The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1. In 2010 the GP3 Series class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series.

Designed to make racing affordable for the teams and to make it the perfect training ground for life in Formula One, GP2 has made it mandatory for all of the teams to use the same chassis, engine and tyre supplier so that true driver ability is reflected. All but three races have taken place as support races at Formula One race weekends to boost the series' profile, to give drivers experience on the Grand Prix environment, and to take advantage of the infrastructure (marshalls, medical facilities etc.) in place for a Formula One event. GP2 visited the Bahrain International Circuit in 2005, 2007, and returned again in 2012; all other races were held in European circuits.

Luiz Tadeu Razia Filho (born April 4, 1989 in Barreiras) is a Brazilian racing driver.

Razia began his single seater career in 2005 in the South American Formula 3 championship. Driving for Dragão Motorsport, Razia finished sixth in the championship taking six podium finishes, including two race wins. During the season he also took part in the Brazilian Formula Renault 2.0 series, finishing the year tenth in the standings.

For 2006, Razia remained in South American Formula 3, taking eleven podium places and seven race wins to win the title ahead of Mario Moraes and Diego Nunes. He also contested three races in the Formula 3000 International Masters series for Charouz Racing, winning all three of them to finish eighth in the championship. He also became a rookie driver for A1 Team Brazil in the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season.

The following year, Razia moved to Europe to race in the Euroseries 3000 championship. He began the season with Fisichella Motor Sport, but made a mid-season change to ELK Motorsport following the departure of Alx Danielsson. During the season, he took four podium places to finish third in the Euroseries standings and fourth in the Italian championship, which ran as part of the main series. Razia also contested four races in the World Series by Renault when he replaced Ricardo Risatti at GD Racing.

Johnny Amadeus Cecotto, more commonly known as Johnny Cecotto, Jr. (born September 9, 1989 in Augsburg, Germany) is a racing driver. He races with a Venezuelan license but holds both German and Venezuelan nationality. He is the son of former racing driver and motorcycle world champion Johnny Cecotto.

He began his racing career in kart racing, then progressing to open wheel single seater racing. He competed in Formula BMW ADAC in 2005. In 2006 he raced in the German Formula Three Championship, taking one victory, and also in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup.

In 2007 he raced in the International Formula Master series, finishing eighth with three podiums. He returned to the German F3 Championship, finishing in third with two victories.

In 2009 he raced in the Formula Three Euroseries for the HBR Motorsport team, before the team missed races at Brands Hatch. He then signed a deal to compete in the GP2 Series, partnering Michael Herck at David Price Racing.

He joined up with Trident Racing for the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season, but was replaced by Dani Clos after the first round. In returned to Trident for the 2010 Main Series and scored his first championship points at Monaco, but was replaced by Edoardo Piscopo after sixteen races.

Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto (born January 25, 1956 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. The son of Italian immigrants, he is one of the few people to have competed in both motorcycle and Formula One Grand Prix.

Cecotto had won the Venezuelan road racing national championship in 1973 and 1974 before he rose to international prominence at the 1975 Daytona 200 motorcycle race with one of the more inspired rides in the history of the event. Competing as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodified Yamaha TZ750 sponsored by Yamaha's Venezuelan importer, he qualified in pole position but, a last minute mechanical glitch forced race officials to relegate him to the last row on the starting grid. Cecotto showed impressive riding ability by passing almost the entire field while working his way up to third place by the end of the race.

Following Daytona, Cecotto arrived in Europe to compete in the Grand Prix series where, he continued his meteoric rise at the season opening round in France by winning the 250cc and 350cc races in his first ever Grand Prix. He went on to become the youngest World Champion ever at nineteen years of age when he defeated the defending champion, Giacomo Agostini for the 1975 350cc World Championship.

Marcus Ericsson (born 2 September 1990 in Kumla, Örebro County) is a Swedish race car driver. After a successful début in car racing in 2007 which saw him take the British Formula BMW title with Fortec Motorsport, he moved up into the British team's British Formula Three squad. After finishing as one of the top rookies in the category, Ericsson turned his attentions to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship where he won the championship in his debut year. In 2010, he moved up to the GP2 Series where he secured one victory during his maiden campaign for Super Nova Racing. For 2011, Ericsson drove alongside Sam Bird for iSport, and he remains with the team for 2012.

Ericsson's first taste of motorsport came when he was nine years old racing in karts. "I got a call from Fredrik Ekblom, whom I ran in British Formula 3000 and Indy Lights. He now runs a kart circuit and he told me about a nine-year old kid who'd walked in off the street and nearly broke the lap record" recalled Richard Dutton, head of Fortec Motorsport. Ekblom managed to convince Ericsson's father, Tomas, to buy his son a kart and the young Swede stayed in karting for the next four years, "I'd never really thought about racing as a career. My family didn't have the money for me to race formula cars so we never thought about it" Ericsson recalled.