After a disappointing 2024 Formula 3 rookie season with AIX Racing, where he finished 28th with only a single point, earned after a P10 finish in the series finale at Monza, Joshua Dufek will spend a second season in F3. For the 2025 F3 season, Dufek joins Martinius Stenshorne and rookie Gerrard Xie at Hitech TGR.
Despite the disappointing results from his 2024 season, however, the Austrian-Swiss driver believes that he has the potential to fight for the F3 championship title in 2025. While speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, the Austrian-Swiss driver stated that he believes that Hitech TGR had given him “the right tools” to improve and succeed.
“I think I definitely feel like the potential is there. And I think with high tech now, I feel like I have the right tools with me to improve and to be, you know, further up front where I feel I belong.”
“Very positive” start to Hitech TGR relationship
Dufek was full of praise for his new team which he described as having a “really good mix” of professionalism and familiarity. He stated that the team was made up of “great people” and that they had provided facilities and resources conducive to his continued growth as a racing driver.
“So overall, from the first test on, I was really happy with the team.”
“I think they have a really good mix of both, you know, being really professional, but also kind of having a nice working environment and feeling almost already like a family, which is, I feel quite rare as well.”
“So great people to work with. And then, of course, the facilities they have, they help us drivers so much as well.”
He reiterated, “So yeah, so far, it’s been very positive. And I’m just looking forward to the season with them.”
Pre-season testing provided valuable time with car
Though not a rookie, Dufek has also had to gain familiarity with the car with which he will race in the 2025 F3 championship. While speaking to the media, Dufek said that it had been “interesting” to feel the differences between the new Dallara F3 2025 and the 2019 model used in 2024.
“Yeah, I thought it was really interesting to feel how different the car actually felt. Personally, I didn’t expect to feel so much of a difference.”
He added that the three days of pre-season testing had been beneficial, both to him and his team, as it had allowed them to improve their familiarity and confidence with the new car.
“And yeah, I think those three days overall, for us drivers, but also for the team, I mean, for all teams, I think at the end of the day, yeah, they were really important, really valuable.”
Having identified some noticeable differences with the 2025 car, Dufek believes that the team now needs to work together to overcome any issues and “try to get ahead” of their rivals.
“And yeah, I think there are definitely some noticeable differences and we just have to work as a team and make sure that we move quickly and try to get ahead of all of the others.”
