Interview
Hauger dismisses title talk and says he’s focused on remaining consistent
Despite fans labelling the Formula 3 title as his to lose, Championship leader Dennis Hauger has insisted that he won’t be allowing that to add any undue pressure onto him in the final three rounds, saying that he’ll be focused on maintaining his remarkable consistency.
Since switching to PREMA Racing ahead of the 2021 campaign, Red Bull junior Hauger has failed to score points just once – he finished 25th in Race 2 at Barcelona after colliding with Matteo Nannini in a battle for the lead. Since then, he’s taken three wins, seven podiums and an astounding 149 points.
Albeit in a different round format, Hauger has 21 more points than then Championship leader Logan Sargeant did at this stage of last season and an identical number of points to Robert Shwartzman after 12 races in 2019.
The Norwegian’s consistency has been unrivalled so far and he’s intent on keeping it that way.
“Since Round 1, we've found a really good rhythm and have managed to keep taking points throughout the season,” said Hauger. “Consistency has been one of our strengths so far and it’s nice to see the work the team have put in show out on track.
“I haven't been putting any unnecessary pressure on myself. I am keeping my head down and working with the team. I'm not listening to what everyone else is saying. I'm working on my own stuff.
“I will keep the same mindset as I’ve had all season and I won’t start taking any unnecessary risks. I’ll continue to work as hard as I have so far this season as it’s worked out well so far. Consistency has been the key so far and I need to keep that going.”
The 18-year-old - who finished 13th in Free Practice - has been itching to get back on track all summer and was at the PREMA base in Italy last week gearing up for the end of the summer break and preparing for the potential of rain at Spa.
READ MORE: Vesti searching for an ‘extra one per cent in 15 different places’
“We were prepping to make sure that I was as prepared as possible for this weekend,” he continued. ”I am already focused, I’ve been waiting to get going again for quite a while.
“I have never driven here on wets before and the only race experience I have here is from last year in F3. We've had meetings and tried to prepare as much as possible, but you never know before you get out there.”