The world’s three biggest Formula 1 teams have been following Dennis Hauger (b. 2003) closely for several years. Since his teens he has been beating the world’s fastest on the go-kart track. learn more about the great Norwegian racing driver talent.
Hauger was born in Oslo and raised in Aurskog. His parents bought him a quad bike when he was two, and he started driving cross bikes at the age of four. He began his karting career at the age of five, winning his first race at the age of eight.
The growing interest in the Norwegian is not without reason. The last season, the youngster has shown a very good performance and is well positioned to win the Formula 3 championship.
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Moving into international competition
After finishing 62 out of 70 national races on the podium the Norwegian moved into international competition in 2014. That year, Hauger claimed the ROK International title in the Mini category and followed it up the following year by claiming Mini category titles in the Vega Winter Trophy, the Italian CSAI Karting Championship and the WSK Champions Cup and Super Masters championships. In 2016, Hauger became the youngest ever champion to claim the DKM junior title and repeated this feat the following year to become the youngest DKM champion.
1200 meters of asphalt, black from worn rubber, winds its way across a field by Lake Garda in Italy. It’s the year 2017. The exhaust is low, like a blue haze. On the long sides, some teams have parked their trailers and formed a small village of white tents, where go-karts roll through the streets, engines run, spanners wrench against metal and the smell of race fuel surrounds everything. As a thin and tall 13-year-old from Aurskog, Dennis stood in one of the tents to put on his black riding suit. But first he tested a specially molded fiberglass protector around his chest.
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Traces of gasoline and exhaust
Dennis is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and the reigning FIA Formula 3 champion. He also won the 2019 Italian F4 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. “The goal is Formula 1, otherwise I wouldn’t have driven Formula 3 this year. This is what I am aiming for, so I will try to achieve that goal. It went well this season, so you have to work on it,” says Hauger to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.
Traces of gasoline and exhaust stretch through the life Dennis Hauger. From a house in Aurskog with a 150 square meter garage with underfloor heating and a workshop, he was one year old and dressed with a driving suit from Subaru and brought to see his father drive rally on the weekends. Two years and two months old, Dennis drove himself for the first time. In a diaper and with a pacifier in his mouth, he rode a quad bike in the garden and gave full throttle into a pile of bricks. He still has scars on his chest.
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The way forward
in the 2021 season, Hauger raced with Prema, partnering Olli Caldwell and Ferrari Driver Academy member Arthur LeclercIn.
The way forward next year will be Formula 2. Dennis has Formula 1 as a distant goal, but he can concentrate well on the moment. When asked where the main character himself will be in five years, he replies: “Then hopefully in a Formula 1 car. But I’ll go step by step, then we’ll see.”
The Great Norwegian Racing Driver Talent, written by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top): Photo Red Bull