01/09/2016
NEWS STORY
PREMA Racing's pair dominated Round 8 in Spa-Francorchamps last week. Second fastest in Free Practice, Pierre Gasly went on to win his third Feature Race of the year adding enough points to his tally to become a clear leader with 146 points. On Sunday, it was rookie Antonio Giovinazzi who controlled the rest of the pack from third on the grid. With this third victory, the Italian ace moved up to second in the standings and closed the gap to his teammate to only 17 points. With only three rounds left in the 2016 GP2 Series season, the battle for the crown has intensified with the Red Bull protégé on a mission to take his first title.
RUSSIAN TIME's Raffaele Marciello still lies third in the drivers' standings after two flawless drives on the Belgian track. So far, the Italian has scored in every single race bar Baku Sprint race, but he is still missing a first win this season. He will surely be one to watch this weekend on
home soil in Monza. It was a weekend to forget for Sergey Sirotkin: a joint Series leader before summer break, the Renault F1 Tester started Round 8 in fine form with P1 in Free Practice. However, the ART Grand Prix man struggled for pace in Qualifying and then finished ninth in the
Feature Race from P13 on the grid. The following day, Sirotkin received a 10s time penalty after an aggressive move on the final lap which caused a collision. Another time penalty was added to his elapsed time after it was found he had used DRS on lap 1. With only 2 points scored in Spa, the Russian driver has dropped to fourth in the standings, but fortunately, he won't have too long to dwell on his disappointment as
the paddock sets up camp in Monza this weekend for the ninth round of the season.
The Autodromo di Monza is another legendary track known best for its high speed. It will be a special event for rookies Giovinazzi and Luca Ghiotto but also for Marciello of course who will do their best to shine in front of their home crowd. Pirelli has selected Medium and Soft compounds for the high-energy demands on the tyres caused by fast corners, long straights and heavy braking.
Mario Isola, Pirelli Racing Manager: "The Monza weekend is always a special one for us, taking place close to our home in Milan. By nominating the medium and soft tyres for GP2, we have gone one step softer than last year in the Series. This should make tyre management an important factor for the drivers to consider, and create close racing at a circuit where the long straights and heavy braking zones present good opportunities for overtaking. In GP2, the nature of the circuit will open up different possibilities for strategy."
Notes
The Sprint Race on Sunday will be the 250th race of the GP2 Series.
Four rookies have achieved a podium so far (Marvin Kirchhöfer, Antonio Giovinazzi, Luca Ghiotto, Gustav Malja).
Gustav Malja became the 17th driver to have scored a podium this season.
Except for Baku Sprint Race, Raffaele Marciello is the only driver on the grid to have scored points in every single race this season. Hence, although he's not claimed a win yet, the Italian driver is lying third in the standings just 9 points behind Giovinazzi.
Drivers Standings before Italy
| Pos | Name | Nat | Team | Points |
| 1 | Gasly | FRA | Prema Racing | 146 |
| 2 | Giovinazzi | ITA | Prema Racing | 129 |
| 3 | Marciello | ITA | Russian Time | 120 |
| 4 | Sirotkin | RUS | ART Grand Prix | 115 |
| 5 | Rowland | GBR | MP Motorsport | 101 |
| 6 | King | GBR | Racing Engineering | 100 |
| 7 | Lynn | GBR | DAMS | 91 |
| 8 | Nato | FRA | Racing Engineering | 81 |
| 9 | Ghiotto | ITA | Trident | 80 |
| 10 | Evans | NZL | Pertamina Campos Racing | 77 |
| 11 | Markelov | RUS | Russian Time | 77 |
| 12 | Matsushita | JPN | ART Grand Prix | 58 |
| 13 | Pic | FRA | Rapax | 36 |
| 14 | Malja | SWE | Rapax | 28 |
| 15 | Gelael | INO | Pertamina Campos Racing | 24 |
| 16 | Latifi | CAN | DAMS | 21 |
| 17 | Kirchhofer | GER | Carlin | 20 |
| 18 | Canamasas | GBR | Carlin | 14 |
| 19 | Eriksson | SWE | Arden International | 10 |
| 20 | de Jong | NED | MP Motorsport | 6 |
| 21 | Jeffri | MAS | Arden International | 2 |
Team standings before Italy
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Prema Racing | 275 |
| 2 | Russian Time | 197 |
| 3 | Racing Engineering | 181 |
| 4 | ART Grand Prix | 173 |
| 5 | DAMS | 112 |
| 6 | MP Motorsport | 107 |
| 7 | Pertamina Campos Racing | 101 |
| 8 | Trident | 80 |
| 9 | Rapax | 64 |
| 10 | Carlin | 34 |
| 11 | Arden International | 12 |