3) Marvin Kirchhofer
Marvin Kirchhofer arrived in the GP3 Series as the reigning German Formula 3 champion and joined the reigning champions ART Grand Prix, and was one of the strongest drivers in the field from start to finish in 2014.
The German began the season with a trio of fifth place finishes before being the unfortunate victim of a car issue on the grid for race two in Austria when due to start inside the top four that saw him retire. He made up for that at Silverstone when he took his first podium finish in race one, following that up with a fourth place in race two.
In front of his home fans at Hockenheim, Kirchhofer took his maiden series pole position and converted that into his first win in race one. Unfortunately after the win, he struggled in the next few races, failing to score any points in either Hungary or Belgium, before finishing third in both races at Monza that began a run of five consecutive podium finishes.
He was in the fight for second in the championship until the final race, but could not finish inside the points after being forced to start from the pit lane for race two in Abu Dhabi after stalling on the dummy grid. He ultimately lost out to Dean Stoneman for runners-up spot by just two points.
The likelihood for Kirchhofer is to step up a level in 2015, and has had recent tests with Formula Renault 3.5 Series outfit Comtec Racing and GP2 Series outfit Hilmer Motorsport, and is likely to be hot property for teams in both series’. The German proved again and again in 2014 just how good a driver he is, and continues to improve his race craft year after year.