ART Grand Prix
ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team, which is active in the single-seater Formula racing. The team will start in the GP2 Series and in the GP3 Series. From 2003 to 2010, the team was in the Formula 3 Euro Series, where it ran until 2007 under the name ASM Formule 3, active. 2011 the team used the name Lotus ART, ART 2012 went as Lotus GP at the start.
Foundation
ART Grand Prix is a joint project founded in 2005 by Frédéric Vasseur, the team boss Established in 1996 Formula 3 teams ASM and Nicolas Todt, the son of the former CEO and Formula 1 team boss of Ferrari, Jean Todt. Vasseur was boarding with his successful Formula 3 team in the newly created GP2 Series and Todt had an interest to participate in the management of a motor sports teams. He previously worked as a manager of individual racers, including for Felipe Massa. Todt took over the commercial tasks while Vasseur took care of the daily racing business.
GP2 Series
In the first season of the GP2 Series, the Frenchman Alexandre Prémat and German Nico Rosberg drove for the team. Rosberg won the Drivers' Championship, Prémat was fourth. ART Grand Prix could win with these rankings, the team standings.
In the 2006 season, Rosberg joined the Formula 1 team Williams F1, Prémat remained with ART. Second driver was the Englishman Lewis Hamilton, who had previously dominated the Formula 3 Euro Series team ASM year. Hamilton won the Drivers' Championship, the GP2 and Prémat was third. Again, the team was able to record the victory in the team title.
The 2007 season was not as successful. After the departure of Hamilton to the Formula 1 team McLaren -Mercedes and the exchange of Prémat in the DTM, the team went with the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi and the German Michael Ammer Müller at the start. While di Grassi the hopes placed in him largely fulfilled and finished second end of the season in the championship, to Ammermüller injured in an accident in the first race in Bahrain. In the following race weekend walked beside di Grassi is why the Russian Mikhail Aleshin at the start, in Monaco took the Swiss Sebastien Buemi Ammer miller place. Although returned Ammermüller for the races at Magny Cours and Silverstone back to the team; because of the drawn in Bahrain hand injury but he could not go to the end of the Formula GP2 season and was replaced by Buemi. In the drivers' championship, it was enough for the Swiss only to a 21st place; however the team was able to finish the season thanks to the power of di Grassi on the second place in the team standings.
2008 ART Grand Prix went to both the GP2 Asia Series as well as in the regular series. In the extended transmitted between Januar and April 2008 Asia Series ART Grand Prix could represent the first winner of this new racing series and win the team title with Romain Grosjean. The second car was driven by Stephen Jelley. In the 2008 season, the team with Luca Filippi and Romain Grosjean started. After the fifth race weekend Filippi was replaced due to lack of success by the Japanese Sakon Yamamoto. This could go out as the best result a fourth place in Budapest. Grosjean won per a race in Istanbul and Spa-Francorchamps and was twice each in second and third on the podium. That was enough for fourth in the drivers' championship and brought ART Grand Prix in fifth place in the team standings.
In the 2008/2009 GP2 Asia Series season started Sakon Yamamoto, Nelson Philippe, Pastor Maldonado and Nico Hulkenberg for ART Grand Prix. While Yamamoto participated in every race, the other three pilots shared a cockpit. The most successful pilot was Hulkenberg, who finished sixth overall with a race win. In the team standings ART fourth. In the 2009 season of the GP2 Series Hulkenberg and Maldonado drove for ART Grand Prix. Both drivers were able to decide the race for themselves. Hulkenberg won five, Maldonado two races. At the end of the season Hulkenberg decided the drivers' title for himself and the third ART- pilot was to have managed this. Maldonado finished the season in sixth place overall.
In the 2009/2010 GP2 Asia Series season began the season with Marcus Ericsson and Sam Bird. After the first race weekend Ericsson was replaced by Jules Bianchi. The best driver of the team was the seventh- placed Bird, who also scored the best team result by finishing second. In the team standings, the team finished fifth. In the main series ART Grand Prix 2010 met again with Bianchi and Bird. While Bianchi scored the third overall without a race victory, Bird was a win fifth in the drivers' championship. In the team standings ART finished the season in third place.
From the GP2 Asia Series 2011 season the team under the name Lotus ART takes.
GP3 Series
From 2010 started ART Grand Prix in the newly founded GP3 Series. As a driver trio Alexander Rossi, Esteban Gutiérrez and Pedro Nunes went to the starting line. While Nunes only isolated points scored and 24th place overall finished, Rossi and Gutierrez drove to victory with. Rossi was fourth with two wins, Gutiérrez won the league title with five wins. In the team standings ART Grand Prix was also master.
Formula 3 Euro Series
The team was founded by Vasseur ASM Formule 3 was active even before the merger with Todt in Formula 3 and launched from 2003 to 2010 in the Formula 3 Euro Series with engines from Mercedes. In the first season Alexandre Prémat and Olivier Pla were the regular drivers in the debut season. In addition, Jamie Green was used on a race weekend and Bruno Spengler taken from the fourth race weekend under contract. The best driver of the team that won the team title, Pla, who finished fourth overall was. With Prémat in seventh place and Spengler ten, were two other ASM pilots in the top ten. 2004 were Prémat, Green and Eric salignon the driver trio of ASM. Salignon was replaced after eight race weekends and represented for the season finale by Adrian Sutil. ASM again decided the team title with Green and Prémat in the first two places you scored a double lead in the drivers' standings. Salignon was sixth. The three pilots won all races.
2005 Sutil received a master cockpit at ASM. His teammate was the Briton Lewis Hamilton. The two dominated the championship and took the top places in the driver standings. Hamilton decided the championship with 15 victories for itself. For the last race weekend Sutil was represented by Maximilian Götz. The team ranking decided ASM for the third time in a row for themselves. 2006 it held its first meeting with four racers. Sebastian Vettel, Paul di Resta, Giedo van der Garde and Kamui Kobayashi went for the French team at the start. Again, two pilots of the team dueled to the drivers' title: Di Resta won the title finally ahead of Vettel. Van der Garde and Kobayashi occupied the positions six and eight. The team ranking was again at ASM. 2007 Kobayashi remained on the team. As new pilots Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg and Tom Dillmann have been contracted. With six wins Grosjean won the championship of the driver for the ASM. First time in three years, provided the team is not the runner-up and Hulkenberg finished the season as the second best pilot in third place overall. Kobayashi finished fourth, Dillmann ninth place. ASM won again the team title.
As of the 2008 season, the team started well in the Formula 3 Euro Series under the name ART Grand Prix. Hulkenberg remained in the team and was awarded with James Jakes, Jules Bianchi and Jon Lancaster two new teammates. Hulkenberg dominated the season and won the drivers' title. With Bianchi, who was third, managed this season is just another teammate in the top ten drivers. Lancaster and Jake occupied positions twelve and 13 the team ranking for the sixth time in a row at ART Grand Prix. 2009 was maintained for Bianchi team and took Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez and Adrien Tambay under contract. This season Bianchi dominated the race series and won the championship. Bottas was third, ninth and Gutiérrez Tambay 21 In the overall standings ART defended again the title. 2010 it only appeared with three cars. Bottas kept his cockpit and was supported by Alexander Sims and Jim Pla. For the first time since the start of the Formula 3 Euro Series ART Grand Prix did not win the team title and was beaten by Signature. Also in the drivers' championship went the title at no ART- pilot. Bottas repeated the placement from the previous year and was third again. Sims was fourth, Pla tenth.
After the end of the 2010 season, ART Grand Prix announced that the team after eight years from the Formula 3 Euro Series withdraws to focus on the commitment in the GP2 and GP3 series.