Oliver Oakes

Oliver Oakes
Oakes driving in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007.
Nationality	British
Born	(1988-01-11) 11 January 1988 (age 37) Norfolk, England
GP3 Series
Years active	2010
Teams	ATECH CRS GP
Starts	16
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	28th in 2010
Finished last season	28th
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

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.

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

Early life

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

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

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

Team Oakes Racing

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

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

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

Career summary

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 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(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	DC	Points
2006	Cram Competition	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	IST 1	IST 2	MIS 1	MIS 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	DON 1 Ret	DON 2 Ret	LMS 1 Ret	LMS 2 8	CAT 1 19	CAT 2 8	NC†	0

† As Oakes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

(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
2007	Motopark Academy	ZAN 1 8	ZAN 2 5	OSC 1 Ret	OSC 2 5	ASS 1 3	ASS 2 Ret	ZOL 1 3	ZOL 1 3	NUR 1 3	NUR 2 3	OSC 1 6	OSC 2 4	SPA 1 4	SPA 2 5	HOC 1	HOC 2	4th	191

Complete GP3 Series results

(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

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. "Oliver Oakes Karting World Champion Interview". www.karting1.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
4. 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. "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. "Deutsche Kart Meisterschaft: Exciting DKM-finale in Genk". www.kart-dm.de. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
16. "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.