2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series
The 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series was the sixth season of the single–seater category. It began at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragón in Spain on 17 April, and ended at Circuit de Catalunya, also in Spain, on 10 October.
The Drivers' championship was won by Carlin's Mikhail Aleshin after a last–race title decider with Tech 1 Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Russian claimed the title by just two points after both drivers entered the final race level on 128 points each. He received his prize Renault F1 drive on the first day of the young driver test held at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi on 16 November. Tech 1 Racing won the Teams' championship from Czech squad ISR Racing.
It was due to be the final season for the current Dallara chassis, which was due to be replaced by a new car, developed by Renault Sport Technologies, in time for the 2011 season. However, the series has extended the lifespan of the current car into the 2011 season to "avoid placing undue financial pressures on teams in the prevalent tough market conditions".
Regulation changes
Technical
- The engines were re–tuned from 8,200 RPM to 8,500 RPM.
- Boost control was banned.
Sporting
- The duration of the two Friday practice sessions was increased from 60 minutes to 75 minutes each.
- The grid for the second race was no longer decided using the reverse grid and SuperPole system. Each meeting now featured two 30–minute qualifying sessions and two races of 44 minutes + one lap.
- During the Saturday of each meeting, the cars raced in a "light-aerodynamic" configuration, which was defined by Renault Sport Technologies.
Teams and drivers
| Team | Driver name | Status | Rounds | |
 International DracoRacing | 1 |  Nathanaël Berthon | All | |
| International DracoRacing | 2 |  Omar Leal | All | |
 Carlin | 3 |  Mikhail Aleshin | All | |
| Carlin | 4 |  Jake Rosenzweig | All | |
| P1 Motorsport | 5 |  Walter Grubmüller | All | |
| P1 Motorsport | 6 |  Jan Charouz | 1–7, 9 | |
| P1 Motorsport | 6 |  Brendon Hartley | 8 | |
| Tech 1 Racing | 7 | Brendon Hartley | 1–6 | |
| Tech 1 Racing | 7 | Jean-Éric Vergne | 7–9 | |
| Tech 1 Racing | 8 |  Daniel Ricciardo | All | |
 Junior Lotus Racing | 9 | Daniil Move | 1–8 | |
| Junior Lotus Racing | 9 | Dean Stoneman | 9 | |
| Junior Lotus Racing | 10 | Nelson Panciatici | All | |
| Pons Racing | 11 |  Federico Leo | All | |
| Pons Racing | 12 | Daniel Zampieri | All | |
| Epsilon Euskadi | 15 | Albert Costa | All | |
| Epsilon Euskadi | 16 |  Keisuke Kunimoto | All | |
| Comtec Racing | 17 | Greg Mansell | All | |
| Comtec Racing | 18 |  Stefano Coletti | All | |
| Fortec Motorsport | 23 |  Sten Pentus | All | |
| Fortec Motorsport | 24 | Jon Lancaster | All | |
| ISR Racing | 25 |  Esteban Guerrieri | 1–2, 4–5, 7–9 | |
| ISR Racing | 25 | Alexander Rossi | 3 | |
| ISR Racing | 26 | Filip Salaquarda | 1–5, 7–9 | |
| KMP Racing | 27 | Anton Nebylitskiy | All | |
| KMP Racing | 28 | Víctor García | All | |
| FHV Interwetten.com | 29 | Bruno Méndez | 1–8 | |
| FHV Interwetten.com | 29 |  Salvador Durán | 9 | |
| FHV Interwetten.com | 30 | Sergio Canamasas | All |
Driver changes
; Changed Teams- Esteban Guerrieri: RC Motorsport → ISR Racing
- Jon Lancaster: Comtec Racing → Fortec Motorsport
- Omar Leal: Prema Powerteam → International DracoRacing
- Daniil Move: P1 Motorsport → Junior Lotus Racing
- Anton Nebylitskiy: KMP Group/SG Formula → KMP Racing
- Filip Salaquarda: Prema Powerteam → ISR Racing
- Mikhail Aleshin: FIA Formula Two Championship → Carlin
- Nathanaël Berthon: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 & Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup → International DracoRacing
- Sergio Canamasas: European F3 Open Championship → FHV Interwetten.com
- Jan Charouz: Le Mans Series → P1 Motorsport
- Stefano Coletti: Formula 3 Euro Series → Comtec Racing; Coletti raced in Monaco for Prema in 2009.
- Albert Costa: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 & Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup → Epsilon Euskadi
- Víctor García: British Formula 3 Championship → KMP Racing
- Walter Grubmüller: British Formula 3 Championship → P1 Motorsport
- Bruno Méndez: European F3 Open Championship → FHV Interwetten.com; Méndez raced for RC Motorsport at Motorland Aragón in 2009.
- Nelson Panciatici: GP2 Series & Superleague Formula → Junior Lotus Racing
- Daniel Ricciardo: British Formula 3 Championship → Tech 1 Racing; Ricciardo raced in Portimão for the same team in 2009.
- Jake Rosenzweig: Formula 3 Euro Series → Carlin
- Alexander Rossi: GP3 Series → ISR Racing
- Dean Stoneman: FIA Formula Two Championship → Junior Lotus Racing
- Jean-Éric Vergne: British Formula 3 Championship → Tech 1 Racing
- Daniel Zampieri: Italian Formula Three Championship → Pons Racing
- Jaime Alguersuari: Carlin Motorsport → Formula One
- Bertrand Baguette: International DracoRacing → IndyCar Series
- Marco Barba: International DracoRacing → European F3 Open Championship
- Jules Bianchi: KMP Group/SG Formula → GP2 Series
- Max Chilton: Comtec Racing → GP2 Series
- Dani Clos: Epsilon Euskadi → GP2 Series
- Chris van der Drift: Epsilon Euskadi → Superleague Formula
- Fairuz Fauzy: Mofaz Racing → Formula One
- Tobias Hegewald: Interwetten.com Racing → GP3 Series
- Michael Herck: Interwetten.com Racing → GP2 Series
- John Martin: Comtec Racing → Superleague Formula
- Mihai Marinescu: Interwetten.com Racing → FIA Formula Two Championship
- Alexandre Marsoin: Comtec Racing → unknown
- Marcos Martínez: Pons Racing → Superleague Formula
- Miguel Molina: Ultimate Motorsport → DTM
- Guillaume Moreau: KMP Group/SG Formula → Le Mans Series
- Edoardo Mortara: Tech 1 Racing → Formula 3 Euro Series
- Charles Pic: Tech 1 Racing → GP2 Series
- Frankie Provenzano: Prema Powerteam → unknown
- Pasquale Di Sabatino: RC Motorsport → Italian Formula Three Championship
- Oliver Turvey: Carlin Motorsport → GP2 Series
- Alberto Valerio: Comtec Racing → GP2 Series
- Adrián Vallés: Epsilon Euskadi → Superleague Formula
- James Walker: P1 Motorsport → Superleague Formula
- Adrian Zaugg: Interwetten.com Racing → Auto GP
Team changes
- It was announced in December 2009 that Prema Powerteam would be leaving the series to concentrate on their programs in the Formula 3 Euro Series and Italian Formula Three. Their slot was taken by Fortec Motorsport.
- SG Formula and KMP Group had split to form two new teams. However, SG Formula pulled out of the series just a week before the opening round.
- ISR Racing took over the RC Motorsport team's entry.
- Interwetten.com Racing, managed by Motorsport Consulting GmbH, were not selected for the series originally. They were later accepted as FHV Interwetten.com, managed by FHV GmbH, with Sergio Canamasas and Bruno Méndez driving.
Race calendar and results
Season results
- Points for both championships were awarded as follows:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
With each race having an individual qualifying session, the four–point bonus for pole position was removed. Also removed from the scoring system was the point for the driver who progressed the most places in each race.
Drivers' Championship
Teams' Championship
- Polesitter for each race in bold. No points are awarded.
- Driver who recorded fastest lap denoted in italics. No points are awarded.
- Driver who retired but was classified denoted by †.