How will Hitech approach F2?

The British based team have been announced as the Championship’s 11th team

To understand the ethos of Hitech Grand Prix, and how they are going to tackle entering Formula 2, you only need to look as far as the construction of their race crew.

For most sides entering the Championship for the first time, the obvious place to start would be with proven quality - people with experience of working in the category. However, for Team Owner Oliver Oakes, it was important to look at home: who could they promote? Who would be able to make the step up?

The result is a team that is made up of around 80% of staff from within Hitech Racing, with a sprinkling of proven talent brought in from elsewhere, which will ensure that the character and the principles which are so important to the company remain in place.

This will also make the integration of newer members smoother: the team spirit that they have fostered over the years since their inception will remain, as will their ability to find that little bit extra when it’s required. The bonds, the camaraderie and the culture of hard work is already instilled in them, and when they begin the season at Bahrain in March – they will need that in spades.

“I think that the biggest thing that we have put in place is a solid group of guys,” Oakes asserted. “Obviously, we know the number one thing is getting the cars and the equipment (ready), but I think that the main priority for us was to ensure we had good people and I think thankfully, we have been very lucky with that.”

Formed in 2015, Hitech are just four years old, and as a racing outfit, they remain a work in progress - despite this, considerable success has already been achieved. In the now defunct European F3 Championship, they never finished lower than fourth, while they were named as Teams’ Vice-Champion in 2016. They have won the F3 Asia Championship twice, as well as winning the F3 Asia Winter Series. Entering the newly formed F3 Championship last season, they finished runners up to PREMA and achieved four wins overall. It’s been a pretty lofty rise.

That’s why they are so confident in their own workforce, because they have delivered time and time again, even when the odds have been stacked against them: experience has never been an obstacle.

Oakes explained: “I think that there is this inclination a bit to almost bring in some guys who have done F2 before, because I think that that is the norm. I think that what is slightly different for Hitech really is that we are quite a young organisation. We have always had this ethos to recruit from within.

“Of course, there is a catch 22 that you do need one or two guys who know the car, but you also need a core group who understand how you operate, how you work, and why you do stuff a certain way. It has become a kind of a hybrid situation, a mix of one or two guys who have done F2 or GP2 in the past, and primarily promoting from within.

“I think that one of the key things for us really will be having people who know what everyone expects, because there are four/five weeks until we leave for Bahrain and the more people we have in the group who have worked together and who know each other, the stronger we will be and the stronger the cohesion will be. The idea is that we do want to promote internal staff and carry through what we have been doing well until now.”

The team’s wish to enter into F2 has been in the pipeline for a little while, although initially it looked as if it wouldn’t be possible until 2021 at the earliest. However, with the introduction of 18-inch rims in 2020, they knew that had they been given an entry in 2021, they would have been a year behind the rest of the grid in the learning process of the new tyres. This prompted discussions within Hitech to push on with a bid to enter the Championship early.

The official confirmation, with less than two months until the first tests in March at Bahrain, has left Oakes with a well-planned, but extensive list of what now needs to be put in place.

“There is a list of maybe 100 things to do,” he explained. “But, I think that as long as we get at least half of them done, we should be ready. Obviously, we have got to build two cars and we need all of the equipment for pit stops. Then, there are the new rims and tyres for 2020 – there is a lot of things that need to be done.”

The British outfit are under no illusions as to the size of the challenge they are facing, and as one of junior formula’s younger teams, that challenge is only increased. There’s a bullishness to the team, and while they don’t expect to come in and take the Championship by storm, they know they can ruffle a few feathers in 2020.

“For us to join F2 is a mixture of excitement, pride and also knowing that it is going to be quite a bit of work and a big challenge. I think that the main thing is going against all of those teams who have been there for a long time and showing that Hitech can go toe-to-toe with them and that is probably the biggest thing that dawns on you.

“We will be going into F2 and going up against some pretty established teams, who've been going for almost 20/30 years, so I think our biggest expectation really is to arrive there with the Hitech ethos. That is a well-organised team, doing the basics right.

“We always turn up at a track trying to win, and knowing we have a chance of victory. However, I am realistic - it would be pretty arrogant to come in and say we are going to be there immediately. We know how strong F2 is and we know how strong the ten teams are.”

It is also important to appreciate the part that a season in F3 will play in any success. They may be separate Championships, but they’re indelibly linked, with many of the same principles and ways of working. Much of what it takes to succeed in F3 can be translated into F2 to similar effect – just on a greater scale. The team will also have seen first-hand how F2 works, with the two categories both working from the F1 support paddock, racing on the same weekends, at the same venues.

Oakes added: “Going into F3 last year, with the merger between GP3 and European F3, there were a lot of things which, as much as you try to do them right, you always improve upon over the winter, or don't get round to, so I definitely see us improving through to 2021. I think we can hit the ground running though. We are all very motivated to go to Bahrain and try to do that.”

The final piece of the jigsaw, and the most anticipated decision that they make will be their driver line-up. Oakes joked that he will now need “to go to the drawing board and start working on that.” On a more serious note, he confirmed: “I think that we will probably look to announce our drivers in the first week of February. I think that the sooner we do it, the better, because we need to make seats and start preparing for the first test in Bahrain.

“We need guys who can help us get to grips with the F2 car and the format. Obviously we have new tyres this year, but I think that a lot of the base car is quite similar, so having some experience in that line-up will be crucial.”