Following the normal Formula One European support race format, there was of course action from GP3 at the 2015 Belgium Grand Prix. The practice session saw Luca Ghiotto top the times for Trident, a feat he managed to repeat for qualifying, holding off the ART Grand Prix car of Esteban Ocon who qualified second. Third place had gone to Marvin Kirchhöfer, but a penalty saw Kirchhöfer start in sixth with third place going to Emil Bernstorff for Arden.
When the very eventful GP2 Feature Race was cleared, the grid started to form up for the GP3 race on Saturday afternoon, with there still being an impressive number of spectators in the stand and around the circuit.
Ghiotto could not convert his impressive practice and qualifying sessions into a race win, losing out at the opening of the race and slipping down the order. A bad crash for Jann Mardenborough at Eau Rouge saw the arrival of the virtual safety car, which remained until the track could be cleared. There was a second virtual safety car session later in the race when Beitske Visser had problems which saw his car stopped at Blanchimont. Just after the restart, Mathéo Tuscher spun and hit Sandy Stuvik’s Status Grand Prix, ending the race for both of them, and generating a third virtual safety car period.
Esteban Ocon went on to take the chequered flag, but after the race, but he was deemed to have jumped the restart after the second virtual safety car period, and a time penalty was applied giving the win to Britain’s Emil Bernstorff and demoting Ocon to second.
Sunday morning’s second race was an altogether better session for Luca Ghiotto, who managed to return to the form that has seen so many impressive sessions from the young Italian driver, and he took the chequered flag and now leads the series by 28 points from Ocon, who again finished in second, making it his fifth second place finish in a row.
