2016 Barcelona Feature Race

The 2016 Catalunya Race 1, otherwise known as the 2016 Barcelona Feature Race, was the opening race of the 2016 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the 14 May 2016. The race would see Pierre Gasly lose what was set to be a dominant victory late on after surviving three safety car periods.

Gasly would start the weekend with a strong performance in qualifying, sweeping to pole position ahead of Norman Nato. Indeed, Gasly was the last in a train of drivers to occupy top spot in the opening quali session of the season, with Nato, Alex Lynn and Nicholas Latifi all briefly sitting on pole.

It was advantage Gasly off the line, the Red Bull Junior racer easing ahead of compatriot Nato into the first corner. Behind, Sergey Sirotkin made a stunning start to scramble into third ahead of Lynn, with Latifi fending off Gustav Malja.

The first safety car of the day was soon called, however, with Luca Ghiotto sliding to a stop down an escape road on the opening tour. Three laps later and Gasly aced the restart to lead from Nato once again, while Lynn and Jordan King waited an extra lap before abandoning their supersoft Pirelli tyres.

The race soon settled however, with Gasly able to match the pace of those on fresh softs, while Sirotkin pressed Nato hard for second. Indeed, their intense duel seemed destined to end with one making a mistake, and duly did so on lap 23 when the Russian spun and stalled.

That stall resulted in another safety car, prompting Gasly and co. to pit for supersofts, despite the fact that there were still thirteen laps to go. Regardless, Gasly aced the restart again to lead from Nato, as Artem Markelov pushed his way though the pack to take King and Lynn.

The race duly switched to a timed affair in the closing stages, prompting a late rush of moves as the final minutes ticked away. Nato was one of those to pounce on his rivals, blasting past Gasly to claim the lead and leave his compatriot to slip behind Latifi.

With that the race was run, for a late safety car was called as Raffaele Marciello was spun around by Antonio Giovinazzi on lap 34. The chequered flag was then thrown a lap early, although that did not affect the order on the podium, meaning Nato claimed his maiden GP2 victory from Latifi and Gasly.

Background
The new 2016 GP2 Series season would start with the series' annual trip to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which was unchanged from 2015. There were, in contrast, a large number of changes to the entry list, with new teams, new drivers as well as a host of old faces entered for the new campaign.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:
 * * Matsushita was handed a three place grid penalty for impeding Gelael.
 * † Gelael was forced to start from the pitlane for failing to serve a three place grid penalty for impeding Matsushita.

Grid

 * * Gelael was forced to start from the pitlane for failing to serve a three place grid penalty for impeding Matsushita.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Giovinazzi was handed a twenty second time penalty for causing a collision.

Milestones

 * Prema Racing made their debut in the GP2 Series.
 * Debut race for Philo Paz Armand, Jimmy Eriksson, Luca Ghiotto, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nabil Jeffri and Marvin Kirchhöfer.
 * Maiden GP2 victory for Norman Nato.
 * Racing Engineering secured their 24th triumph as an entrant in GP2.
 * Nicholas Latifi scored his maiden podium finish.

Standings
With the first of twenty-two races down it was Norman Nato who led the way in the Championship, eight ahead of pole winning Pierre Gasly. Nicholas Latifi was next, a point behind Gasly, with Artem Markelov and Sergio Canamasas completing the top five. The other early scorers were Alex Lynn, Jordan King, Raffaele Marciello, Gustav Malja and Oliver Rowland.

In the Teams' Championship it was Racing Engineering after Nato's maiden triumph, aided by the points from King for finishing seventh. DAMS were next ahead of Prema Racing, with Russian Time, Carlin, Rapax and MP Motorsport also on the board after the opening bout.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.