British racer Jake Hughes will complete the Hitech GP line-up for the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season.
The twenty-two-year-old moves across from the GP3 Series in which he took two race wins in 2016 for DAMS, and after experiencing Formula 3 machinery in the season finale at the Hockenheimring and taking a podium finish for Carlin, Hughes is looking to be a championship contender.
One of the issues Hughes encountered during his debut event in Germany in October was his starts, but he is hoping that he will be able to learn throughout the off-season to be ready for the first round of the year at Silverstone next April.
“I can’t wait for next season,” said Hughes, who joins Ralf Aron and Nikita Mazepin in the team. “I’m extremely happy to be racing with Hitech GP in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2017, I’ve loved every minute in the car during testing and get on so well with all of the guys in the team, we all work really well together. I have always rated F3 highly – clearly, you get a lot of track time and also the opportunity to put yourself in front of a lot of influential people.
“For me, even though it’ll be my first full season in FIA F3, and you never stop learning, I have a good feel for the car and how competitive we could be. I will be up against several very strong second year drivers and championship-winning teams, but will do my utmost to be a contender.”
Hughes is the third Brit to be confirmed for 2017, with Callum Ilott having made the switch to Prema Powerteam from Van Amersfoort Racing, while double Formula Renault 2.0 champion Lando Norris moves up to the category with Carlin.
