Dennis Hauger is the current INDYNXT leader driving for Andretti Global and is a Formula 3 and Italian F4 Champion. Dennis was victorious on his debut in St Petersburg claiming pole position and the race win in a diminant performance. He aims to fight for the INDYNXT Championship in his rookie season with Andretti Global and progress to INDYCAR. Dennis Hauger joined us for this exclusive interview.
Who Is Dennis Hauger?
Early Life and Karting
Dennis 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. After finishing 62 out of 70 national races on the podium the Norwegian moved into international competition in 2014. That year Dennis 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 2017, Dennis 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, until Harry Thompson claimed the title in 2018.
Lower Formulas
In October 2017, Dennis Hauger and fellow Red Bull junior Jack Doohan were signed by the TRS Arden Junior Team to contest the 2018 F4 British Championship. Claiming four victories, Hauger ended the season fourth in the overall standings, but missed out on the Junior Championship to Doohan. The following year, Hauger remained at Formula 4 level, but switched to Van Amersfoort Racing to contest the ADAC and Italian F4 championships. In the ADAC championship, Dennis Hauger claimed six victories, including one at the Formula One support race at the Hockenheimring, and finished as championship runner-up to Théo Pourchaire by only seven points. Over in the Italian championship, Hauger scored twelve victories, including a weekend grand slam in the season finale at Monza, and sealed the title with a round to spare, being over 130 points ahead of fellow F1 junior drivers Gianluca Petecof of Ferrari and Paul Aron of Mercedes. His performances also helped Van Amersfoort Racing to win the team championship.
Champion
In October 2019, Dennis Hauger partook in the second and third days of post-season testing in Valencia with Hitech Grand Prix. In January 2020, Red Bull confirmed Hauger would race with the British outfit in the upcoming season together with fellow Red Bull junior Liam Lawson and Renault junior Max Fewtrell. Hauger’s first FIA Formula 3 points came at the Hungaroring, where he finished eighth in the first race. This put him on reverse-grid pole position for the second race. He led much of the race but dropped back when the track began to dry, finishing third to claim his maiden FIA Formula 3 podium finish. Despite this result, Hauger would fail to score points at any of the remaining races, eventually finishing 17th in the championship with 14 points.In December, Prema confirmed Hauger would race with them in the 2021 season, partnering Olli Caldwell and Ferrari Driver Academy member Arthur Leclerc. He scored his first pole position in the category at the first weekend in Barcelona, beating former British F4 rival Jack Doohan. Hauger fought for the lead of Race 2 with Matteo Nannini, however the two collided, breaking Hauger’s front wing and dropping him to the back. He led the entirety of Race 3 to claim his first FIA Formula 3 race victory, and ended the first round leading the championship by two points over teammate Caldwell. Hauger took consecutive second-place finishes at the Circuit Paul Ricard before taking pole position at the Red Bull Ring and finishing all three races on the podium, including a victory in Race 1 after starting 12th. After the third round, his championship lead had extended to a margin of 41 points, and Hauger extended that gap to 63 points after winning a wet-weather race at the Hungaroring. Following a round at Spa-Francorchamps in which the Norwegian only scored six points however, his title rival Jack Doohan was able to bridge the gap between the two going into the penultimate round of the season. Hauger lost a chance at a podium finish three laps from the end of race two at Zandvoort due to a collision with Ido Cohen, but he was able to bounce back in the final race, extending his gap once again with his fourth win of the year. In the first race of the final round at the Sochi Autodrom, the Norwegian came up from fourth on the grid to take second, thus becoming the 2021 Formula 3 Champion with two races to spare.
Road to F1
Having tested with the team at the end of 2021, Dennis Hauger announced on 14 January that he would be partnering Jehan Daruvala at Prema Racing in Formula 2.
In Jeddah’s Sprint Race, Hauger started on reverse grid pole before a Safety Car communication confusion saw him served a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. He finished in 16th place. For the Feature Race, he scored his first points of the season after finishing sixth.
Hauger’s Imola weekend was bittersweet; he scored his maiden Formula 2 podium after finishing 3rd in the Sprint Race, but was involved in an early collision with Jack Doohan that saw his Feature Race over after 3 turns.
He bounced back for a strong showing in Monaco. He qualified 9th after several grid penalties being applied for other drivers. He started second on reverse grid for the Sprint Race and led from start to finish to score his maiden F2 victory.
He finished fourth in the Sprint and Feature Races respectively, and ended the 2022 season in 10th place overall.
Hauger moved to MP Motorsport for the 2023 Formula 2 Championship, still having Daruvala as his teammate. Qualifying fourth for the opening Bahrain round, he made an electric charge in the sprint race, mastering tyre wear and taking second place.
He had a better feature race, securing fifth. In Melbourne, Hauger qualified tenth due to a red flag. However, he claimed victory during the sprint race from reverse pole under overcast conditions. The Norwegian was set for another podium finish on Sunday, but was punted from behind by Victor Martins during a late safety car restart.
Hauger ended the year eighth in the drivers’ standings with 113 points, two wins and two podiums. Hauger remaind in Formula 2 for a third successive season in 2024, continuing his relationship with MP Motorsport alongside Williams Driver Academy member Franco Colapinto.
Ahead of the Qatar round, Hauger opted to leave Formula 2 to focus on his Indy NXT preparation for 2025, and was replaced by Richard Verschoor.
RedBull Junior
In September 2017, Dennis Hauger was named as one of four new signings to the Red Bull Junior Team. He was announced as one of four reserve drivers for the Red Bull Racing Formula One team in 2023. In October 2023, Hauger announced that he would split with Red Bull following the end of 2023 after six years with the team. Speaking about his departure, Hauger revealed that he would not be retained as early as July and accepted “the brutal nature of such decisions”.
The Move To INDY
In 2025, Dennis Hauger switched to racing in America in the Indy NXT with Andretti Global, after spending three years in Formula 2. Speaking about his move to the States, Hauger revealed that he had offers to stay in F2 but it “didn’t really make sense to do another year”. Hauger had a dominant start to his campaign in St. Petersburg where he took pole in his maiden race, before controlling the race as he secured a first lights-to-flag victory.
