Hitech Grand Prix (formerly Hitech Racing, currently racing as Hitech TGR for sponsorship reasons) is a British

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

team. It was founded by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle in 2002 and relaunched by Oliver Oakes in 2015. Currently, Hitech competes in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship (F2) is a second-tier single-seater championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on road racing, racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the re ...

FIA Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 Championship (FIA F3) is a third-tier international Open wheel car, single-seater racing championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for ...

GB3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships, the GB4 Cha ...

F4 British Championship The F4 British Championship (full name Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA, formerly known as F4 British Championship certified by FIA — powered by Ford (2016–21), MSA Formula (2015)) is a single-seater motorsport seri ...

, and in 2025 will enter

F1 Academy F1 Academy is a female-only, Formula 4-level Formula racing, single-seater racing championship founded by the Formula One Group. The championship is a One-design racing, spec series, meaning that all teams compete with an identical Tatuus F4-T4 ...

and Formula Winter Series.

History

Hitech Racing (2002–2014)

Hitech Racing started out in the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

in 2003. The team also competed in the South American Formula Three Series, namely the

Formula 3 Sudamericana Fórmula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable ...

. In its first season, Hitech scored five

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

s and six podium finishes, with drivers

Danny Watts Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver. Career Watts was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racin ...

and Eric Salignon. Andrew Thompson also contributed some points finishes. Watts finished the British F3 Championship in 5th place in a season that included a memorable win at

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham and north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had ...

. In the Korea Super Prix, guest driver

Richard Antinucci Richard Antinucci (born January 26, 1981) is a race car driver. Born in Italy, he competes under an American license. Career In 1998 he competed in the British Formula Ford for Haywood Racing, moving to the British Formula Renault Winter Series ...

achieved Hitech's first international race win. In the second season, 2004, Thompson was retained and joined by drivers

Marko Asmer Marko Asmer (born 30 July 1984) is an Estonian former racing driver, who won the British Formula 3 Championship title in 2007. Asmer is also the first Estonian to test a Formula One car, having tested for the Williams BMW team in 2003, after ...

, James Walker, and

Lucas Di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...

. Di Grassi had two wins and was classified in eighth place overall. Another of that year's highlights was a podium finish on Di Grassi's début at the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

. Asmer managed to finish the championship closing the top 10. In 2005, Hitech retained Asmer and brought in Tim Bridgman from

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

. Asmer was the best of the duo, scoring no less than five second places, but missing out on an actual win, even so managing to snatch the fourth place in the championship. For 2006, Hitech brought back James Walker, alongside James Jakes and

Salvador Durán Salvador Durán Sánchez (born 6 May 1985) is a Mexican race car driver who raced in the FIA Formula E Championship for the Amlin Aguri team. Durán has also previously competed in A1 Grand Prix, Formula Renault 3.5, and the NASCAR Toyota Ser ...

, with Jakes finishing 8th, Walker 9th and Durán 10th in a poor season that only heralded one podium finish (achieved by Walker). In 2007 Hitech retained the services of Marko Asmer who joined Austrian Walter Grubmuller for an assault on the British F3 Championship. Hitech and Asmer took the title, scoring 11 poles, 11 wins (from 22 races) and 9 fastest laps. Marko Asmer secured the title long before the final round and in the end by a margin of 85 points from

Maro Engel Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a Germans, German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a Mercedes-AMG factory driver since 2008 & brand ambassador since 2017. He is a FIA GT World Cup Champion (2015, 2024), Nürburgring 2 ...

. In 2008,

Walter Grubmuller Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

was joined by the youngest driver in the sport,

Max Chilton Maximilian Alexander Chilton (born 21 April 1991) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Redhill, Surrey, Chilton is the younger brother of racing driver Tom Chilton. He competed in the GP ...

. For 2012, Brazilian

Felipe Guimarães Felipe "Lopes" Guimarães (born March 22, 1991, in Anápolis, Goiás) is a Brazilian racing driver. After a childhood in karting, Guimarães transitioned to the extremely competitive Formula Three Sudamericana series at the age of 16 and finished ...

took 4 wins and two poles to end fourth with Hitech Racing Brazil in the

Formula Three Sudamericana Fórmula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable ...

series. In 2013, Hitech's Brazilian ace

took both the

Formula 3 Brazil Open The Formula 3 Brazil Open, also known as the F3 Brazil Open, was an annual open wheel racing event at the grand prix circuit of Autódromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos) in São Paulo, Brazil. The inaugural meeting took place in January 2010. In ...

and the

series titles, winning 13 races and obtaining 7 poles and 12 fastest laps in the process. In 2014, Brazilian

defended his

title with Hitech Racing Brazil in January 2014 at the

2014 Formula 3 Brazil Open The 2014 Formula 3 Brazil Open was the fifth Formula 3 Brazil Open race held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace from January 16–19, 2014. Drivers and teams * All cars are powered by Berta engines, and will run on Pirelli tyres. Classificatio ...

with his teammate

Victor Franzoni Victor Coelho Franzoni da Silva (born 5 October 1995) is a Brazilian racing driver who most recently competed in Copa Truck. Franzoni raced in Formula Renault in Europe before switching to competition in the United States on the USF Pro Champion ...

finishing second.

GP2 Series

In 2005, Hitech partnered with Piquet Sports to enter the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

, running Nelson Piquet Jr. and Alexandre Negrao. However, prior to the

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

round, it was announced that this partnership had ended and that Piquet Sports would run the team for the remainder of the season. Despite this, team would continue carrying the Hitech name until the end of the season

Hitech GP (2015–present)

In 2015, Oliver Oakes founded Hitech GP, and the team made guest appearances in the two final rounds of the

European Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three (F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived th ...

with Alex Sims. In 2016, Hitech joined forces with

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

, to make a full season in the FIA F3 European Championship. George Russell and rookies

Ben Barnicoat Ben George Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a British racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Vasser Sullivan and in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Akkodis ASP; he serves as a factory driver for Lexus. ...

and

Nikita Mazepin Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin ( rus, Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, p=nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian racing driver and motorsport executive, who most recently comp ...

will race for the team. 2015's guest driver Sims again appeared in the 2016 season's final round at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

. The following season, only Mazepin remained with the team, he was joined by 2016 Prema driver Ralf Aron,

Jake Hughes Jake John Hughes (born 30 May 1994) is a British people, British racing driver who currently competes in Formula E with Maserati MSG Racing and is also the simulator driver for the McLaren, McLaren F1 Team. He is the winner of the inaugural 2013 ...

and Honda Junior

Tadasuke Makino is a Japanese racing driver for Honda Motor Company who currently competes in Super GT for Team Kunimitsu and in the Super Formula Championship for Dandelion Racing. A feature race winner in the FIA Formula 2 Championship during his time abroa ...

. For 2018 the team signed Enaam Ahmed, Ben Hingeley,

Álex Palou Álex Palou Montalbo (; born 1 April 1997) is a Spanish racing driver who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, where he won the 2021 IndyCar Series, 2021, 2023 IndyCar Series, 2023, and 2024 IndyCar Series, 2024 championships a ...

In 2019 the team was represented by

Jüri Vips Jüri Vips (; born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the NTT IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, driving the No. 75 Dallara IR-18. He has previously driven in both the FIA Formul ...

in the new

. He was joined by

Leonardo Pulcini Leonardo Pulcini (born 25 June 1998, in Rome) is an Italian racing driver and the 2016 Euroformula Open champion. Career Karting Born in Rome, Pulcini began karting professionally in 2012, and came 7th in the KF3 category in the Italian ACI Ka ...

, who raced in the

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

, and 2016 French F4 champion Yifei Ye. The team saw four wins coming from Vips and Pulcini that ultimately resulted in the outfit finishing second behind

Prema Racing Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the '' DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of It ...

in the teams' standings. In 2019, Hitech GP provided a full race operation package to W Series, including preparation, shipping and all trackside requirements. Hitech GP also supplied race engineers and pit crew for each of the cars. This partnership was discontinued for the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

following the 2020 season's cancellation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and Hitech GP's subsequent expansion into other series. For the inaugural 2019 FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup all drivers utilized KCMG KC MG-01 cars, which were operated by Hitech GP. This was the first Formula 4 car to feature Halo safety device.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In January 2020, Hitech announced it would expand into the championship for the 2020 season. In their first season, they finished fourth in the Teams' Championship, with drivers

and

Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto (born 24 February 1995) is an Italian racing driver who competes in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2025 European Le Mans Series for Inter Europol Competition. He also competed in select rounds in the 2024 IndyCar Series for Dale ...

earning three wins between them. Ahead of the

, Ghiotto left the team and Mazepin moved to Formula One with Haas. In their place, the team signed

and promoted

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver who competes in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings and raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began competitive kart racing aged seven. Lawson—who is ...

from their Formula 3 operation. Lawson won the first race of the season and went on to finish ninth overall, with teammate Vips in sixth. Vips stayed on with the team for

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and

Marcus Armstrong Marcus John Armstrong (born 29 July 2000) is a New Zealand motor racing driver who competes in the IndyCar series, driving the No. 66 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship between 2020 and 2022, and was the ...

was signed to race alongside him. The team finished fifth in the championship. The team slumped to eighth place in the championship in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, with both

Jak Crawford Carlton Jakston "Jak" Crawford (born 2 May 2005) is an American racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for DAMS as part of the AMF1 Driver Development Programme, and serves as a reserve driver in Formula E for Andretti Globa ...

and

Isack Hadjar Isack Alexandre Hadjar (, ; born 28 September 2004) is a French and Algerian racing driver who competes Formula One drivers from France, under the French flag in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born and raised in Paris to an Algerian family, Hadj ...

finishing outside the top ten in the championship. Both drivers left the team ahead of

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Formula One

It was reported in February 2023 that Hitech registered an interest in joining the Formula 1 at a date to be determined. In June 2023, Hitech announced that it has lodged an entry to join the 2026 season. Following announcements by the FIA on accepted submissions, Hitech was not one of the accepted applications, and speculation is that their application was rejected. There are some who believe that they are being funded secretly by Dmitry Mazepin, who is banned from competing in F1 due to European Union sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The allegation is that Vladimir Kim who has purchased a 25% stake in the Team is the face of the funding with the actual funding coming from Mazepin.

F1 Academy

In December 2024,

announced that Hitech will join the championship in the 2025 season as the sixth team with two full-time competitors and the third seat reserved for the wild card drivers, relieving

from this duty.

Ownership

Hitech was originally founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle as HiTech Racing Ltd. In 2015 Hayle, in partnership with Oliver Oakes, formed the company and its assets into a new company, Hitech Grand Prix Ltd, to compete in the

FIA Formula 3 European Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three (F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

. In 2016, Hitech joined forces with

to complete a full season in the FIA F3 European Championship. Gaining

as a driver, they also gained Russian minerals company Uralkali as a sponsor, and partial ownership by Dmitry Mazepin. Over the next few years, Mazepin increased his holding through

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

-based investment company Bergton Management Ltd to 75%. In March 2022, following the Russian war against Ukraine, the shares held by Bergton Management Ltd were relinquished to Oakes, who took full control of the company. Oakes had formed a new company, Hitech Global Holdings Ltd, on 11 March 2022 to take control of the shares. This company was formed just three days after Mazepin and his son were sanctioned by both the UK Government and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, resulting in questions being asked in the UK Parliament over the effect of sanctions against Russia. In May 2025, Oakes' brother William, a director at Hitech, was arrested near Silverstone Park charged with "transferring criminal property" and being found with "a large amount of cash".

Current series results

FIA Formula 2 Championship

* Season still in progress.

In detail

( key) * Season still in progress.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

In detail

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship / GB3 Championship

Season still in progress.

F4 British Championship

Euro 4 Championship

Formula Winter Series

F1 Academy

Season still in progress.

Former series results

F3 Asian Winter Series

FIA European Formula 3 Championship

^† As Sims was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

British Formula 3 International Series

F3 Asian Championship / Formula Regional Asian Championship

Formula Regional Middle East Championship

Formula 4 UAE Championship

Timeline

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom British auto racing teams 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom British Formula Three teams FIA Formula 3 Championship teams FIA Formula 2 Championship teams FIA Formula 3 European Championship teams Formula 3 Euro Series teams Auto racing teams established in 2002 Formula Regional teams

History

Hitech Racing (2002–2014)

GP2 Series

Hitech GP (2015–present)

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Formula One

F1 Academy

Ownership

Current series results

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In detail

FIA Formula 3 Championship

In detail

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship / GB3 Championship

F4 British Championship

Euro 4 Championship

Formula Winter Series

F1 Academy

Former series results

F3 Asian Winter Series

FIA European Formula 3 Championship

British Formula 3 International Series

F3 Asian Championship / Formula Regional Asian Championship

Formula Regional Middle East Championship

Formula 4 UAE Championship

Timeline

See also

Footnotes

References

External links