Editing GP2 Series (section)

{{Short description|Open wheel motor racing competitions}}
{{see also|Formula Two|FIA Formula Two Championship (2009–2012)|FIA Formula 2 Championship}}
{{other uses of|GP2}}
{{Infobox motorsport championship
| logo             = GP2Series Logo.svg
| pixels           = 
| category         = [[Open wheel car|Single seaters]]
| region   = International
| inaugural2       = [[2005 GP2 Series|2005]]
| folded           = [[2016 GP2 Series|2016]]
| drivers          = 26
| teams            = 13
| chassis          = [[Dallara]]
| engines          = [[Mecachrome V8108 GP2 V8|Mecachrome]]{{efn|In 2005-2010 Mecachrome engines were badged as "Renault".}}
| tyres            = [[Pirelli]]
| champion driver  = {{flagicon|FRA|1974}} [[Pierre Gasly]]
| champion team    = {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Prema Powerteam|Prema Racing]]
| website          = [http://www.gp2series.com gp2series.com]
}}

The '''GP2 Series''' was a form of [[Open wheel car|open wheel]] motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term [[Formula One]] feeder series, [[International Formula 3000|Formula 3000]]. The GP2 format was conceived by [[Bernie Ecclestone]] and [[Flavio Briatore]],<ref>{{cite news|first = Brad|last = Spurgeon|title = Formula One experiments with its minor league|work = The International Herald Tribune|page = 22|date = 2005-06-01}}</ref> while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1.<ref>http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns15388.html grandprix.com August 11, 2005</ref> The series was organized by Bruno Michel. In 2010, the [[GP3 Series]] class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series.<ref>http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71098 autosport.com October 3, 2008</ref> In 2017, the series was rebranded as the [[FIA Formula 2 Championship]].

Designed to make racing affordable for the teams and to make it a better training ground for life in Formula One, GP2 made it mandatory for all of the teams to use the same chassis, engine and tyre supplier so that true driver ability is reflected. All but three races had taken place as support races at Formula One race weekends to boost the series' profile, to give drivers experience of the Grand Prix environment, and to take advantage of the infrastructure (marshals, medical facilities etc.) in place for a Formula One event. GP2 mainly raced on European circuits, but also appeared on other international race tracks such as the [[Sepang International Circuit]] in [[Malaysia]] and the [[Marina Bay Street Circuit]] in [[Singapore]].

Many drivers have used GP2 as a stepping stone into Formula One. The 2005 Champion [[Nico Rosberg]] was hired by the Williams team for the 2006 F1 campaign, 2006 GP2 winner [[Lewis Hamilton]] made the transition to F1 the following year with McLaren and the 2007 Champion [[Timo Glock]] to Toyota for the 2008 F1 season. 2009 GP2 champion [[Nico Hülkenberg]] moved up to a Williams F1 race drive in the 2010 Formula 1 season. In addition, [[Heikki Kovalainen]] (2005), [[Nelson Piquet Jr.]] (2006) and [[Lucas di Grassi]] (2007)—all runners up—became [[Renault F1|Renault]] test drivers the following year. All three earned F1 seats, but have since been replaced.

[[Karun Chandhok]], [[Bruno Senna]] and [[Vitaly Petrov]] were also granted an F1 seat in 2010. For 2011 [[Pastor Maldonado]] was granted a seat at Williams, for 2012 [[Romain Grosjean]] at Lotus F1 Team. [[Sergio Pérez]] was given the drive alongside [[Kamui Kobayashi]], another former GP2 driver and [[GP2 Asia Series]] winner, at [[Sauber]]. [[Jérôme d'Ambrosio]] got his Virgin Racing drive for the 2011 season. Some drivers however have reached Formula One without competing in GP2, including [[Sebastian Vettel]], [[Paul di Resta]], [[Daniel Ricciardo]], [[Jean-Éric Vergne]], [[Valtteri Bottas]], [[Kevin Magnussen]] and [[Max Verstappen]].

GP2 and GP2 Asia Series were later combined to make a single, longer GP2 series in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gp2series.com/News-Room/News/2011/07_July/GP2-Series-and-GP2-Asia-Series-to-be-merged/|title=GP2 SERIES™ AND GP2 ASIA SERIES™ TO BE MERGED|website=www.gp2series.com|access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>