The 2009 GP2 Series season was the forty-third season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fifth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season consisted of twenty races at ten rounds, beginning on 9 May at the Circuit de Catalunya and finishing on 20 September at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. The Algarve circuit hosted its first GP2 weekend, and was the only new circuit on the calendar. The Nürburgring also returned as part of its rotation with Hockenheim as the home of the German Grand Prix.
The title was won by German rookie Nico Hülkenberg at the penultimate round of the championship at Monza, the first time the series had been won before the final round. His team ART Grand Prix claimed the teams title in the Algarve.
Barwa Addax's title contender Romain Grosjean left the series mid-season to join the Renault for the remainder of the Formula One season following Nelson Piquet Jr.'s sacking.
Champion Hülkenberg, runner-up Petrov and 3rd place Lucas di Grassi all drove in the 2010 Formula One season for Williams, Renault and new team Virgin Racing respectively. 16th place Kamui Kobayashi took part in the final two races of the 2009 Formula One season for Toyota following Timo Glock's injury in the Japanese Grand Prix while 18th place Karun Chandhok joined new Formula One team HRT in 2010.
Teams and drivers
All of the teams used the Dallara GP2/08 chassis with Renault-badged 4.0 litre (244 cu in) naturally-aspirated Mecachrome V8 engines order and with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.
Team changes
BCN Competición was bought by Tiago Monteiro, who moved the team to Portugal and renamed it Ocean Racing Technology. Campos Grand Prix became Barwa Addax after it was bought by Alejandro Agag. Midseason changes Fisichella Motor Sport became PartyPokerRacing.com Scuderia Coloni prior to round seven in Valencia. They were then forced to miss round eight at Spa due to unresolved financial disputes. Durango missed round nine at Monza as Stefano Coletti destroyed one of the team's chassis in a crash at Spa. Coletti himself was unfit to drive the original chassis that was formerly driven by Nelson Panciatici. They also missed the final round at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve due to not finding "suitably qualified drivers".
Driver changes
Changed Teams
Karun Chandhok: iSport International → Ocean Racing Technology
Lucas di Grassi: Campos Grand Prix → Fat Burner Racing Engineering
Luca Filippi: Trust Team Arden → Super Nova Racing
Romain Grosjean: ART Grand Prix → Barwa Addax Team
Pastor Maldonado: Minardi Piquet Sports → ART Grand Prix
Diego Nunes: David Price Racing → iSport International
Álvaro Parente: Super Nova Racing → Ocean Racing Technology
Roldán Rodríguez: Fisichella Motor Sport → Piquet GP
Alberto Valerio: Durango → Piquet GP
Davide Valsecchi: Durango → Barwa Addax
Javier Villa : Racing Engineering → Super Nova Racing
Andreas Zuber: Minardi Piquet Sports → Fisichella Motor Sport/PartyPokerRacing.com Scuderia Coloni
Entering/Re-Entering GP2
Johnny Cecotto Jr.: Formula 3 Euro Series (HBR Motorsport) → David Price Racing
Dani Clos: Formula 3 Euro Series (Prema Powerteam) → Fat Burner Racing Engineering Stefano Coletti: Formula 3 Euro Series (Prema Powerteam) → Durango Giedo van der Garde: World Series by Renault (P1 Motorsport) → iSport International Rodolfo González: Formula 3 Euro Series (Carlin Motorsport) → Trident Racing Nico Hülkenberg: Formula 3 Euro Series (ART Grand Prix) → ART Grand Prix Edoardo Mortara: Formula 3 Euro Series (Signature-Plus) → Telmex Arden International Nelson Panciatici: Spanish Formula Three Championship (Hache International) → Durango Franck Perera: Superleague Formula (A.S. Roma) → David Price Racing Sergio Pérez: British Formula 3 Championship (T-Sport) → Telmex Arden International Luiz Razia: Euroseries 3000 (ELK Motorsport) → Fisichella Motor Sport/PartyPokerRacing.com Scuderia Coloni Davide Rigon: Superleague Formula (Beijing Guoan) → Trident Racing Ricardo Teixeira: British Formula 3 Championship (Ultimate Motorsport) → Trident Racing