After an 18th-place finish in his rookie season with the then-named Hitech Pulse-Eight, Martinius Stenshorne is set for a sophomore season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Stenshorne, a member of the McLaren Driver Development Program, will continue with Hitech, now named Hitech TGR, as he fights for the 2025 F3 title.
Familiarity with team an asset
As he enters his second year with the British team, Stenshorne believes that his familiarity with the team will be an asset, despite needing to adjust to the new Dallara F3 2025. While Stenshorne does not think that those, transitioning to new teams, like his new teammates Joshua Dufek and Gerrard Xie, will be at any significant disadvantage, he explained to media, including Pit Debrief, that he thought that “it’s not a bad thing” to be familiar with his team.
“Yeah, I think going into my second year, I think it’s not a bad thing to know the people I’m working with and they know how I like to work and what I like as well. So I think even now with a new car, it’s going to be helpful.”
“I think the others who move teams as well will be fine, but I think it’s not bad to know the people I’m working with for sure.”
Stenshorne to use 2024 learnings to improve competitiveness in 2025
While familiar with the members of the team who operate behind the scenes, Stenshorne will have to adapt to two new teammates with both Luke Browning and Cian Shields stepping up to the FIA Formula 2 championship with Hitech TGR and AIX Racing respectively.
While Stenshorne stopped short of describing himself as the team leader, Stenshorne stated that he hoped to use what he had learned from his “two good teammates”, especially third-place finisher, Luke Browning, to improve the team’s competitiveness in the 2025 F3 championship.
“It was, of course, very good to have two good teammates last year. Of course, [with] Luke finishing quite high in the championship there was a lot I could learn from him.”
“So, yeah, I’m going to try to take what I learned from him last year in all aspects on and off track and try to help the team for this year to do a good job together with [Joshua] and Gerrard.”
“Not so big differences” with new car
Stenshorne has also had to gain comfort with the new Dallara F3 2025 chassis which replaces the 2019 chassis used in 2024. When asked for his thoughts on the new car, the Norwegian driver, stated that its performance during the pre-season testing in Barcelona had been closer than expected. While he acknowledged the differences, especially with the tyres, he said that overall, the differences had not been very significant.
“Yeah, and then it was good to be back in Barcelona to test out the new car. And then it was closer than I think we expected. So, and then it was, in my opinion, not so big differences.”
“Of course, there [are] a few here and there, but overall, I think there [were] not so big differences.”
Stenshorne added that the team at Hitech TGR would continue working on the identified issues, as they finalise their preparations for the upcoming 2025 F3 season, which opens in Melbourne.
“And I felt more the difference was in the tyres. And I think that’s something that we have to keep working on and finding more out about also for the race run, how the day is going to be and this kind of stuff.”
Stenshorne aiming to become Norway’s first F1 champion
Stenshorne plans to continue working hard with Hitech TGR, knowing that his future in motorsport requires him to consistently show his potential behind the wheel. However, while his aim is to become Norway’s first F1 world champion, he plans to focus on his F3 season. Stenshorne explained that the team’s preparations for the 2025 F3 season had been “good so far” and stated that the team’s goal was to finish “high up” in the championship.
“Yeah. I mean, in the end, it’s all about how you do.”
“We’re working hard together with Hitech this year. The preparations have been good so far. We’re going to keep doing more before Melbourne to be fully ready.”
“And then, I mean, we have to see how it goes. But for sure, we’re pushing to finish quite high up and hopefully from then on, it will go well.”
