The summer break in the world revolving around Formula 1 gives the perfect time to reflect on what has happened so far in European single-seater racing.
Its smaller sibling GP3 has held four rounds and eight races in Spain, Austria, Britain and Hungary as young drivers start to create more headlines in motorsport.
Mercedes F1 protege George Russell leads the way with 93 points at the top of the drivers’ championship. His gap of 35 points after six events is now just nine, with Renault academy racer Jack Aitken his nearest challenger.
There have been 155 laps of racing this year, with an average of 16 drivers finishing (84%) the contests.
It has been highly competitive on the circuit, with six winners and seven race leaders, as Anthoine Hubert is the only driver to lead and not triumph so far.
The average winning gap for the person on the top step is 2.973 seconds.
Here are some further interesting notes to consider before competition continues in the second-half of the year.
Drivers’ Battle
Russell’s points total is the smallest at this stage for four years, when Tio Ellinas lead with 91 in 2013.
Luca Ghiotto claimed the most points after four in 2015 (121), with Alex Lynn having 114 in 2014, Alexander Albon taking 107 last season and Mitch Evans picking up 100 five years’ ago.
Each of the last three leaders at this point have not won the title, with only 2010, 2012 and 2014 seeing those top go on to claim the crown.
Second-placed Aitken has the fifth-highest amount at this stage, with former rival Charles Leclerc having the most – 104 – from the last campaign, the only racer to get into three figures and not sit on top of the standings.
Leclerc is also the only driver to come from second after four races and win the title.
The most dramatic outside bets at this stage came in 2011 and 2013. Daniil Kvyat placed eighth, 51 points adrift of the top in four seasons’ ago, while Valtteri Bottas was tenth in 2011, 17 behind Sims.
It may be difficult for any non-ART competitor to come from fifth or lower in the current standings, although Trident did score its best amount of points in the Hungarian sprint (37).
Constructors’ Fight
ART has claimed the highest-ever amount of points after four rounds, accumulating 311 points.
This is 19 more than their effort in 2016, and only the second time it has taken over 200.
It has finished with a 1-2-3 on two occasions in the Austrian and Hungarian feature events.
The team would be expected to win the title before Abu Dhabi, with the first opportunity potentially arriving as early as Italy at the start of September.
Last season, it was sealed in the penultimate round at Malaysia.
Previous years played in its favour as only Arden failed to win the title after leading at this stage in 2011.
Age Gaps
The youngest podium line-up of the year came at Barcelona when Arjun Maini won ahead of Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Lorandi, an average of 18 years, 11 months, and six days.
Both of the oldest podium displays were in Hungary, with Aitken, Fukuzumi and Anthoine Hubert having an average of 21 years and 22 days in the feature event.
The GP3 season continues with the fifth round at Spa-Francorchamps on 25-27 August.
