Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger will make his move up to Formula 2 with Prema, and will be team-mate to the returning Jehan Daruvala.
Both Red Bull-backed talents raced in F3 for Prema, with Daruvala coming third in the 2019 standings with the team while Hauger won last season’s title.
Hauger raced in 2021 as a “Red Bull-supported driver” but not as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team after coming 17th in rookie F3 season the year before led to him losing full backing. He has now regained junior status for 2022.
““I’m delighted to continue with Prema in 2022,” said Hauger. “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.”
The 18-year-old joined Prema for F2’s post-season Abu Dhabi test a month ago in December, with Pedro Matos as his engineer. Matos engineered his rookie car racing campaign in British Formula 4 back in 2018, as well as his F3 title run.
Hauger was in the top 10 of every session bar his very first in a F2 car, during which he was believed to be involved in a costly collision with another Red Bull driver.
At the time of the test one of his sponsors announced his drive, and Red Bull spoke of a deal for F2 being signed, but confirmation did not come from Prema or Red Bull for another month.
Daruvala was testing alongside Hauger on all three days in Abu Dhabi, moving back to Prema after spending his first two seasons in F2 with Carlin. The Indian has won three sprint races so far, and was seventh in the championship last year.
“I’m really happy to be back at Prema and continue to be part of the Red Bull Junior Team for the 2022 FIA F2 Championship. We have worked together in the past and share a fantastic relationship. Prema is a champion team and I can’t wait to get started and look forward to a successful F2 campaign,” said Daruvala.
Prema’s team principal Rene Rosin added: “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 have had a great relationship with Jehan when we raced together in FIA F3 and we have deep respect for his skills and work ethics. I think he fits our team very well and I’m looking forward to see how much progress he has made in the last couple of years. He performed impressively in post-season testing and he has a great deal of experience also in terms of race formats and procedures.”