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MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger has had the season of dreams in terms of performance, but the points just aren’t adding up for him.
The 2023 Formula 2 season has had its fair share of brilliance. Theo Pourchaire, the current championship leader, has had an absolutely brilliant display of performance this season, but it’s difficult to deem it the best performance. Dennis Hauger, former Prema driver and current MP Motorsport driver, has had the season of a champion, but not the points haul of one.
In 2021, Dennis had a Michael Schumacher-like F3 season after each of the 21 races on the podium, and claiming the championship. The dominant performance saw him finish 26 points ahead of P2, and double the amount of points of current F1 driver Logan Sargeant. His entrance into Formula 2 was slow, but he achieved his first podium in just 5 races. Race 9 of the year saw Hauger claim his first F2 win, leading to the result of a P10 in the championship throughout the season.
This season, Hauger sits at P6 in the championship, but that is not an indication of his performance.
Bahrain
The opening Sprint Race of the 2023 F2 season saw an incredibly strong performance from Hauger. After qualifying P4, he started from 6th on the grid and made the storm up all the way to the podium positions where he finished in P2.
The Feature Race did not see Dennis have the same celebrations. After a chaotic lap one, Hauger fell all the way down the grid due to an engine problem. He would inevitably park it up on Lap 16, costing him the P4 he was running in.
Saudi Arabia
In terms of difficulty, Jeddah was a pretty easy week for Hauger. A shaky qualifying saw him starting from P15 on the grid, but through pace and a little bit of luck, Hauger was able to achieve a point-scoring occasion in both of his races.
The Sprint Race for Hauger saw him make the climb up to P8 after two safety car periods. Bearman, Pourchaire, and Maloney ahead all DNF’ed which allowed 3 less moves for Hauger to make on his charge to the points.
The Feature Race saw an absolutely stunning drive. Starting from P15, Hauger was able to make the climb all the way up to P5, only 4 tenths off of Iwasa in the DAMS ahead. Victor Martins, the pole sitter, ended his race 12 laps early after a spin, but Hauger made the most of his time in Saudi Arabia
Australia
Melbourne featured both the highs and the lows of Hauger’s season, after he achieved his first win of 2023, and also suffered a DNF in the Feature Race.
The sprint race saw Hauger win from pole after he qualified P10. A brilliant start allowed for Hauger to defend for Jak Crawford. The two drivers would add a gap to the rest of the field, and host a 2-horse race for the chequered flag. A safety car on lap 14 saw the grid bunch up, but nothing changed amongst the front runners, leading Hauger to victory
The Feature Race saw Hauger DNF on lap 30 of 33 while running in the podium places. Victor Martins of the ART Grand Prix team would run into Dennis, which lead to a 10-second time penalty for Martins, but caused Hauger to retire from the race. This is the second time that Hauger was forced to leave a haul of points on the table through no fault of his own, and a large haul at that.
Azerbaijan
Baku featured the first time that, through his own fault, Dennis lose out on much deserved points.
Hauger had a strong qualifying performance, ending in P5 by only 2 tenths of a second. This allowed for Hauger to jump all the way up to the lead for the Sprint Race after an early safety car on Lap 3. Laps 6 to 18 saw Hauger dominant the field, but after Roy Nissany found the wall and brought out another safety car, luck for Hauger changed. The restart was pure chaos after Hauger and Victor Martins crashed out from P1 and P2 on turn 1. This cost Hauger a load of points, but is not to be blamed on anyone else.
The Feature Race saw a different driver. Hauger seemed not to have the pace that he once had just one day ago. His finish in P6 is nothing to celebrate, but was a good way to get his head back in the game, and prepare for the next race at Imola, which was then canceled due to flooding.
A missed P4 due to an engine failure, a missed podium due to contact, and a missed win due to a singular error are the only things that has kept Dennis Hauger from being considered the #1 choice for the runaway champion of the 2023 F2 season. It now becomes a matter of fighting from the back for the championship, and maybe a future F1 seat.