Hitech Pulse-Eight: Hard work paid off after promising opening weekend in Sakhir

4 March 2024

Hitech Pulse-Eight Team Principal Oli Oakes praised his squad after Paul Aron earned a maiden podium in the Formula 2 Championship in Saturday’s Feature Race. The team were also winners in Formula 3 with Luke Browning, in what was a promising beginning to the year.

Reflecting on the opening race weekend of 2024, Oakes says that the team had worked hard between pre-season testing and the race to ensure they enjoyed such a strong start to the season.

“It was a nice start. Both teams had a good weekend after a pretty long winter. We had Macau where we did very well with Luke so to keep that momentum in F3 is important and then obviously in F2, we have the new car and all the challenges there of fine-tuning them.

“We didn't have a particularly strong test either so it's really nice to see that the drivers didn’t panic and bought into what we're doing with the engineers to really just work hard and get on top of that. So, it was a really good start.”

Rookie Aron was very happy after stepping out of the car on Friday night having taken his first points of his F2 career, finishing P5 in the Sprint Race. He heaped praise on the team for the work they undertook between testing and the race weekend which paid off in spades.

Oakes says that the team’s extensive work had been in order to better understand the car between the Sakhir pre-season test and opening race of the year, giving them a stronger baseline to work from going forward.

Oakes says the Hitech Pulse-Eight team recovered well from a difficult pre-season test

“The thing with testing is you only get a certain number of sets of tyres, and everyone wants to go out there and set lap times and I think, in fairness, I would say we were a little bit worried on Qualifying pace, but we felt pretty okay for the race pace.

“That was still slightly the trend this weekend too. We were very good in the race stints, but we missed a little bit in Qualifying. Qualifying in F2 as we know, some get it very right and some unfortunately get it not quite right. So, I think we'll see as the races go on if that's still the case.

"He's just been superb, getting the results, approached the weekend, pushing the team and working with us.

“It definitely feels like we've got lots of things we haven't managed to tick off yet and as many we've sorted, there's still a lot more to do definitely.”

Oakes was very complimentary of the Estonian also, praising his instincts and perseverance since joining the Hitech setup in looking for more and more performance everywhere.

“He's been brilliant. To be honest, I didn't know him before this year. Obviously, we've competed against him in F3, but he's just been superb. And I say that before getting the results, just how he has approached the weekend, how he's been pushing the team and working with us.

Aron has impressed the team since joining and secured two top five finishes in Sakhir

“It's really nice to see because you can't teach that, you're either a driver who gets the team around them is really important or not. I think that’s actually often not appreciated until it happens. That’s hugely valuable, especially with a new car and everyone starting from zero. I dare say, no one knows exactly what's right, so you have to trust each other.

“I thought he was brilliant. He made me laugh at the podium, he was like ‘ahh sorry boss!’, because he ran wide at the last corner on the Safety Car restart, giving away two spots. Then he got the five seconds for speeding in the pits, but I just said to him none of that matters, because you delivered everywhere else.

“From that side, I just think it's great that he put all of that to one side and just got on with it. That's a real credit to him.”

As evidenced across the Sakhir weekend, some teams appeared to hit the ground running with the 2024 F2 car while others struggled to get on top of their new machinery.

The Hitech Team Principal was honest in his assessment of things, indicating that while there are those who have established a solid baseline, it is far too early to read into the competitive order of things heading into Round 2 of a 14-Round campaign.

“I guess you've got to say it went all right for us, being on the podium, but I think if anyone's really honest, nobody comes into a weekend of a brand-new car thinking ‘yeah, we're all gonna be mega.’

Oakes is positive of his team's chances going into Round 2 in Jeddah

“I think from our side, we felt we got some of the basics nailed down. And then it's a question as the weekend goes on, can we improve?

“The thing about Bahrain is it's also a bit of an outlier in we’ve had a test here, the track changes a lot from testing to the race, and I think in some ways, it's nice to go away from here with the result.”

Looking ahead to the coming weekend in Jeddah, Oakes says that the team will take nothing for granted following a positive start to the 2024 season.

Amaury Cordeel has prior experience around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, while Aron will be visiting for the very first time. Hitech are hopeful though of carrying on their momentum to Round 2.

“We’ve just got to trust what we’re doing. I think in some ways, we're lucky Amaury has been there before. Paul's never been there but that doesn't mean anything in all honesty, as we know.

“You've got to keep your feet on the ground. There’s a long road ahead of us and we have Jeddah up next which is completely different than Australia. And then we're back to Europe, which is also different again, so I think it's just a big challenge.

“It's always a start from zero. I'm quite confident because I think leaving here with a result, good confidence between the guys and trust, it's a good way to start the year.”