Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Dennis Hauger

  • F2 – RND 3 Day 1

    Practice-

    Dennis Hauger ended practice fastest of all for MP Motorsport, recording a 1:29.654 to hit the ground running in Melbourne. Isack Hadjar followed in P2, the Campos driver just 0.001s down on the fastest laptime while Andrea Kimi Antonelli led the PREMA Racing charge in third.

    Not long after the green light, Amaury Cordeel brought out an early Red Flag after running deep at Turn 1 and becoming beached in the gravel trap.

    Once the Hitech Pulse-Eight car was clear, the top spot changed hands multiple times, but Victor Martin led the way for ART Grand Prix after he set a 1:32.359, 0.074s clear of teammate Zak O’Sullivan.

    That was swiftly beaten by Gabriel Bortoleto as he moved up to P1 on a 1:31.043. Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney went second-quickest until Antonelli closed the gap to the Brazilian to just 0.130s.

    The track continued to improve rapidly as Bortoleto improved on his next lap to lower the time to beat to a 1:30.373.
    Hauger bettered that by 0.070s shortly afterwards, while Martins went third overall a further 0.008s further back from the Norwegian.

    The MP driver then went to the top himself, a 1:29.654 leaving him 0.4s quicker than Antonelli, who moved up to second with over 15 minutes to go.

    Paul Aron suffered a similar spin at Turn 1 as his teammate but was able to recover to the circuit and continue on his way.
    There was a few more improvements in the latter stages of the session, though Hadjar was able to move himself up to second.

    The second red flag of the session came with three minutes remaining, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez spun and came to a stop at Turn 2 which brought an early end to the session.

    Qualifying-

    Dennis Hauger made it a Friday sweep for MP Motorsport, taking pole position in Melbourne after topping Practice timesheets.

    The Norwegian beat PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the top spot with his final flying lap to record a 1:28.694. Richard Verschoor made a late improvement to end up third overall.

    Before any laps were on the board, the red flags were waved after ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins came to a half at Turn 7 after a spin on corner exit. He managed to avoid the barriers, but his session was over and his car was recovered.

    Once action resumed, Kush Maini set the initial benchmark with a 1:30.359.
    Hitech Pulse Eight’s Paul Aron then took over P1 with a 1:29,984 while Hauger was just 0.031s down on that effort in second.

    With 14 minutes left, cars returned to the pits for fresh supersoft tyres heading into the final runs of the session

    Once back on track, Maloney took to the top spot with a 1:29.374 just prior to the second red flag of the session. Jak Crawford lost his DAMS Lucas Oil car and hit the barriers at Turn 12.

    Qualifying got back underway with 4:14 left on the clock and the top four were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
    Bortoleto was set to make an improvement but ran off the road at Turn 12.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Hauger, P2: Antonelli, P3: Verschoor, P4: Maini, P5: Maloney, P6: Aron, P7: Marti, P8: Hadjar, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Stanek.

  • MP Motorsport complete F2 line-up

    MP Motorsport has become the first team to finalise plans for 2024, re-signing Dennis Hauger and completing its driver line-up for next season.

    Hauger joins Franco Colapinto at the Dutch team for what will be the Norwegian’s third FIA Formula 2 campaign and second in MP colours.

    During the two seasons of F2 so far, Hauger has notched up four victories, four fastest laps and eight podium finishes, with two wins and four podiums coming in the 2023 campaign.

    Before joining F2, Hauger rose through the ranks enjoying plenty of success. Finishing his maiden single seater season fourth in British F4, he completed a dual effort in 2019 across Italian and ADAC Formula 4. He finished second in the latter and won the Italian Championship in dominant fashion, taking 12 wins and 16 podiums across the season.

    From there, he graduated to FIA Formula 3 in 2020, finishing his rookie season 17th before returning in 2021 to win the Championship ahead of his F2 promotion.

    I’m really happy to stay with MP Motorsport for another season of FIA Formula 2. I’m truly looking forward to the challenge of setting up a winning new F2 car, as we aim to build on the experience we gained as a team working together in 2023. I welcome Franco as my new teammate – he’s a familiar face to MP too, and that can only be to our advantage in the transitional winter period while getting to grips with the new car.

    Hauger on the news.

    We are delighted that Dennis has decided to continue with us in the new season. He’s quick, with a cool and smart head on his shoulders. His feedback will help us in the development race with the new car as we move into a new era of FIA Formula 2. With Dennis and Franco, we have two known quantities in our top team on the single-seater ladder. Having signed both at a very early stage will surely contribute to our getting up to speed as soon as we can.

    Sander Dorsman, Team Principal.

  • Hauger to split from RB Junior Team

    Dennis Hauger is to part company with the Red Bull Junior Team but will continue racing in Formula 2 in 2024.

    The Norwegian’s second season in F2 has not lived up to expectations, leaving him eighth in the points before the final round in Abu Dhabi this month.
    He won the sprint races in Melbourne and at the Hungaroring but has not finished on the podium in a feature race, despite having joined the MP Motorsport team that took Felipe Drugovich to the 2022 title.

    Hauger has had more of an on-and-off relationship with Red Bull compared to most of its junior drivers, benefitting from strong personal sponsorship from Norway while his career has been guided heavily by experienced countryman Harald Huysman.

    He joined the Junior Team for his move from karts into British Formula 4 in 2018, but his switch to Italian F4 the following year was instigated by Hauger’s management group rather than Red Bull, which would have rather moved him up a level. He raced in the black and orange of his Van Amersfoort Racing team instead of the blue of the energy drink firm.
    Having won that title, he was back in full Red Bull colours for his step up to F3 in 2020, but a difficult rookie season with Hitech – he finished 17th in the standings – this led him to be only a Red Bull supported driver than a full junior in 2021, when he again became champion with Prema.

    Red Bull has had six junior drivers racing in F2 this year but there has been speculation about how many will remain with the programme next year.
    It has already announced Pepe Marti and Tim Tramnitz as new additions to its roster ahead of 2024.

  • F2 – RND 10 – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Hauger gained the run he needed on the way to Turn 1 to take the inside line and lead away from Kush Maini. Iwasa surged around the outside of the Campos driver at Turn 2 to take second from fifth on the grid, while Bearman was looming large in Maini’s mirrors for third.

    Victor Martins also got in on the action, moving up to seventh from P9 on the grid, rounding Isack Hadjar at Turn 12 to end a busy opening lap.

    Frederik Vesti tried to pass Hadjar at Turn 1 on lap 2 but was forced to take to the runoff. It allowed Jack Doohan enough momentum to go around the outside of the Championship leader and take ninth from the Dane at Turn 2.

    A DRS train formed in the first 10 laps which started from second down to 21st as drivers looked to save tyre life for later in the race.

    The formation running ended on lap 12 after a lock up by Clement Novalak into Turn 1 put the Trident driver on a collision course with Ralph Boschung. It left both drivers out of the running and brought out a brief VSC.

    With 11 laps to go, Iwasa was given the all clear from the team to push, and the action ramped up once again as everyone upped the pace. The DAMS driver closed up to Hauger by eight tenths of a second on the following lap, with the gap at 1.9s entering the final 10 laps.

    With five laps left, Pourchaire made the dive at Turn 1 on Maini having been stuck to the rear wing of the Campos. Bearman was next on the attack, taking fourth position from the Indian driver at the next corner, going all the way around the outside.

    Down to three laps remaining and this time Bearman was the one making the late dive to the inside at Turn 1, forcing his way through on Pourchaire to take P3 from the french driver.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hauger, P2: Iwasa, P3: Bearman, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Daruvala, P6: Maini, P7: Martins, P8: Hadjar, P9: Vesti and P10: Doohan.

    Day 3-

    Doohan got a great launch from pole to lead into Turn 1 while third placed Vesti went wheel to wheel with Martins into the first corner. On the run to Turn 2, the PREMA Racing driver got the move done to seal second position.

    Oliver Bearman started on mediums from seventh, but the Briton fell back to ninth on the opening lap, passed by Dennis Hauger and Enzo Fittipaldi who were both on the softs. Juan Manuel Correa made an electric start to move up five places to P10.

    Zane Maloney was the first of those on soft tyres to make a mandatory stop on Lap 8. The Rodin Carlin driver rejoined in 21st but his stopped dragged a few more in on the following lap.

    Isack Hadjar was the first of the top five to stop on Lap 13 from fifth and Theo Pourchaire responded one lap later, both swapping to the mediums. The ART Grand Prix driver rejoined in 14th to remain ahead of his compatriot, but both were caught up behind Amaury Cordeel on old medium tyres.

    Vesti made the swap to mediums lap 23, rejoining in fourth position just 1.4s ahead of title rival Pourchaire.
    Martins pitted on the following lap and filtered out on cold tyres ahead of Vesti. The Mercedes junior breezed back through to take the place on the run to Turn 2.

    While his rivals scrapped on track, Doohan made his stop on Lap 25, rejoining with the lead of the race and 8.7s ahead of closest challenger Vesti in second.
    Iwasa was onto the back of Pourchaire quickly with his soft tyres fired up. The Japanese driver got the switchback out of Turn 1 to take fifth position on Lap 26.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vesti, P3: Martins, P4: Iwasa, P5: Hadjar, P6: Pourchaire, P7: Hauger, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Correa and P10: Verschoor.

  • Hauger to MP Motorsport

    Dennis Hauger, has confirmed his plans for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, where he will be swapping from PREMA Racing to MP Motorsport for his sophomore campaign in the second tier.

    The Norwegian driver has enjoyed a mixed rookie season and currently sits 11th in the standings on 98 points heading into the season finale in Yas Marina. After securing his first podium during the Imola Sprint Race, he brought home victory on his maiden appearances in Monte Carlo and Baku, before he returns to the podium in Zandvoort.

    Having taken Felipe Drugovich to the 2022 Drivers’ Championship title in spectacular fashion, MP Motorsport will be eager to retain its levels of performance next year.

    The Dutch outfit will give Hauger his first running for them across all three days of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi from November 23 – 25.

    Entering this season as the reigning Formula 3 Champion, Hauger already has five years of single-seater experience under his belt. Since his debut in British F4 in 2018, he stormed his way to the Italian F4 title the following year with 12 wins and 16 podiums, alongside finishing runner-up in German F4.

    Stepping up to F3 in 2020, he moved to PREMA for his second season and notched up four wins and nine podiums on his way to glory and remained with the Italian team for his maiden F2 campaign.

    I am really excited about joining MP Motorsport for another assault on the FIA Formula 2 Championship. MP have been the revelation of this season, consistently producing a great car for every round of the season. We have recognised that, and it’s wonderful news that we have been able to make the deal work. I’m looking forward to working with the team starting at the Abu Dhabi test, which I hope will be our jump start to a very successful 2023 season.

    Hauger on his move.

    We are absolutely delighted that someone of Dennis’ calibre will be part of our Formula 2 programme in 2023. His 2021 Formula 3 title year is still fresh on my mind – he made no prisoners and was truly outstanding. With the knowledge and experience that he has gained in his F2 rookie season, I’m positive that he will translate those into consistent pace-setting form and more results like the ones he produced at Monaco and Baku this year.

    Sander Dorsman, Team Principal.
  • F2 Baku- Day 2 & 3

    F2 Baku- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Speaking ahead of the Sprint Race, Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti believed it would be decided on the final lap around Baku, but I don’t think he even could predict what happened. Throwing caution to the wind late on, the ART Grand Prix driver charged his way to the front and to his first victory in Formula 2.

    Having led the majority of the race, Jehan Daurvala had to settle for second after three safety cars in the second half of the race wiped away his advantage. Whilst Liam Lawson, demonstrated Baku’s overtaking capabilities as he carved his way through from P9 to get the final podium spot.

    Hauger was the first to bring out the safety car as he tried to make a move past Pourchaire into Turn 3, but went straight into the barrier after locking up. Once we was racing again, it didn’t last long as Vips HiTech was cut off by Enzo Fittipaldi and was unable to turn left, sending the duo into the run off area at Turn 2.

    Leaving it late on the restart, Daruvala locked up leaving the door wide open for Vesti to storm past the PREMA and up into the lead. Lawson then made his way past Drugovich, and set his sights on Verschoor ahead for P3, unfortunately for the Trident driver he went in to deep at Turn 7 and planted himself in the barriers bringing out the Safety Car.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Vesti, P2: Daruvala, P3: Lawson, P4: Armstrong, P5: Drugovich, P6: Sargeant, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Iwasa, P9: Hughes and P10: Nissany.

    Day 3-

    Dennis Hauger claimed his first F2 Feature Race win after a tense battle with Juri Vips, which saw the Estonian driver crash out of the race. The pair were battling sector by sector in the closing stages and with just over five minuted remaining, the Hitech GP man clipped the wall in the castle section.

    Logan Sargeant completed a measured drive to take second, whilst our Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich extended his points advantage finishing third.

    Contact between Amaury Cordeel and Olli Caldwell at Turn 4 brought out the Safety Car early on. Racing then resumed on Lap 5, and Marcus Armstrong was immediately on the attack for P2.

    The Safety car was then back out on Lap 12 following an incident between Roy Nissany and Cem Bolukbasi – the Charouz Racing driver went into Turn 2 but on the exit the pair made wheel to wheel contact which saw both drivers go into the wall.

    Back to back fastest laps for Vips on Lap 19 and 20 but couldn’t quite break Hauger’s pursuit. Vips then clipped the wall with 5 minutes remaining and the frustration was clear on the Estonian’s face when he got out the car. The race finished under the Safety Car due to the HiTech car still being on track and debris.

    The top 10 were: P1: Hauger, P2: Sargeant, P3: Drugovich, P4: Daruvala, P5: Verschoor, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Vesti, P8: Sato, P9: Boschung and P10: Hughes.

    We haven’t got that long to wait until we see F2 cars back on track, we have just under 3 weeks and we will be at Silverstone for Round 7 which marks the halfway mark in the championship!

  • F3 Champ joins F2 for 2022

    F3 Champ joins F2 for 2022

    It has been confirmed that Dennis Hauger will be racing in Formula 2 for the 2022 season, he will be sticking with Prema in which he won the Formula 3 Championship with last year.

    The 18 year old managed to clinch the title last season, where he got nine podiums, including four wins and three pole positions. But before he managed to clinch the title, he finished 17th with HiTech Grand Prix in 2020 as he initially struggled with the step up to F3.

    In 2019, the RedBull backed driver took to victory in the Italian F4 Championship where he won it, which included 12 wins, 7 pole positions and 16 podiums in total. In the same year, Hauger also competed ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing where he finished 2nd overall with 6 wins, 5 pole positions and 10 podiums in total.

    “I’m delighted to continue with PREMA in 2022,” said Hauger, who was the 2019 Italian F4 champion. “We had a good year in 2021 with some amazing teamwork, and I really enjoyed it. I’m extremely happy that they keep believing in me, and I’m looking forward to carrying on the hard work we put in together this season as well.”

    On the graduation of Hauger, Team Principal René Rosin commented: “We are delighted to continue the work we started with Dennis last year in F3, and that led to so many great results. Of course, being a rookie is not always straightforward. However, in the official postseason test, Dennis made consistent and impressive progress, and we are looking forward to a positive season together. We are also proud to work with the Red Bull Junior Team again, and hopefully, we will be able to add more chapters to our successful history together.”

    My Opinion-

    I think we all knew this was coming! Even more so with Prema- he had a good year last year and it was shown by him winning the championship. He will want to go for the F2 Championship this year and try to make the move to Formula One as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in F2 this year!