The top 10 GP3 drivers of 2010

10. James Jakes (click names for profile)

Struggled to translate his experience into results, particularly when it came to replicating his single-lap speed in race conditions.

Missing two rounds after injuring his hand in a Hockenheim crash didn't help his cause, but nevertheless, more was expected from one of the grid's most seasoned drivers.

9. Roberto Merhi

The Spaniard joined the series late, but quickly established himself among the top handful in terms of outright pace. Unfortunately, he very often found himself losing points to either mechanical problems or silly mistakes.

Nevertheless, had he contested the entire series he would probably have been in among the top three.

8. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

Made a last-gasp switch to GP3 from the F3 Euro Series, but his generally impressive pace was offset by some extraordinarily bad luck.

The Briton had the speed to be a regular podium contender, but instead became the unhappy recipient of the 'most likely to suffer a random mechanical failure on an installation lap' award.

7. Daniel Morad

Consistency wasn't always Morad's strong point, but he was capable of delivering good results when things were going well.

Could potentially have finished a little higher up the order, but he sometimes failed to capitalise on a solid qualifying performance. Definitely the best DJ in the paddock though.

6. Rio Haryanto

One of the surprises of the season, the Indonesian produced a consistent haul of points over the first half of the year, including a sprint race win, before fading a little in the later rounds.

Surprised a lot of people - probably starting with his team-mates - by finishing as the highest-placed Manor driver, earning himself a Virgin F1 test.

5. Alexander Rossi

Baffling. Rossi's race pace was pretty good, but he often found himself needing to overcome a disappointing qualifying session. Occasionally seemed to be a little rattled by the performance of team-mate Gutierrez, which might have prompted a couple of moments of costly over-exuberance.

Solid on the whole, but two wins is probably less than he'd have expected - particularly given that both came in sprint races.

4. Dean Smith

Shared most of the burden for scoring Carlin's points with Josef Newgarden, but managed to escape the worst of the American's diabolical luck.

On pace alone it's a surprise that Smith only managed one podium finish but fate sometimes worked against him, such as at Istanbul where he recovered strongly from a bad start only for the car to break underneath him.

3. Nico Muller

The Formula Renault 2.0 graduate got off to a slow start but became more of a threat as the season went on.

As the season approached the half-way mark he became a regular feature among the top order, both in qualifying and the races, and was probably unfortunate not to end with more than two wins.

2. Robert Wickens

Quick and not prone to errors, but his challenge was blunted by problems with his car during the opening rounds.

Once they were sorted out the Canadian routinely had the pace to made life hard for Gutierrez, but the damage to his points tally was already done.

1. Esteban Gutierrez

Staked a claim as the leading title contender early on, and then spent the rest of the season living up to it. Got a handle on qualifying very early in the season, which helped to protect him from some of the mid-field carnage, and also had a good run of reliability. Pitched against a reliably erratic field, his combination of pace and dependability was always going to be a formidable force.

2010 GP3 season summary
2010 GP3 final points standings

*For the full analyis of the GP3 season, buy this week's AUTOSPORT magazine - or get the online version, here.