Photo: Red Bull
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, and left him eighth in the points before the final round in Abu Dhabi next 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.
“For the 2024 season, I’ll be parting ways with the Red Bull Junior Team,” Hauger wrote on Instagram. “I’m grateful for their support over the years and ready to explore new opportunities ahead.
“Next year I will be back in Formula 2 with one clear goal in mind: the championship.”
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, and 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 – led him to be only a ‘Red Bull-supported driver’ rather than a full junior in 2021, when he again became champion in the red and white of Prema. He wore a Red Bull livery when he stepped up to F2 with Prema in 2022, but had to make do with 10th in the points.
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.