Dennis Hauger (20) will avenge Saturday’s attack on the streets of Baku. It ended with 6th place in the main Formula 2 race – and thus a disappointing weekend in Azerbaijan.

• Saturday lay down Dennis Hauger way to win a sprint race when he hit a wall on the 18th of 21 laps.
• The hope is that Hauger will emulate what happened in 2022: A major race victory in Baku.
• The Norwegian never came close to winning and finishing seventh. But a counter put him in sixth.
• 17 year old Oliver Bearman was the name of the weekend with wins in both races. In a week’s time, he too will be old enough to pick up tickets in Norway.

– IAM not satisfied. I struggled to get the tire temperature up, Hauger told Viaplay.

– It was the same on Saturday, and it ended with both of us on the team ending up against the wall. It’s hard to end a race like that. That was of course my fault, continued Dennis Hauger – and added that the safety car was moving slowly.

From the fifth starting slot, Hauger had an excellent opening and was in 6th place. There he was safe for many laps and made a good early pit stop.

He then stayed right behind Kush Maini and pole for several laps, but Hauger struggled to get into position to overtake.

Viaplay commenters Atle Gulbrandsen and Henning Isdal wondered along the way:

– Was something wrong with Dennis’ car after Saturday’s crash?

Hauger turned it down after the race.

– There’s nothing technically wrong. We know that the team has struggled at this track, but still hope to fight for podium places. We know we have pace on most of the other tracks.

Dennis Hauger has won one race in 2023 – the sprint race in Australia. This is his second season in Formula 2, and the Norwegian will be driving in 2023 for MP Motorsport – having done excellent work with the Prema team in 2022. The same Prema achieved a double win in the sprint race on Saturday and a 5th place victory in the main race on Sunday. Junior Ferrari Oliver Bearman won both races.

– Very impressive by Bearman, said Viaplay commentator Henning Isdal.

The positive for Hauger on Sunday is that 6th actually means he’s a bit ahead in WC summary. That’s six points.

Japan’s Ayumu Iwasa came to Azerbaijan as the leader in the Formula 2 championship, but endured a poor weekend in which he did not score a single point in the World Cup. Iwasa, like Hauger, is part of the Red Bull academy.