Gabriele Mini made the most of a drying Monte Carlo circuit to head the field in Formula 3’s first session around the Principality. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver put his previous experience to good use, clocking in a 1:26.686 in the final jam packed seconds of Free Practice.
Fellow returnees, Franco Colapinto and Gregoire Saucy benefited from a late switch to the slicks to round out the top three.
Before the session started, a heavy downpour threw a curveball the drivers’ way, making the challenge of learning the Monaco streets even more difficult. Campos Racing’s Christian Mansell was the first to get a representative time on the board, but they continued to tumble with every lap of the 3.337km circuit.
Although a dry line had begun to form, there were still plenty of areas to catch the field out. Browning brought the time to beat down to a 1:39.879 before the Red Flag appeared, a spin for Jonny Edgar left the British racer facing the wrong way and in need of recovery.
Day 2-
For the Championship’s first appearance in the Principality, the 30 car grid was divided into two groups with 16 minutes each. Group A consists of even-numbered cars and Group B the odd.
Gabriele Mini put together a masterclass to claim his second pole position of his rookie Formula 3 season. Waiting until the last second of Group B, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver wrestled pole away from Group A’s Dino Beganovic by over six tenths.
The full top 10 for Sunday’s Feature race are: P1: Mini, P2: Beganovic, P3: Aron, P4: Browning, P5: Collet, P6: Montoya, P7: Bortoleto, P8: Colapinto, P9: Barnard and P10: Fornaroli.
HiTech Pulse-Eight have confirmed Luke Browning will complete the team’s 2023 line-up. The Brit joins Sebastian Montoya and Gabriele Mini.
He steps up to FIA Formula 3 following a successful season that culminated in his winning of the 2022 GB3 Championship. He claimed five victories on the way to the title as well as winning the BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
Browning made his racing debut in saloon car racing before moving to British F4 in 2019. His second season in the Championship brought title success, taking six poles, seven wins and 16 podiums in total.
A full GB3 campaign followed in 2022, he claimed the title with Hitech. Moving to FIA F3 with the same team, the 21 year old says that the continuity will help him hit the ground running in Bahrain.
I’m excited to announce I’ll be taking the step up to FIA Formula 3 with Hitech. We had a fantastic season in GB3 last year. These past 12 months I have really developed as a driver with their guidance and professionalism. I am very thankful to the people who continuously believe in me and have made this possible. I am under no illusions how competitive FIA F3 is and stepping into the car for the first time in February will be a steep learning curve before we head to Bahrain. I feel confident with everyone at Hitech that I can hit the ground running!
Browning on his new seat.
We are delighted to welcome Luke to our team in FIA Formula 3. We had a fantastic year with him in GB3, securing the driver’s title with five wins, and we are confident his experience will be of great value to the team.
HiTech Grand Prix will be fielding an all-Red Bull Junior driver line-up for the 2023 season, announcing that Isack Hadjar and Jak Crawford will be graduating to Formula 2.
Both are familiar faces to the British team, with the pair having previously driven for them in Formula 3 – Crawford in 2021 and Hadjar most recently in 2022 – as well as getting their first taste of F2 machinery at post-season testing in Yas Marina last November.
18 year old Hadjar, arrives off the back of a fourth-place finish in F3 last year. A title contender all the way to the final round, he managed to clinch three wins and a further two podiums.
I’m really excited to be part of the Red Bull Junior team and continue this journey with Hitech for another year. Hopefully we can win some more races and have a strong season together.
Hadjar on his seat for 2023.
Meanwhile Crawford returns to HiTech after a year away, the American finished his debut F3 campaign 13th in the standings before switching to PREMA Racing for the 2022 season.
There he scored one win and four podiums to take seventh, helping the Italian team to the Teams’ Championship title, alongside fellow 2023 graduates Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc.
I am delighted to be back with Hitech for my first season of Formula 2. It will be a tough season with a strong grid but I am looking forward to what lies ahead.
Crawford on his seat.
We are excited to field once again two cars in FIA Formula 2 in Red Bull Junior Team colours, especially with two such promising young talents. Isack we saw first hand his last year as a rookie in Formula 3 and Jak we know him well from his first F3 season with us in 2021.
Sebastian Montoya will be joining HiTech Grand Prix for his first FIA Formula 3 campaign this season. The 17 year-old is part of the Red Bull Junior Team, freshly signed ahead of the 2023 season.
The Colombian made two appearances last year across the Zandvoort race weekend with Campos Racing and tested with HiTech in Jerez in last year’s post-season test.
Montoya graduated from karting in 2020 to Italian Formula 4. he finished the season 11th in the standings and competed in six races in ADAC Formula 4. The same programme followed the next year, improving to fourth in the Italian Championship in 2021, taking two pole positions and nine podiums across the season.
In 2022, Montoya competed in the Formula Regional Asian Championship ahead of the European season beginning, winning twice and finishing seventh in the Drivers’ Standings. His step up from F4 to Formula Regional European Champioship by Alpine with PREMA Racing was a tough one, but he ended the season 13th on 44 points.
During 2022, his two F3 appearances in Zandvoort with Campos where he acquitted himself very well, finishing both the Sprint and Feature races in eighth position.
We will all work together to have a great year and fight at the front consistently. I just want to say thank you to my family and everyone else involved. Let’s bring on the season and give it everything.
HiTech Grand Prix have confirmed that Italian driver, Gabriele Mini will be competing with the team in next season’s FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Mini, took part in the post-season test at Jerez with the team, setting the fastest time on the opening day at the Spanish circuit.
His debut season racing in single-seaters was capped off with the Italian F4 title, which included foure wins and 12 podiums by the end of the campaign. The 17 year old has previously driven for Hitech, competing in the Formula Regional Asia series earlier this year, finishing fourth in the standings.
This season, Mini finished second in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, taking three wins and six podiums along the way.
After two seasons in FRECA, FIA F3 is the logical step for me and I’m delighted to be joining Hitech for the 2023 season. We already worked together last winter in Formula Regional Asia and enjoyed strong results. The team did a solid job last season fighting for the driver’s title until the last round so I’m confident they will perform at the highest level. Testing in Jerez last month went well and I cannot wait to be back in the car next year.
Mini on his new new seat.
I have been following Gabriele’s career for some time through Karting, then into F4. We had the pleasure to work with him earlier this year in Asian F3 with good results, seeing first-hand his commitment and talent. He has had an impressive season in FRECA and he was instantly up to speed during the FIA F3 post-season testing in Jerez, so we look forward to seeing him with Hitech in 2023.
Novalak got wheelspin from his getaway and in the second phase of the launch, Armstrong claimed the lead of the race, diving down the inside into turn 1. Novalak’s attempted defence baulked Juri Vips behind him, allowing Dennis Hauger a run alongside the Estonian at Turn 2.
Theo Pourchaire’s tricky start to the weekend got worse on Lap 2, dropping to 21st after out-braking himself at Turn 1 and running through the gravel after an attempted pass on David Beckmann for 14th.
A big lock up for Vips with six laps to go almost opened the door to Verschoor to seize P5 at Turn 10 but the Hitech driver gathered it up before the Trident could get close enough to pass.
The full top 10 are- P1: Armstrong, P2: Novalak, P3: Hauger, P4: Lawson, P5: Vips, P6: Iwasa, P7: Verschoor, P8: Sargeant, P9: Doohan and P10: Drugovich.
Day 3-
Drugovich covered off Doohan in Turn 1 but from third on the road, Logan Sargeant locked up and ropped right to the back following a trip through the gravel at the first corer.
But at Turn 7, Sargeant’s day went from bad to worse as the Carlin driver went into the barrier as he had contact with Boschung. The barrier required repair the race was red-flagged on Lap 4.
Doohan had DRS on Drugovich but a big lock-up from the Virtuosi Racing driver, on lap 9 into the first corner meant he had to file back in behind with a major flat spot as a result.
The Safety Car was out once again on Lap 17 after Marino Sato found the barriers at Turn 2, with his wheel becoming detached following his pit stop. The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 22 but Lawson left it as late as possible to make his getaway.
It caught out plenty behind and contact between several driver. Doohan was one of those who got caught up in the melee, tagged by Verschoor from behind. The Virtuosi driver was out along with Novalak and Calderon – the Safety Car was deployed once more.
Due to delays and earlier stoppage, the Feature Race went to time rather than the full 40-lap distance. After taking the lead, Drugovich was comfortable out in front and he claimed victory to put himself within touching distance of the 2022 Drivers’ Championship.
The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Verschoor, P3: Iwasa, P4: Hauger, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Cordeel, P7: Vips, P8: Beckmann, P9: Caldwell and P10: Pourchaire.
We are back this weekend for the second to last race weekend of the season, we are in Monza for Round 13.
Holding his nerve until the final few minutes of the race, Isack Hadjar took the victory out of Victor Martins hands, with a breath-taking lunge around the ART Grand Prix driver on the penultimate lap was enough to secure his second Formula 3 win in his rookie season.
Martins was forced to settle for second after sustaining pressure from rookie, Reece Ushijima in the final few laps, a brilliant effort from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, who started on reverse grid pole, paid off to seal his maiden F3 podium in third.
12th placed qualifier, Reece Ushijima had a little bit longer to wait to get off the line in his highest ever starting position. Ushijima had to led the field for a second formation lap after an issue for a slow Brad Benavides led to an aborted start.
Determined to make up for a disappointing Fridays, Martins wasted no time driving up the inside of Ushijima to snatch the lead of the race and the VAR racer found himself under a bit of pressure from Maini going side-by-side in the opening sectors.
But the full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Ushijima, P4: Maini, P5: Frederick, P6: Stanek, P7: Maloney, P8: Leclerc, P9: Bearman and P10: Crawford.
Day 3-
Zak O’Sullivan covered off Arthur Leclerc to retain the lead in the opening corners. Jak Crawford fought with Zane Maloney for third but was squeezed out by the Trident driver, allowing PREMA teammater Ollie Bearman to gain a run onto the Wellington Straight. The Briton tried to hang it around the outside, but Maloney made his Trident as wide as possible, heading into Luffield, Bearman didn’t back out which resulted in contact which spun the Bajan off track and down the order.
Looking at the front of the gird, Leclerc had fought back and with a two down Hangar Straight, swept around the outside of O’Sullivan into Stowe. Just as the move happened the Safety Car was deployed and Leclerc relinquished the position to the Brit.
O’Sullivan got a good restart, but Leclerc had clung with him and with DRS enabled on Lap 6, the Monegasque made a move and led the race. Hadjar and Crawford were fighting for fifth and the pair came to blows on Lap 8. Side-by-side out of the final corner and down the main straight, the duo entered Abbey with Crawford on the outside but just ahead, Hadjar narrowly clipped the rear right tyre of the PREMA driver, sending him off track and down to P8.
A slight collision between Gregoire Saucy and Roman Stanek required both to pit at the end of lap 9 for repairs. The ART GP driver was able to re-join but the Trident driver was out of the race. Another Safety car was deployed, following a crash for Rafael Villagomez at Copse. Contact with Nazim Azmna resulted in the front wing becoming stuck underneath the VAR driver’s car, sending him straight into the barriers.
With just three laps remaining, the top five was separated by just 1.5s, Bearman had been shaping up a move on Collet for several laps and finally made a lunge into Brookland on the penultimate lap for third.
However, Leclerc was untroubled and secured his third victory in F3 and his first of the 2022 season! O’Sullivan came home to finish 2nd, his first podium in F3 and infront of his home crowd. And Ollie Bearman finished the podium places, in front of his home crowd aswell.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: O’Sullivan, P3: Bearman, P4: Collet, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Martins, P8: Edgar, P9: Vidales and P10: Ushijima.
We don’t have long to wait until we see F3 cars back on track, we are returning next week for Round 5 at Spielberg, Austria from the 8th to 10th July!
Red Bull have terminated the contract of their test and reserve driver, Juri Vips after he used a racist slur during a gaming stream.
The team suspended Vips last week, pending an investigation when the clip emerged online, but now have announced his contract has been terminated.
Following its investigation into an online incident involving Juri Vips, Oracle Red Bull Racing has terminated Juri’s contract as its test & reserve driver. The team do not condone any form of racism.
Red Bull’s statement.
The 21 year old, is racing for Hitech Grand Prix in Formula 2, for a second year. It is not confirmed at whether Vips will continue as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Vips had served as Red Bull’s reserve driver at several events in 2020 before taking up the post more permanently for the 2022 season. He competed in one free practice session for the team at Spanish Grand Prix, and it looked like he was set for more appearances this season.
HiTech have spoken out on Juri Vips, and he will continue to compete with the team in F2 for the remainder of the season, with a chance to ‘redeem himself’.
I have made a decision for Juri to keep his F2 seat with Hitech for the remainder of the season, a decision we have seriously debated. Allowing him to complete his season with Hitech is an opportunity for him to demonstrate, through his actions, the type of person he is. I have made it clear that I think the language used was totally unacceptable, but I choose to give him the chance to redeem himself. Hitech GP employs an inclusive work force and has never condoned racism or offensive behaviour in any forms. That said, if we live in a society where no one can make a mistake, then genuinely apologise, have the chance for redemption and learn from it – what does it say about our society? I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why he was streaming and playing COD [Call of Duty] at that time of day. Certainly, there are things which would have been far more beneficial for his career! What I do know is that having his contract terminated by Red Bull as a result of his actions is a crushing experience for him, a deservedly severe punishment. The reality is there will not be unanimous agreement whether that punishment is sufficient, and that is totally understandable.
Oliver Oakes, HiTech Boss
Where as, Formula 2 made an announcement after HiTech to see what the team was going to do…
Following the recent incident involving Juri Vips, F2 would like to reaffirm that the use of racist or discriminatory language cannot be tolerated in any environment. Hitech Grand Prix’s decision today is surprising and not one we would have taken. We will monitor the situation carefully with them to ensure that such behaviour is properly addressed.
Juri Vips was the fastest man in the free practice session today, he set a 1:55.924 to end practice ahead of Lawson and teammate Marcus Armstrong.
Strong winds kept the trees that line the circuit blowing as the drivers took to track for their initial laps. A dusty surface meant times were unrepresentative in the early phases of the session.
Enzo Fittipaldi was the first to have a brush with the wall, the Charouz racing driver nudged the exit wall at Turn 4 but was able to continue without any visible concerns. Clement Novalak found himself facing the wall soon after in the first sector, bringing out the red flag.
The session was back to green with 20 minutes, but it didn’t stay that way as Boschung’s joy at the top was short-lived as he was the next to find the wall – the Campos Racing man lost the rear end of his car on downshift and spun backwards into the barrier at Turn 5, bringing out the red flags for the second time.
The full top were- P1: Vips, P2: Lawson, P3: Armstrong, P4: Doohan, P5: Vesti, P6: Daruvala, P7: Drugovich, P8: Boschung, P9: Verschoor and P10: Hauger.
Qualifying-
Mr Juri Vips narrowly missed out on pole position last year, but made amends this year as he stormed to P1 in a highly competitive qualifying session in Baku. The HiTech driver had been stuck down in 10th following his opening run, but a surprise burst of pace was enough to put him 0.163s clear of Lawson as Dennis Hauger made it an all Red Bull junior top three.
As drivers started to back out with 11 minutes remaining, and the flying laps started they was brought to a hault due to Ayumu Iwasa who was determined to push his car to the limits- he carried to much speed into Turn 4 and collided with the barrier – he looked untouchable earlier on in the session as he was sitting comfortably on provisional pole.
The Japanese driver’s mistake blew the fight for pole wide open as Richard Verschoor and Hauger both clocked in personal bests. But it was the final minute of the session that showed who had mastered the streets of Baku.
The full top 10 are: P1: Vips, P2: Lawson, P3: Hauger, P4: Armstrong, P5: Drugovich, P6: Verschoor, P7: Sargeant, P8: Daruvala, P9: Vesti and P10: Hughes.
Ralph Boschung ended the free practice session on top, setting a 1:41.996 with a heavily interrupted session with three red flags across the 30 minutes of on track action. Before Practice had even started there was drama, as the session had to be rescheduled from the morning until the circumstances improved.
Once the session was underway, it wasn’t long until the first red flag was produced as Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong spun and hit the barrier before Turn 11. Once the session resumed, Juri Vips set the initial pace but after this another red flag came out and the action stopped, this time due to Logan Sargeant spinning and not being able to get his car going again.
Boschung moved to the head of the pack before having a spin of his own in the final minute which brought out the 3rd red flag. Vips was in second and Jehan Daruvala was in third for PREMA.
Qualifying-
HiTech’s Juri Vips took his first ever pole position in his Formula 2 career as he mastered the difficult conditions and set a lap time of 1:40.221. More rain hit the track prior to the start of the session, forcing drivers to use the wet tyres.
Ralpha Boshcung who set the pace in the afternoon practice session, was the first driver to lay down a marker but after the opening round o flaps were completed it was Clement Novalak who was the fastest driver. Jake Hughes then moved to the top of the timesheet before being replaced by Vips.
Shortly after Vips completed his lap, the one and only red flag of the session was deployed as Olli Caldwell spun off the road in the first sector. As the session resumed, drivers returned to the circuit to prepare for the final push laps, with Boschung setting the benchmark even lower. However, with six minutes left, Vips closed out a lap which would not be beaten, despite several improvements int he top 10.
Juri in P1 for the feature race, with Ayumu Iwasa in 2nd and 3rd. Sargeant took reverse grid pole as he finished 10th.
Day 2-
Sprint Race-
Carlin’s Logan Sargeant started from pole, but the driver struggled to get off the line, his slow start allowed Armstrong into the lead, with the American driver dropping down to fifth by the end of the opening lap.
David Beckmann spun on the opening lap, with Clement Novalak unable to avoid the Charouz car and picked up front wing damage, it saw Beckmann retire from the race where he joined Amaury Cordeel on the sidelines as the Belgian racer crashed on his way to the grid.
Boschung became the latest retirement on Lap 9 as he was forced to pull over at the side with a problem, a virtual safety car was called which allowed Daruvala to close the gap on the leader, Marcus Armstrong.
In the final few laps, Daruvala couldn’t pass Armstrong for the lead and had to settle for P2, with Hauger in P3, his best finish in Formula 2 so far.
Day 3-
Feature Race-
Juri Vips headed the field from pole position as the lights went out, however it was Roy Nissany who started sixth who led the field into Turn 2. Behind there was instant contact between 2021 Formula 3 title rivals, Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan, damage was inflicted on both cars and the pair were forced to retire.
A safety car was called to clean up Haugers stricken car, but no sooner had it disappeared it was called upon again as pole-sitter Juri Vips crashed on the exit of Turn 6 after running wide. When the safety car went in, a series of drivers including Nissany, Boschung, Pourchaire and Fittipaldi peeled into the pit lane to switch to the medium compound tyres.
As the laps ticked down the battles for position were not over, with Boschung and Sargeant scrapping for what could be second place. Sargeant moved ahead of Boschung, but soon dropped down the order moments after taking the position.
It was Theo Pourchaire who took the Feature Race win, with Enzo Fittipaldi finishing 2nd, his best ever finish and first Formula 2 podium! Ralph Boschung finished in third.
The Championship-
We now have a new championship leader, that being Theo Pourchaire he leads with 52 points. Felipe Drugovich in 2nd with 50 points and then there is quite a gap between 2nd and 3rd. Jehan Daruvala in 3rd with 36 points, Liam Lawson in 4th with 35 points and then Richard Verschoor in 5th with 32 points.
Looking at the teams, its a lot closer than the drivers… MP Motorsport out in front with 62 points, ART Grand Prix in 2nd with 60 points, we then have HiTech Grand Prix in 3rd with 58 points!
We are back in a month for round 4 of the season, in Barcelona Spain on the 20th to 22nd of May!
As the red light went out, O’Sullivan was automatically having to defend from Bearman on the run into the first corner. However further back in the pack, Roman Stanek and pole sitter for the Feature race- Franco Colapinto collided and were forced to pit for repairs.
Arthur Leclerc was the standout mover as he found himself up in 9th following the opening laps after starting 13th.
There was a 3 way battle between the ART Grand Prix team-mates but it was Saucy and Martins who collided at Turn 1 fighting for P8, both had to return to the pitlane but both were forced to retire.
Moments after this, Bearman made his overtake on O’Sullivan stick through Turn 4. Bearman’s team mate Leclerc still continued his charge as he progressed into 7th.
Lap 10 saw Hadjar move up into third as he went past Smolyar. O’ Sullivan’s pace started to drop he fell into a pack of drivers, which ended with Maloney and Hadjar moving past the Williams Academy driver.
Ollie Bearman crossed the line in P1 but due to a 5 second time penalty it meant that he was demoted to P2, and Isack Hadjar took the first win of the year!
Positon
Driver
Team
Points
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
10
2
Ollie Bearman
PREMA Racing
9
3
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
8
4
Zane Maloney
Trident
8
5
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
6
Top 5 finishers.
Day 3-
Even though he qualifying result was a shock, it was set to be a harder task for Colapinto to hold onto the victory. In the opening stages of the race, the Argentine looked very comfortable in the lead, however its never smooth sailing in F3 as he had to deal with a safety car restart, which was required after Pizzi and Maloney coming to a stop on the circuit on the opening lap due to a bit of contact.
Caio Collet was a victim of the first lap drama, as he broke his front suspension while driving over a kerb at Turn 7, as he tried to avoid potential contact with rivals. At the Safety Car restart, Martins overtook Stanek for P2 but the Trident driver would be soon eliminated as he made contact with Alex Smolyar.
Juan Manuel Correa appeared to have rapid pace as he moved into the top three after overtaking Smolyar, with the latter also soon found himself to be behind Leclerc who was on the mission.
It was Victor Martins who took the win, with Leclerc making up 11 positions to finish 2nd!
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
25
2
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
18
3
Gregiore Saucy
ART Grand Prix
15
4
Juan Manuel Correa
ART Grand Prix
12
5
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
10
Top 5 finishers.
F3 will be back in just over a month, 22nd to 24th of April for the second round in Imola, Italy!
The Formula 3 2022 grid is complete before the first round this weekend in Bahrain, the first of 9 rounds and 18 races across the year.
There are 14 rookies this year, including Zak O’Sullivan in which his come of the back of 3 impressive year, being runner up in Ginetta Junior Championship, runner-up in F4 British Championship and GB3 Champion last year. Ollie Bearman, also comes inot F3 being the ADAC Formula 4 Champion and Italian F4 Champion.
Which drivers should we look out for this season?
Trident drivers, they are coming of the back of winning the 2021 Team standings, and no doubt will be wanting to do it again.
PREMA, you can never ever count out, obviously they have won the drivers championship 3 years in a row. As well as this, Arthur Leclerc has already won one championship this year and it looks like F3 will now be his main focus.
Martins and Collet, both with Alpine Academy will be looking to fight for the championship this year. It is their second year in F3 and will be hoping to move up to F2 next season if they provide the results.
Juan Manuel Correa sticking with ART Grand Prix, hoping to fight for more points this year as he goes into his second year in Formula 3.
HiTech Grand Prix who race in FIA F2 and FIA F3 have terminated their Uralkali sponsorship deal with immediate effect.
The Silverstone based team, had been sponsored by the company since 2016. It’s CEO being Nikita Mazepins dad, Dmitry Mazepin.
HiTech ran without the branding during pre-season testing last week as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued.
The team took to social media today, to announce its agreement with Uralkali as well as adding that it was “shocked and saddened” by the war and wished for a “swift and peaceful end” to the conflict.
In a statement, the team said: “Hitech Grand Prix has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the sponsorship agreement of Uralkali. As with the rest of the motorsport community, the team are shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wish for a swift and peaceful end to the ongoing conflict.”
Uralkali became a major team partner when Mazepin signed with the team in 2016 for the FIA European Formula 3 Championship remaining with the team the following year. He then returned to HiTech in 2020 for the F2 Championship.
Nazim Azman, joins HiTech Grand Prix for the 2022 campaign, which makes him the first Malaysian driver to race in Formula 3. Azman completes HiTech’s line-up, joining Kaylen Frederick and Isack Hadjar.
The Malaysian racer, spent the 2021 season in the Euroformula Open, where he won once and took seven podiums to finish 4th overall.
He then spent all three days of post-season testing in Valencia, the first two with Jenzer Motorsport and the final with Charouz Racing System as he got his first taste of F3 machinery.
Azman made his single seater debut in the 2016-17 season of Formula 4 SEA and has since gained further experience with races in Spanish F4, SMP F4, Formula Masters Asian Series and Italian f4.
The 20 year old, then spent two season in BRDC British F3, where he finished third with Carlin in 2020, before making the move to Euroformula.
“I’m really excited to be stepping up to the FIA F3 series with Hitech GP,” said Azman. “The team is an established race and championship winner in the F3 category and will provide me with the perfect platform from which to focus on racing against some of the best young talent in the world. I’m looking forward to racing in Bahrain again, visiting some of the most iconic circuits in Europe — some of which I am already familiar with and others that will be new to me. I can’t deny that this is a big step up for me but, having raced — and won — in both the British and EuroFormula Open series, I believe that I am ready for the challenge.”
Team manager Jay Davenport added: “We are delighted to have Nazim join the team for the 2022 season, he has a competitive track record in the other series and we aim to give him a package to do the same this season. We have been working hard over the winter and we are keen to get back to business on track in Bahrain.”
Formula 2 has now had all their drivers confirmed for this year. The 2022 season will see a 14 round calendar, and 28 races across the year.
Half of the grid are rookies this year, with reigning Formula 3 Champion, Dennis Hauger making the step up into F2. As well as many different drivers from all different F1 team juniors, but 2022 their will be no Ferrari Driver Academy drivers, with the most recent drivers graduating to other roles…
Which drivers should we look out for this season?
Definitley both PREMA drivers, they will be want to go for both the drivers and teams championship for a third year running.
Liam Lawson moving to Carlin, is definitely one to watch, he had a few reliability issues last year, so if he doesn’t have those this year hopefully he can be a title contender.
ART Grand Prix, have a very strong line-up this year, Pourchaire will be wanting to go for the drivers championship, and Vesti will be wanting to help as the team and possibly fight for the team championship.
Jack Doohan, Olli Caldwell, Jake Hughes and Clement Novalak all stepped into F2 seats last year with some scoring points rather quickly. These 4 are ones to look out for, with scoring points consistently.
Formula 2 is back next Wednesday the 2nd of March in Sakhir, Bahrain for pre-season testing, then 2 weeks later is the first race of the season!
Kaylen Frederick has signed with HiTech Grand Prix for his second season of Formula 3, eh will be joining Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar at the Silverstone based squad.
Frederick spent his first season with Carlin, only making the points once with a ninth-place finish at the Red Bull Ring, however he then missed the following two rounds of the season due to injury and illness. Returning for the final two rounds of 2021, Frederick came close to scoring points on two occasions but narrowly missing out.
The American, spent all three days of testing with HiTech, where he punched in four top 10 times out of six sessions.
The 19 year olds single seater career started back in America, with stints in the F1600 Championship Series and the U.S F200 National Championship before he made a full time move to European racing in 2019, competing for Carlin in the BRDC British F3.
Finishing ninth in his rookie year, the American remained in the Championship for a second season where he took the title with nine wins and 12 podiums from 24 races.
“I am thrilled to race with Hitech GP for the 2022 FIA F3 season,” said Frederick. “Hitech have an established presence among many championships and a solid platform to build for success. We had a strong post-season test in Valencia and have continued to develop our working relationship. The entire team has been helpful in getting me acclimated to the new environment, so I am feeling super comfortable and confident heading into this year. I also would like to thank Pilot ONE Racing for their long-standing support which has allowed us to realize this great opportunity together. We have a great foundation under us with which to show our abilities. The season has an exciting calendar so I can’t wait to get started.”
Hitech General Manager Jay Davenport added: “We are really pleased to have Kaylen join us for the 2022 season, he produced a strong performance driving a Hitech car at the Valencia test at the end of last season and we are eager to see him carry this form over into the coming race season. We have been working hard over the winter break fine-tuning our cars and our approach and we are keen to get back to business on track in Bahrain next month.”
HiTech Grand Prix has now confirmed their line up for the 2022 season with the second seat going to Kiwi, Marcus Armstrong who will be switching from DAMS.
The 21 year old scored his first Formula 2 win in the penultimate round of the season at Jeddah and almost finished the season with a second victory at the finale but he had to retire due to a mechanical issue. He finished 13th in the drivers standing overall with two podiums in total.
For pre-season testing, Armstrong switched to Hitech where he ended three out of six sessions in the top 10, which included third on Day 2.
Armstrong has been in the news lately after himself and the Ferrari Driver Academy has parted ways after 4 years together.
In his first year of single seater racing in 2017, Armstrong won the Italian Formula 4 championship which included four victories and a further nine podiums, he also competed in ADAC F4 the same year in which he finished 2nd in- he was inducted into the FDA this year.
He then went on to compete in the 2018 Formula 3 European Championship, where he finished 5th overall. 2019 saw Armstrong be a title challenger in Formula 3 where he finished runner-up to Robert Shwartzman.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Hitech this season in Formula 2,” said Armstrong. Team Principal Oliver Oakes brought me to Europe a few years back and I saw Hitech in the early days. Since then, it’s transformed into one of the powerhouses of Formula 2 and 3. I’m looking forward to be working with a successful group of people and giving it everything I’ve got in my new Hitech team this year.”
My Opinion-
Ahhh, I’m glad Marcus has got a seat! I feel like we haven’t seen the absolute best of him yet. Maybe this is the move he needs and with not being in the FDA anymore he may want to prove some people wrong…
HiTech Grand Prix has revealed that Red Bull junior, Juri Vips will be sticking with them for a second season in F2.
Vips’ relationship with the team started in 2019 in Formula 3, where he managed to grab a pole, three wins and a further podium- he finished 4th.
Then in 2020, the Estonian driver made his debut in Formula 2 competing for four rounds with DAMS where he took 16 points and a podium.
In 2021, he managed to pull a seat full time with HiTech he became the first driver to win twice in a single weekend at Baku- second sprint race and the feature race.
Juri then managed to score four more podiums throughout the year, he ended his first year in 6th!
“I’m thrilled to be joining Hitech for another year,” said Vips. “We built a strong relationship in 2021, which enabled me to get to grips with the car and work closely with the team to ensure we gave our very best throughout the season. I’m looking forward to fighting for more victories. Massive thanks to Red Bull for their continuous support.”
My Opinion–
Juri’s announcement was the one I was waiting for the most. I felt like last year he had quite a lot of reliability issues and he got quite unlucky mid-way through the season and sometimes that can affect if you come back for another season or not.
But, with that being said he signed with HiTech which is great! He clearly has faith in the team to stick by them- it will be interesting how well he does this year!
Isack Hadjar will become Formula 3’s newest Red Bull junior in 2022, in which he is making the step up with Hitech Grand Prix.
He will be making his debut with the team in the Formula Regional Asian Championship before linking up with the team for a full campaign of F3.
He joined the team for post-season testing in Valencia where he impressed the British team with a top 10 finish on the 3rd morning.
In 2021, the 17 year old took sixth place in the Asian F3 Championship with five podiums before he competed in the inaugural Formula Regional European campaign, where he finished fifth with five podiums which included two wins.
Hadjar, also arrives to Formula 3 with two years experience in French Formula 4, where he challenged for the title in 2020, in which he ended 3rd with three wins and eight podiums!
“I am really happy to race with Hitech for a full campaign in FIA F3 and Formula Regional Asia,” said Hadjar. “I’m excited to see what we are able to achieve together and be working with a new team as I make my step up. There will be a lot to take in and plenty to learn, but I am ready for the challenge! Thanks to Red Bull for their support.”
Jordan's Track Talk 