Jake Hughes

Hughes started his racing career in karting in 2010 at the age of sixteen, finishing eleventh in the Junior Class of the Easykart UK Championship.[2] In 2011, he finished fifth in the Super 1 National Formula KGP Championship.[3] He stayed in the same championship for 2012, improving to fourth in the series standings.[4]

Hughes made his single-seaters début in 2012 at Silverstone in the Formula Renault BARC Championship with Antel Motorsport and contested in the Rockingham round of the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.

For 2013, he decided to move in the newly created BRDC Formula 4 Championship, joining Lanan Racing. He took four wins with another six podiums to clinch the championship title.[5]

Hughes returned in the Formula Renault machinery with Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup switch in 2014.[6] He had only one podium, finishing third at Silverstone on his route to the eighth in the series standings. Also in 2014 he had part-time campaigns in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.

For 2015 he signed with Koiranen GP to contest full-time both in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.[7] He was victorious only in the second race at Spa and had another four podiums, finishing sixth in the championship. While in the Alps championship he was more successful. He won races at Spa, Monza and Misano.

Hughes graduated in the GP3 Series in 2016, joining newcomers DAMS.[8] He earned his first GP3 victory in the sprint race at Hockenheim.[9]

Hughes returned to the GP3 Series for 2018, after a one year absence which he spent in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He raced for ART Grand Prix.[10] He claimed his first and only win of the year in the second race at the Red Bull Ring.[11]

For 2017, Hughes made the switch from the GP3 Series to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, having competed in the final round of the 2016 season. He contested the season with the Hitech GP team.[12] He claimed his first and only win at the second race in Nürburgring and finished the season 5th in the driver's championship.[13]

Hughes continued in the third tier of single-seater racing, as the GP3 Series rebranded to become the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Hughes joined the new HWA Racelab outfit, alongside Keyvan Andres and Bent Viscaal.[14] Hughes claimed his only win of the year in a fortuitous second race at the Red Bull Ring, as the dominant Prema Racing driver's of Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong collided on the final lap. Shwartzman crossed the line first, but was given a penalty for causing a collision, handing the win to Hughes.[15] Hughes had another strong weekend in Hungary, as he claimed a double podium finishing third in both races that weekend.[16] Hughes was a consistent points scorer throughout the year and finished the season 7th in the driver's championship.

Hughes was retained by HWA for the 2020 season. He was joined by Ferrari junior Enzo Fittipaldi and Red Bull Junior driver Jack Doohan.[17] Hughes experienced a poor start to the season, collecting only half a point from the first six races. He was on course for a top-two finish in the sprint race at the second Red Bull Ring round, but collided with Liam Lawson and suffered race-ending damage.[18] He took his first podium of the year in the feature race at the second Silverstone round, followed by his first Formula 3 feature race victory in Barcelona the following week. Hughes claimed his second win of the year at the Monza sprint race. He ended the season 7th in the championship for a second consecutive year, scoring 111.5 of his team's 138.5 points.

On 22 September 2020 it was announced that Jake Hughes would step up to Formula 2, replacing Giuliano Alesi at the BWT HWA Racelab team for the 10th round at the Sochi Autodrom.[19] Hughes finished 12th on his feature race debut, but was eliminated from the sprint race after a first-lap collision with Guilherme Samaia.[20] Hughes was replaced by former FIA Formula 3 competitor Théo Pourchaire for the final two rounds in Bahrain.[21]

^† As Hughes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)