Wikipedia

Oliver Oakes

Oliver "Oli" Oakes (born 11 January 1988) is a British former racing driver, entrepreneur and team principal and director of Hitech GP.[1] In July 2024 he was announced as Alpine F1 Team Principal for the remainder of the 2024 season onwards.[2] He was the 2005 World Karting champion,[3] and was once a part of the Red Bull Junior Team.

Oliver Oakes
Oakes driving in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007.
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1988-01-11) 11 January 1988 (age 36)
Norfolk, England
GP3 Series
Years active2010
TeamsATECH CRS GP
Starts16
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish28th in 2010
Finished last season28th
Previous series
2008–09
2008
2008
2006–07
2006–07
2006
2006
2005		British F3
Formula 3 Euro Series
International Formula Master
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Formula BMW UK
Formula BMW ADAC
FR2000 UK Winter Series

Oakes moved into team management when he set up his first karting team in 2011 before launching junior single-seater racing team Hitech GP in 2015.[4]

Biography

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Early life

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Oakes was born 11 January 1988, the son of Billy Oakes, the founder and owner of the former Formula Renault and British F3 team Eurotek Motorsport. He was educated at King's Ely.[5] He began karting at age 4.

Racing career

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Beginning his racing career in karting, Oakes was twice British Open Champion[6] at the age of 12. His karting career ended after winning the Karting World Championship in 2005 at 17 years of age.[3][7] His performances saw him attract the attention of the Red Bull Young Driver Programme, alongside Formula 1 graduates Sebastian Vettel, Brendon Hartley, Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi.[citation needed]

Moving to car racing in 2006, Oakes debuted in Formula BMW with Carlin Motorsport, where he took pole and the victory in his first race.[7] Further claiming 3 podiums and a string of strong results, he finished the season in 6th overall in the Formula BMW UK Championship.[8] He was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.[9]

In 2007, Oakes joined Motopark for the 2007 Formula Renault Eurocup season in which he finished 12th.[7]

Oakes joined Eurotek Motorsport to compete in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2008, taking pole position at the final round at Donington.[7][10]

He moved to Carlin Motorsport for his 2009 campaign,[11] but left after two rounds.[12] Oakes took up test-driver roles for the rest of 2009 and raced in the GP3 Series in 2010 for Atech CRS, finishing 28th in the championship.[13]

Post-racing career

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Since 2010 Oakes has been involved in various team roles[4] whilst maintaining an ongoing affiliation with Tony Kart.[14]

Team Oakes Racing

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Team Oakes is a karting team and management service founded in 2011. Former drivers include Callum Ilott,[15][16] Marcus Armstrong,[17][18][19] Nikita Mazepin[16] and Clement Novalak.[20][16] Team Oakes have competed in WSK Championship Events, the German DKM Series and the CIK-FIA World and European Championships.[21][15][22]

Hitech GP

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Main article: Hitech Grand Prix

Hitech GP was formed in early 2015 with David Hayle who previously formed Hitech Racing in 2003. Hitech currently competes in the FIA Formula 2,[23] FIA Formula 3[24] and F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA[25] as well as managing the racing operations of W Series[26] and the FIA Motorsport Games.[27]

Alpine F1 Team

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Oakes was announced as the Team Principal of Alpine F1 Team following the departure of Bruno Famin in August 2024. He will lead the team for the rest of the 2024 season and 2025 Formula One World Championship.[28] He achieved his first podium, and Team Enstone's first double podium since 2013, at the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix.

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series Team AKA ? ? ? ? ? 26 15th
2006 Formula BMW UK Carlin Motorsport 18 1 2 ? 4 148 6th
Formula BMW ADAC ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg 2 0 0 0 0 0 25th
Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup Motopark Academy 2 0 0 0 0 26 27th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Cram Competition 6 0 0 0 0 0† NC†
2007 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup Motopark Academy 14 0 0 0 5 191 4th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 14 0 0 1 0 32 12th
2008 British Formula 3 International Series Eurotek Motorsport 10 0 1 0 0 1* 19th*
International Formula Master Euronova Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 41st
Formula 3 Euro Series Carlin Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0† NC†
2009 British Formula 3 International Series Carlin Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 7 18th
2010 GP3 Series ATECH CRS GP 16 0 0 0 0 0 28th

† Oakes was a guest driver and ineligible for points.
* Oakes was an invited driver in rounds 9–11 and thus was only eligible for points in rounds 2 and 8.

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2010 ATECH CRS GP CAT
FEA
14 		CAT
SPR
10 		IST
FEA
12 		IST
SPR
Ret 		VAL
FEA
Ret 		VAL
SPR
19 		SIL
FEA
13 		SIL
SPR
8 		HOC
FEA
13 		HOC
SPR
20† 		HUN
FEA
16 		HUN
SPR
10 		SPA
FEA
17 		SPA
SPR
10 		MNZ
FEA
12 		MNZ
SPR
9 		28th 0

References

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  1. ^ "Oliver Oakes". Hitech GP. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Alpine announce Oliver Oakes as new Team Principal". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Oliver Oakes Karting World Champion Interview". www.karting1.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b Wood, Elliot (2 October 2019). "How Hitech GP became the newest force in Formula 3". Formula Scout. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. ^ Kitchen, The Web. "King's Ely". King's Ely. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  6. ^ Eason, Kevin. "Wheldon graduates at the top of class of 2005". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d "Oliver Oakes | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Formula BMW UK 2006 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  9. ^ Anderson, Ben. "Oakes to miss Rockingham races - F3 - Autosport". Autosport.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Mighty Oakes grows reputation with pole and best finish to date - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com.
  11. ^ "Oli Oakes: 'No excuses' in 2009". Crash. 10 April 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. ^ Anderson, Ben. "Oakes to miss Rockingham races - F3 - Autosport". Autosport.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  13. ^ "GP3: Oakes confirmed at Atech CRS". Crash. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  14. ^ Wood, Elliot (2 October 2019). "How Hitech GP became the newest force in Formula 3". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Deutsche Kart Meisterschaft: Exciting DKM-finale in Genk". www.kart-dm.de. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. ^ a b c "Why does Novalak, a French-Swiss racer, drive under a British Licence?". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Armstrong to call Europe home in 2015". Speedcafe. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  18. ^ Simmons, Marcus (21 November 2018). "Ferrari F1 juniors tipped for Prema seats in new FIA F3 series". Autosport.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  19. ^ Allen, Peter (13 July 2018). "Marcus Armstrong: Ferrari's quick Kiwi taking Europe by storm". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  20. ^ Allen, Peter (17 October 2017). "Karter Clement Novalak to contest 2018 Toyota Racing Series". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  21. ^ "CIK-FIA Karting World Championship - Junior 2018 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  22. ^ "CIK-FIA European OK Junior Championship 2018 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Hitech Grand Prix". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Hitech Grand Prix". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  25. ^ "TEAMS & DRIVERS / Dragon HitechGP - F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA". www.f3asia.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  26. ^ "Hitech". W Series. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  27. ^ "Further details of FIA Motorsport Games revealed". FIA Motorsport Games. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  28. ^ "Alpine announce Oliver Oakes as new Team Principal". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
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