of working with everyone at MP and I?m delighted the team have put their trust in me to help them progress as much as possible ? and I?m sure we?ll reach our full potential together.?

King has secured a seat with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for this year’s Indianapolis 500, meaning he will miss the Monaco F2 round. The 25-year-old will also continue racing in the World Endurance Championship, although none of those races clash with F2.

Raghunathan was the 2017 BOSS GP Formula Class champion, driving an ex-A1GP car and picking up his one and only win in single-seaters. He also has experience in prototype sportscars, GP3 and European F3.

?I?m very happy with this great opportunity,? said?the 20-year-old Indian. ?We had a positive test at Barcelona, and I will use that experience to make a good start to the season.”

“Having such an experienced team mate as Jordan will be invaluable as I?m aware that I?m on a steep learning curve.?

King’s F2 experience came prior to the introduction of the current turbocharged car, meaning pre-season testing at Jerez was his first experience of the car. He ended up topping the final session of the three-day test.

“Formula 2?s turbo car was new to me, as I only have experience with the old GP2 car, so I used the six days well to familiarise myself with the new machine. It?s a great car and I?m certain we can do well.” King explained.

MP team manager Sander Dorsman was also confident of success.

?Jordan is a known quantity, as was proven when we got back into the groove at Jerez,” Dorsman said.

“Mahaveer, meanwhile, has the speed to be part of F2. He?s only had three days of testing, so I?m sure we will see vast improvements as the season comes along.”

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The entry list for the first 2019 Formula 2 pre-season test at Jerez has been released, featuring a surprise series return for IndyCar driver Jordan King.

King made his debut in F2’s predecessor?in 2015 with Racing Engineering, finishing 12th in his rookie year before rising to seventh in his second year in 2016. He switched to MP Motorsport for a third year in the series in 2017 before earning IndyCar graduation for 2018 – immediately impressing by qualifying fourth on his debut.

Despite continued great one-lap speed, it failed to come together for King in the races, and he could only obtain a one-off Indy500 drive for 2019 in the series.

He reunites with MP for the test, who will also run former Red Bull junior Richard Verschoor, who impressed in his part-season with the team in GP3 in 2018 and already tested the team’s F2 car in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.

MP is yet to announce its drivers for the 2019 F2 season, while two other teams still have one space to fill. Campos, who has signed Jack Aitken from ART Grand Prix, will field GP3 race-winner and former MP driver?Dorian Boccolacci.

Trident will run Ralph Boschung, who has driven for Campos and MP in the series over the last two years, alongside the already-announced?Giuliano Alesi. The son of former Formula 1 race-winner Jean, has spent the last three years racing in GP3 with the Italian outfit.

The top two teams from last season, Carlin and ART, will field their all-new driver line-ups with Carlin fielding series regular Louis Deletraz alongside series returnee Nobuharu Matsushita, while 2018 GP3 runner-up Nikita Mazepin joins four-time F2 race-winner Nyck de Vries at ART.

Nicholas Latifi begins his fourth-straight year with DAMS, joined by Sergio Sette Camara, who switches from Carlin for his third shot at the title. The 2017 teams’ champion Russian Time has been rebranded as UNI-Virtuosi and will run rookie Guanyu Zhou alongside fourth-year driver Luca Ghiotto – who helped the team to that 2017 title.

Prema will continue with Sean Gelael for a second year with Formula 3 European champion Mick Schumacher continuing his relationship with the team.

Charouz, with its new Sauber backing, will run Ferrari junior Callum Ilott and fellow GP3 graduate Juan Manuel Correa, the latter of which topped the second day of F2’s?post-season test at Abu Dhabi.

Tatiana Calderon, who was announced as the series’ first-ever female driver last week, will test for Arden, with reigning?GP3 champion Anthonie Hubert in the sister car.

The three-day test kicks off on Tuesday.

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Photo: GP2 Media Service

Jordan King will drive for MP Motorsport in GP2 this year, returning to his old Formula Renault team.

The Briton began his single-seater career in 2011 with Manor Competition, which then merged into Dutch outfit MP the following season, when King was runner-up in Formula Renault NEC.

Former Manor Competition chiefs Tony and Sarah Shaw now run the MP GP2 operation.

King joins MP Motorsport after two seasons in GP2 with Racing Engineering, a partnership that produced two sprint race wins and seventh in the standings in 2016.

“I?ve known the team a long time and worked with them straight out of karting, so in a way it?s a bit of a homecoming for me,” said King.

“One of the biggest reasons for me to join them was the level of trust that comes with such a longstanding relationship.

“Working with the team at the test [in Abu Dhabi last December] was also a key factor in my decision.

“There is a great working relationship there with everyone in the team always working hard for you, but with a smile on their faces.

“I know they will always do the best job they possibly can.

“Coming into my third year I?ve never been in a better place physically and mentally and I?m aiming to improve on my strong season last year.”

King joins Formula 3 graduate Sergio Sette Camara in the line-up at MP.

Tony Shaw said: “Our relationship with Jordan extends back to his original move into single seaters from karting.

“We know his undoubted speed, ability and obvious fitness very well.

“On the two occasions that he’s tested our GP2 car we have been very taken with the professionalism coupled with excellent pace and calm feedback.”

King also tested with Russian Time in Abu Dhabi, and his signing with MP paves the way for Luca Ghiotto to partner Artem Markelov at the team.

The post King returns to MP for his third year in GP2 appeared first on Formula Scout.

See also:?50-41

40. Leonardo Pulcini

Photos: Fotospeedy

New entry

Italy ? age 18

Euroformula Open champion

Pulcini was dominant in his second season in Euroformula Open.

Despite the potential he showed in Italian F4, when he was one of the closest to Lance Stroll, he had struggled to make a strong impression in his first year in the F3-based category with the DAV Racing team.

A switch to Campos for year two paid dividends, with Pulcini the man to beat from start to finish. He won once in all of the first four events, and came second in three of the other four races.

Colton Herta challenged his supremacy with a Red Bull Ring double as he came on strong in the second half of his rookie campaign with Carlin, and both the American and Ferdinand Habsburg demonstrated the improving strength of the Euroformula Open field, but Pulcini always had the legs on them.

He wrapped up the title in style with a victory in the penultimate weekend at Jerez, but his real crowning moment came one round earlier at Monza, where he pulled off a phenomenal double home victory, passing Habsburg for the second win around the outside of the Parabolica for the final time.

For that alone, this talented and young Italian deserves to make the next step, which is most likely to come in GP3.

39. Matheus Leist

Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography

New entry

Brazil ? age 19

BRDC British F3 champion

Leist only led the inaugural BRDC British Formula 3 Championship after the final round, but that didn?t stop his title from being wholly deserved.

Some inconsistency in the early rounds cost him ground ? a charging race two win at Snetterton came after only a 10th in the first (a result not even good enough for him to benefit from the reverse grid), and a win from pole in the first race at Brands Hatch was followed by a pair of retirements ? but it was great consistency from there onwards that was key.

Rival Ricky Collard won more often over the subsequent rounds, but Leist was never outside of the top six in all of the remaining races, and could well have taken a double win at Silverstone had the final ? for which?he was on pole ? not been rained off.

Even after the penultimate round back at Snetterton ? where Carlin?s Collard pipped Double R?s Leist to poles by the narrowest margins and went on to win both main races ? his deficit was only 15 points, and winning the first race of the decider as Collard crashed out swung the title in his favour, as he demonstrated coolness in the heat of battle.

They?may have been overshadowed slightly by Lando Norris in MSA Formula last year, but both Leist and Collard are great drivers, and the Brazilian?has at least some of the same?sparkle as?his famous?compatriots who?also won British F3 titles.

Taking that trophy back home this winter will only help when it comes to raising support in a tough climate as he bids to step up to GP3.

38. Ben Barnicoat

Photos: FIA F3 European Championship

Down 11

United Kingdom ? age 19

Ninth in FIA F3 European Championship

Barnicoat had the ingredients to be the next rookie star of European F3 in 2016 ? even after an unplanned move to Hitech rather than Prema ? and he very much started out along those lines.

He got into the wars a little at Paul Ricard, but proved his class next time out at the Hungaroring with a race three win. Yes, it came after team-mate George Russell collided with Maximilian Gunther fighting?for the lead, but Barnicoat did well to capitalise in tricky conditions.

He was again in place to take advantage when Lance Stroll made a hash of his getaway from pole in the very next race in Pau. Having qualified alongside the man who would be king, Barnicoat became the first double winner of the year. At this point he was right among the leading contenders in the standings.

Sadly, that was the peak. There would be just one further podium finish ? again in the wet, at Spa ? and even the rookie podium became hard to reach. At circuits that were unkind to Hitech, Barnicoat suffered much more than Russell. His qualifying record worsened, and in the mid-pack he got into incidents as he tried to recover. He complained of a lack of balance in the heat, and of a lack of power.

Barnicoat is maybe not yet as?rounded as some of his peers and that has cost him, but this karting rival of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc and rookie car racing champion is too talented a driver not to be supported?further. Sadly, things have been very quiet since the season ended. A move into GTs may be more likely than another year in F3.

37. Nick Cassidy?

Photos: FIA F3 European Championship

Down 3

New Zealand ? age 22

Fourth in FIA F3 European Championship

Having struggled for so long to earn the international breakthrough that his talents deserved, Cassidy has really been making the most of his opportunities in recent years; with a Macau podium taking him to a professional Super GT ride in just over a year via the Japanese F3 crown.

He would have to admit however that he didn?t make the most of his European F3 season with Prema ? his first full campaign in Europe.

Things started promisingly ? he led the championship after the first weekend at Paul Ricard, but the circumstances behind his hat-trick of seconds would set a tone.

One lap into the season he handed over a hard-earned lead to Lance Stroll, in race two he lost the lead to a genuine mistake, and in race three he came up short after banging wheels with Maximilian Gunther at the final corner.

In Hungary he had a nightmare with the tyres, in Pau he was taken out by contact, and he had car issues in Austria and at the Norisring. At Zandvoort he was superb, but his win there would be his only one; he only made it back to the podium once (in a Hockenheim Prema whitewash) in the final 12 races.

Cassidy had to play a supporting role to Stroll, had to focus on (and travel for) his Japanese efforts and had an unfair share of bad luck. Particularly given that, fourth in the championship was not a bad result at all, but he showed too rarely what he?s truly capable of.

36. Nyck de Vries

Photos: GP3 Media Service

Down 18

Netherlands ? age 21

Sixth in GP3

Really, this was always going to be a difficult year for de Vries. Effectively taking a step down in terms of car performance from Formula Renault 3.5, he needed to make an impression in GP3, but he needed to do so up against Charles Leclerc.

That did indeed prove to be too big an ask, but the thing that will really disappoint him will be his standing compared to another ART team-mate, Alex Albon. The pair were the closest of rivals in karting, and de Vries was way ahead in Formula Renault, but now at this point, it?s Albon who?s developing into?the better performer.

De Vries? season was better than it looked. It was a slow burner, but had his car not developed a problem that left him stranded on pole position in Hungary, he could well have finished in the championship top three, and his status versus Leclerc and Albon would thus be much healthier.

The Hungaroring was the only time he qualified on the front row though, with nailing the perfect lap a clear weakness of his season within?a team where?performance was stronger over one lap than in races.

De Vries remains a driver of clear ability, but even at a time when there?s a vacancy for a reserve driver at McLaren, it?s hard to see it single-handedly funding?a move into GP2.

35. Nirei Fukuzumi

Photos: GP3 Media Service

New entry

Japan ? age 19

Seventh in GP3

Fukuzumi came to GP3 with an air of anticipation around him, as a double winner in his one season of Japanese F3 in 2015 and off the back of fellow Honda protege Nobuharu Matsushita?s strong arrival in GP3.

Really, he didn?t disappoint. OK, so he was the lowest scoring driver in his team and the only one not to win, but it?s a credit to Fukuzumi that ART was considered to have four top drivers, not just three.

His most impressive result was third on his debut, in the opening race at Barcelona. Unlike there ? where he got to test beforehand ? he arrived at most other circuits with no prior experience, and it?s no coincidence he returned to the podium at Sepang and Abu Dhabi, where he didn?t have a disadvantage in this regard.

There was a bit too much contact in the middle of the year, notably coming together with Leclerc at Monza, but this was less him living up to the stereotype of ?banzai? Japanese racer and probably more just a lack of experience in close combat.

With a year under his belt with the car, with the team and with the tracks, Fukuzumi could be a real threat next year, and topped his only two sessions of post-season testing to that effect. We said the same?about Matsushita 12 months ago, but ART is much less likely to lose its supremacy of GP3.

34. Harrison Scott

Photos: Renault Sport

New entry

United Kingdom ? age 20

Fourth in Eurocup Formula Renault

Scott was firmly a leading contender in Formula Renault this year, despite two significant disadvantages.

For one, he contested only the Eurocup and not the NEC, meaning he had half the track time of his rivals, before any testing deficit to better-budgeted drivers is also factored in. Secondly, he was driving for AVF, a team that had never even won a Formula Renault race before, even if it had displayed decent pace with the right drivers.

Scott was as strong a rival to Lando Norris as Dorian Boccolacci and Max Defourny were, taking as many wins as they did combined, with three. These came in a particularly purple patch in the space of four races in middle of the season across Monza, the Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard.

He had a poor end to the year (when his track time deficit would have been at its most pronounced) and without that he could well have ended up as best of the rest behind?the unbeatable Norris.

Scott has appeared in Formula V8 3.5, European F3 and Euroformula Open machinery over recent weeks, and it would be great to see him get a full opportunity in one of those next season.

33. Marcos Siebert

Photo: ACI Sport

New entry

Argentina ? age 20

Italian Formula 4 champion

Siebert caused a bit of an upset to beat Mick Schumacher to the Italian F4 title.

The Argentine, contesting his second season in the series with Jenzer Motorsport, was not as quick as his rival, but was not as incident-prone either.

Indeed, he won the title with a fifth place in the penultimate race, passing Schumacher once the German damaged his front wing battling for the lead up ahead.

Siebert was absolutely capable of a turn of speed though. He won once at all of the first four rounds, including leading Schumacher home at Imola.

When Schumacher tore off into the distance in the opening race of the Monza finale, Siebert charged his way through from 11th on the grid to second, minimising the damage and proving he was every bit a worthy champion.

Something of a Jenzer protege ? he made his European debut in Formula Renault with the Swiss outfit in 2013 ? GP3 is the obvious next step for Siebert. Funding is limited, but Argentina wants a new F1 hero and there?s been plenty of attention back home for the young man from Mar del Plata, in Fangio?s part of the world.

32. Max Fewtrell?

Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography

New entry

United Kingdom ? age 17?

British Formula 4 champion

Fewtrell succeeded Lando Norris by winning the British F4 (as it became known mid-season) title in his first full year in single-seaters.

Consistency was key, with him winning only three of the 30 races, but this is something to be celebrated in a rookie, not used against him.

Fewtrell was on the podium 16 times, five more than anyone else?in a competitive series where six drivers fought for the title and all of the top 10 won races.

Going to round seven at Knockhill, Petru Florescu and Devlin DeFrancesco appeared to have more speed than Fewtrell, and the trio were split by eight points at the top, but his team-mates clashed on track and then off it,?and were never a challenge again.

An off-colour penultimate event at Silverstone cost Fewtrell the points lead to veteran Sennan Fielding, but he proved his pace?when he needed it most, claiming a double pole for the Brands Hatch finale and turning the second of those into a calm and crucial victory in the deciding race.

Fewtrell’s decision?- along with Infinity Sports Management – to head to Formula Renault with Tech 1 Racing for 2017?(when other drivers may?have been tempted by F3) is a further sign of?his level-headedness.

31. Jordan King

Photos: GP2 Media Service

Re-entry (37th in 2014)

United Kingdom ? age 22

Seventh in GP2

King?s second year in GP2 was shaping up to be a good one, but he ended it rightly disappointed with his performance.

He got his first wins ? two within a week of each other at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone ? but they were both from reverse-grid poles. Out front he had an impressive turn of pace, yet this speed was rarely seen in qualifying, only once getting him onto the front two rows (in Monaco, where he then crashed out of second). As a result, he only made a feature race podium once.

Contrast that with his new Racing Engineering team-mate Norman Nato, who was inconsistent but on his day would prove the performance in the car, and scored nearly twice as many feature race points.

At the end of the year, King?s role with the Manor F1 team escalated into two Friday practice drives, but that these were followed by a point-less weekend in Abu Dhabi ? leaving him seventh in the standings when he had a shot at third ? doesn?t help them to look merited.

King says he wants one of those Manor seats next year, whilst?admitting he?s got more to prove in GP2. To be among the frontrunners as he?s been this year makes him a good driver, but if you want to earn a place in F1, you?ve got to be doing more.

The post PaddockScout Top 50 2016: 40-31 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Zak Mauger/GP2 Series Media Service.

Antonio Giovinazzi has won a chaotic GP2 Feature Race as the series visits Sepang for the first time since 2013. The Italian driver led most of the race before the pit-stops, but had to claw back the win from Sergey Sirotkin, who had used the undercut to get ahead of Giovinazzi until the dying moments?of the race.

Before the race had even begun, Artem Markelov‘s car came to a stop on the back straight during the formation lap. With his Russian Time car?stuck in the middle of the track, a second formation lap was called for while the track marshals tried to remove his?car. Unfortunately though, the marshals were unable to get the car off the track in time for the second attempted start, and a third formation lap was needed while the marshals dragged Markelov’s car into the support pit-lane.

When the lights finally went out, Pierre Gasly made a horrible start from pole position and dropped way down?the field as Raffaele Marciello made a perfect start from third on the grid to get himself into first going into the first corner. Marciello then locked up going into turn two and this allowed second place starter Giovinazzi to get ahead and take the lead of the race. Marciello tried to take the position back coming into turn five, but he couldn’t hold onto the car and had to bail out of the move, allowing Sirotkin to overtake him for second place.

Alex Lynn was onto the back of Norman Nato?for fourth position, but the DRS detection point was not functioning down?the main straight. This mean that Lynn and many other drivers were able to get onto the car in front, but not close enough to make the move down the main straight into turn one.

At the start of lap seven, Oliver Rowland and a very slow Gasly made their?pit-stops onto the harder compound tyres. The following lap, Nato made his stop and just got out ahead of the pair of them. Lynn made his stop a lap later, but he came out behind both Nato and Rowland, showing that the undercut was working very well for those who had pitted early.

Marciello pitted a lap later, but a very slow stop where the wheel gun wouldn’t tighten?meant that he came back out onto the track behind Nato, Rowland and Lynn as well. This meant Sirotkin, who pitted the same time as Lynn, was now flying on the new tyres, and this put pressure on Prema to pit Giovinazzi from first place. Despite a near perfect stop for Giovinazzi, the undercut from Sirotkin worked better than expected, putting the Russian driver into the net?lead of the race.

Luca Ghiotto was running first on the track using the opposite tyre strategy. The Italian driver was running a full five seconds ahead of Mitch Evans and Gustav Malja in second and third. But Malja was the first to blink, pitting on lap 16 and coming out just behind Gasly. Meanwhile, Sirotkin was making his way through the hard compound starters, and this allowed Giovinazzi to catch up to?the?Russian driver.

Ghiotto and Evans pitted on lap 19, with Ghiotto coming out in eighth position just ahead of Gasly. Evans on much fresher medium tyres was able to easily dispatch Gasly into the penultimate corer of the track, with Malja following him through a lap later to demote Gasly out of the points.

The battles weren’t over, as Lynn and Rowland battled it out corner after corner for fourth?position. Rowland went wide coming out of turn 14 allowing Lynn through, but Rowland came back at Lynn by picking up the tow down the main straight, almost touching the pit-lane wall to take the position back in turn one. It was all for naught however, as Rowland’s tyres were shot and by the time they made it back to the start line again, he was re-passed by Lynn. Marciello and Lynn then made their way through the British driver a few corners later.

With only two laps left, Giovinazzi was onto the back of Sirotkin, and by using the DRS on the back straight, he was able to set up a drag race down the main straight. Sirotkin held first?into turn one, but Giovinazzi hung out his car into turn two and was able use the driving line out of turn three to re-take the lead.

Once he had first back, Giovinazzi had nothing stopping him from taking his fifth win of the season and the championship lead. Sirotkin settled for second after two rounds off the podium, with Nato taking the final podium position in third. Lynn took fourth position ahead of King, who passed Marciello in the dying moments for fifth place. Ghiotto took seventh, ahead of Evans and Malja in eighth and ninth place, with Sergio Canamasas in the final points paying position.

Rowland and Gasly battled it out over the line with 0.00 seperating them on the timing screens, but neither drivers scored points.

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