Joshua "Josh" Dufek (born 13 December 2004) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

racing driver who last competed in the

2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship The 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula 3 cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship is the sixteenth season of Formula 3 racing and the seventh season run u ...

with

Hitech HiTech, also referred to as Hitech, is a computer chess, chess machine built at Carnegie Mellon University under the direction of World Correspondence Chess Champion Hans J. Berliner. Members of the team working on HiTech included Berliner, Murra ...

TGR, having previously competed for

AIX Racing AIX Racing is an Emirati-German auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship. It previously competed under a German license in 2024. It started racing in 2024 after acquiring PHM Racin ...

and

Campos Racing Campos Racing (formerly Adrián Campos Motorsport and Campos Grand Prix) is a Spanish motor racing team based in Alzira, Valencia, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos in 1997. The team has been successful in Formula Three, GP2 S ...

. Dufek previously drove for

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing (; VAR) is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. The team competes in FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3, Formula Regional European, and Italian F4. Notable former drivers for the team include nine Formula One drivers ...

in F4 and

FRECA The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is a FIA-certified regional European Formula 3 racing series. On 12 October 2018, it was announced that the Italian autosport regulator Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) and karting pro ...

and for CryptoTower in the

Euroformula Open The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

, achieving a pair of victories.

Career

Lower formulae

2020

Having started

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

at the age of seven, Dufek followed up his karting career with a move into single-seaters in 2020, competing in the

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship () is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promoter of the championship for the first tw ...

with

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, Eurocup-3, Spanish Formula 4 Championship and the newly established F1 Academy in 2023. The team has also participated in ...

. His season would start out slowly compared to his teammates Kas Haverkort and

Mari Boya José María Navalón "Mari" Boya (; born 13 April 2004) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Campos Racing. He previously competed in the Formula Regional European Championship during 2021 Formula Regio ...

, with just one podium and pole position scored in race three in

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

to show for his efforts. Dufek's results would improve afterwards, getting two back-to-back third places in the third round at

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...

, and followed that up by finishing second twice at the following event in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, crossing the finish line less than a second after teammate Haverkort. The Swiss driver scored three more podiums in the latter half of the campaign, finishing the season in fourth position in the standings, tied on points with fellow rookie

Thomas ten Brinke Thomas ten Brinke (born 23 February 2005) is a Dutch former racing driver who last competed in the 2021 Formula Regional Championship with ART Grand Prix. He previously finished third in the Spanish F4 Championship with MP Motorsport. Caree ...

2021

In 2021 Dufek moved to

, partnering

Oliver Bearman Oliver James Bearman (; born 8 May 2005) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Haas F1 Team, Haas. Born in London and raised in Chelmsford, Bearman began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning several national and cont ...

and Nikita Bedrin in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

ADAC Formula 4 ADAC Formula 4 () was a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single S ...

series. His campaign in the former championship began in similar fashion to his 2020 season, having to wait for a podium until the eighth race of the season at

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in S ...

. He scored another podium in Imola, and went on to make a bold call to switch to rain tyres during the final race at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

, which allowed him to charge to second place. His weekend of the season would come in

Mugello The Mugello () is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

: after having taken all three pole-positions of the event in qualifying, Dufek finished second in the first race and came out victorious in race 2, having lost the lead at the start but taking it back after overtakes on

and

Sebastián Montoya Sebastián "Sebas" Montoya Freydell (born 11 April 2005) is a Colombian and American racing driver, who is currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Prema Racing. The son of the former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, he i ...

. The Swiss ended his season in the Italian championship in seventh place after amassing 154 points. F4 Deutschland 2021 Spielberg Nr

In the German championship Dufek would get his first podium in a VAR podium lockout in race 2 at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, finishing second. Dufek then went on to have two further races in which he narrowly missed out on taking victory, losing out in back-to-back races at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

and

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

Luke Browning Luke Browning (born 31 January 2002) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech Pulse-Eight, Hitech Toyota Gazoo Racing, TGR as part of the Williams Driver Academy. A member of the Williams Driver Aca ...

and

Tim Tramnitz Tim Tramnitz (; born 16 November 2004) is a German people, German racing driver who is currently competing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship for MP Motorsport, having competed with the team in 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, 2024. He is ...

respectively. His ADAC F4 season also ended with him sat in seventh, having skipped the fourth round at the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport race track, racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyc ...

Formula Regional

2022

Having taken part in post-season testing with

and

at the end of 2021, Dufek signed for the latter team to compete in the

Formula Regional European Championship The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is a FIA-certified Formula Regional, regional European Formula Three, Formula 3 racing series. On 12 October 2018, it was announced that the Italian autosport regulator Automobile Club ...

, driving alongside Levente Révész and Kas Haverkort. Before the season, the Swiss driver competed in the first three rounds of the Formula Regional Asian series for

Hitech Grand Prix Hitech Grand Prix (formerly Hitech Racing, currently racing as Hitech TGR for sponsorship reasons) is a British motor racing team. It was founded by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle in 2002 and relaunched by Oliver Oakes in 2015. Currently, Hite ...

, amassing two rookie podiums, ending 18th in the standings. The start to his campaign in the European championship would prove trickier, as Dufek scored just two points in the first ten races, far from teammate Haverkort. However, a sudden upturn in form at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

round with strong points finishes, followed by a double podium at the

after the summer break, propelled the Swiss driver into the top 10 in the standings and rookie title contention. Dufek arrived at the season finale at

tenth in the standings, 11 points off rookie leader

Leonardo Fornaroli Leonardo Fornaroli (born 3 December 2004) is an Italian racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Invicta Racing. Fornaroli won the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship in his second year with Trident Motorsport, Trident, and ...

. He put pressure on the Italian with a podium in race one and a front row start in race two, but a late mistake fighting with

Hadrien David Hadrien David (born 26 February 2004) is a French racing driver who currently races in the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship, Formula Regional European Championship part-time with Monolite Racing, having previously competed with R-ace G ...

saw him drop three positions and eventually miss out on the rookie championship by 4 points. This was, however, enough of a points haul for Dufek to leapfrog MP Motorsport's

and secure ninth place in the final overall standings.

2023

At the start of 2023, Dufek raced in the

2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship The 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula Regional cars. I ...

with

PHM Racing PHM Racing is a German auto racing team established by Paul Müller. It mainly competes in junior open-wheel racing series. History Born from the ashes of Mücke Motorsport's single-seater programme, which was disbanded at the end of 2021, PH ...

. He would go on to take his first

Formula Regional Formula Regional (FR) is an FIA-approved moniker for certified regional one-make Formula Three championships with the concept being approved during the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in December 2017. The first series under new regulations w ...

victory at

Kuwait Motor Town Kuwait Motor Town is a motor racing circuit in Kuwait, located south of the capital Kuwait City. The main circuit is the first circuit in Kuwait to hold an FIA Grade One and FIM Grade A licence. The Kuwait Motor Town aims to place Kuwait at th ...

, only to have it stripped away due to a technical irregularity. He finished the season sixth in the standings with two podiums to his name. Dufek remained with

for the

2023 Formula Regional European Championship The 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across Europe. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing ...

. Despite a maiden pole position at the

, Dufek experienced a drop in speed due to what he described as a "recalcitrant engine", and opted to pull out of his contract during the summer break. He sat 9th in the standings at the time. By the end of the season, Dufek had dropped to 13th in the overall standings, having scored 52 points.

Euroformula Open

After leaving Formula Regional midway through 2023, Dufek joined the

with CryptoTower Racing Team starting from the fifth round at the

. He scored a pair of podiums in his first round at the

, before achieving a maiden win in

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. He continued his podium streak in

, making it seven rostrums in eight appearances, allowing him to place seventh in the overall standings.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2023

Dufek was called up by

for the

final round A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship The 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula Three, Formula 3 cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was the fourteenth season of Formula 3 racing and the fif ...

, replacing Hugh Barter. After spinning out of qualifying, he finished 14th in both races, enough to propel him to 29th in the standings, ahead of six other drivers. He then tested for

during the post-season test.

2024

For 2024, Dufek stepped up to

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

full-time, joining PHM AIX Racing for his first full Formula 3 season. It would be a difficult season for Dufek, often fighting towards the rear of the field. However, he had a standout qualifying in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

with sixth, only for him to be disqualified for being below the minimum weight. His sole point came in the season finale in the

feature race, classifying tenth after post-race penalties. Dufek was ranked 28th in the standings, behind teammates

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Tasanapol "Tern" Inthraphuvasak (, born 14 November 2005) is a Thai racing driver, who is currently competing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Campos Racing. He made his car racing debut in the 2021 Formula 4 UAE Championship, and ...

and

Nikita Bedrin Nikita Vyacheslavovich Bedrin (; born 6 January 2006) is a Russian people, Russian racing driver who is racing under an Italian racing license, competing in the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship with Saintéloc Racing. He most recently ...

2025

Dufek continued in Formula 3 for a second season in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, switching to

TGR alongside

Martinius Stenshorne Martinius Kleve Stenshorne (; born 2 February 2006) is a Norwegian people, Norwegian racing driver who is currently competing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, Hitech Toyota Gazoo Racing, TGR, having previously compet ...

and

Gerrard Xie Xie Yonglin ( zh, t=謝詠霖, j=Ze6 Wing6 Lam4, s=谢咏霖, p=Xiè Yǒnglín) (born 24 September 2006), also known as Gerrard Xie, is a Chinese racing driver currently racing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Hitech TGR. He previo ...

. Having failed to score points during the first four rounds, Dufek departed the team following the Monaco round due to budget issues, and was replaced by

Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. Jesse Alejandro Carrasquedo Parada (born 27 April 2007) is a Mexican racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Hitech Pulse-Eight, Hitech Toyota Gazoo Racing, TGR, and in Eurocup-3 for Campos Racing as part of Escudería T ...

Formula One

At the start of 2019 Dufek joined the

Sauber Junior Team The Sauber Academy, formerly known as the Sauber Junior Team, is a driver development programme by Sauber Motorsport to support drivers from karts through the feeder series ladder to promote them to their Formula One team. In November 2018, S ...

along with Dexter Patterson and competed with their karting team in the

CIK-FIA Karting European Championship The FIA Karting European Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Alongside the Karting World Championship, it is one ...

and the

Karting World Championship The FIA Karting World Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Hosted annually since 1964, it is widely regarded as the ...

. He left the academy before the start of his single-seater career in 2020.

Personal life

Dufek was born to a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

father, and a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

mother in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He lives in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record