Photo: BMW Motorsport
Tim Tramnitz has been announced as a BMW works driver for 2026, but he will be in a single-seater car this week.
The 21-year-old German will drive for Hitech GP in this week’s FIA Formula 3 pre-season test at Barcelona, sitting in for Michael Shin who has signed to race for the team this year.
Shin, who is moving across from Euroformula, has been ruled out of action at present due to a shoulder injury.
For the last two years, Tramnitz has raced for MP Motorsport in the FIA F3 Championship. He came ninth in 2024 with a sprint race win and three other podiums, and was fourth in 2025.
Following a run of seven successive top-five finishes, including a sprint race win and a feature race podium, Tramnitz’s form went downhill and after his first runner-up finish in a feature race he only scored one point in the last seven races.
“I am super happy to now be part of the BMW M Motorsport family and look forward to the challenge,” he said of his next career move.
“For me, this is a big step, as I have dreamed of becoming a works driver for a major manufacturer since my time in karting. I would like to thank everyone involved for their trust and can’t wait to contest my first races at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo.”
It has not been announced which championship Tramnitz will race the BMW M4 GT3 Evo in through this year, and his new contract with the German automobile manufacturer comes despite no prior GT sportscar racing experience.
Another junior single-seater star to be signed by a sportscar brand for 2026 is 20-year-old Joseph Loake, who has become a factory driver for McLaren in GT racing.
Back in 2023, Loake took four wins in GB3 to come third in the standings and put himself in contention for the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award. After impressing in the on-track tests as one of the four finalists, the Briton earned himself a prize Formula 1 test with Aston Martin which he completed at Silverstone a year later.
His main focus in 2024 was FIA F3, in which he came 26th in the standings with eight points. They were scored in the two Monaco races.
Last year he made a USF Pro 2000 cameo and finished fifth on debut, as well as racing in sportscars for McLaren customer team Garage 59 in GT World Challenge Europe. He and his team-mates came seventh in the Endurance Cup with one podium.