Road to 100: Hauger’s moment finally arrives as Trident deny PREMA

With Round 5’s Feature Race in Barcelona marking the 100th race in FIA Formula 3 history, we are looking back to how we got here, and this time it’s 2021 in review.It was second time’s the charm for Dennis Hauger, as he claimed the Drivers’ Championship crown ahead of Trident’s Jack Doohan. The Norwegian staked his claim with Race 3 victory in Round 1, going on to secure a further three race wins and five podium finishes.Also, for the first, and so far, only time in F3 history, PREMA Racing were beaten to the Teams’ title by compatriots Trident. A close contest between the two teams saw the latter win their first Formula 3 Championship by just four points.KICKING OFF THE SEASONHaving taken Pole for Round 1 in Barcelona, Hauger’s weekend took a literal hit in Race 2 following a battle for the lead with HWA Racelab’s Matteo Nannini that ended in contact. He then redeemed himself in Race 3, earning his maiden victory in the Championship. Hauger streaked clear of the rest, with Doohan following home in second and Nannini third. The Norwegian headed into Round 2 just two points clear of closest challenger, PREMA teammate Olli Caldwell.ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti took pole in Paul Ricard, with Hauger second on the grid. That became the theme of the weekend as he added two more podiums to his record, with P2 in Races 2 and 3 on French soil. Hauger trailed PREMA teammate Arthur Leclerc home in Race 2, as the Monégasque earned his first win in F3. Doohan struck back against his title rival in third race of the weekend, winning out in a closely fought wheel-to-wheel battle to earn his first victory of the year. Despite falling short of a win, Hauger was able to extend his Championship advantage over new closest threat, Victor Martins, to six points.Novalak ended up third in the Drivers' Standings to help Trident to the Teams' titleMIDDLE PHASE OF THE YEARAfter his promising start to 2021, Hauger delivered a hugely impressive weekend in Spielberg as he made it onto the podium in all three races, including a victory in Race 1, where he left the field trailing in his wake. After lining up 12th on the grid, he took a commanding win, crossing the line five seconds ahead of teammate Caldwell in a breathless showing.Race 2 brought P3 in another climb from 12th while Race 3 completed his appearances in every podium position in Austria, though he lost out in a fight for the win against Vesti having started from Pole. The results meant Hauger had finished on the rostrum in six of the nine races to that point in 2021.Budapest came next along with another Race 3 win for the Norwegian. Losing out on Pole to teammate Leclerc by just 0.089s, he climbed back through the order to fifth twice over in Races 1 and 2, earning him more valuable points. READ MORE: Road to 100: Piastri wins a nail-biter as PREMA make it two in a rowHe battled by his PREMA teammate in the spray in what was a wet Race 3 to earn his third race victory of the campaign, extending his Championship advantage to 63 points over Doohan in the process, with the Australian having moved up to P2 in the Standings.Round 5 was a reversal of fortunes however, as it marked the only weekend in which Hauger failed to appear on the podium in any of the three races. Doohan on the other hand was able to slice into the Norwegian’s points advantage, with victories in Races 2 and 3 along with Pole Position an impressive statement performance with the Championship leader so far ahead.The Trident driver moved to within 25 points of Hauger, who saw his buffer more than halved after finishing 14th, ninth and eighth in Races 1, 2 and 3 respectively.Doohan ended the 2021 season on a high note with victory in the final race of the yearFINAL TWISTS TO EVENTUAL CHAMPIONThe penultimate race weekend in Zandvoort was an up and down affair, with Doohan taking a point off Hauger in Race 1 as neither could make the podium having started from ninth and 12th places respectively. Race 2 brought drama, as Hauger tumbled down the order after sustaining a puncture. Fortunately for the PREMA driver, Doohan couldn’t capitalise after a trip through the gravel on the final lap left the Australian out of the points positions also. Martins earned his maiden victory in F3 after all the drama behind him for MP Motorsport.READ MORE: Road to 100: Shwartzman and PREMA become F3’s first ChampionsRace 3 was normal business resumed, as for the first time since Budapest, Hauger was back on the podium. Putting the setback from the previous day behind him, the Norwegian earned his fourth victory of the 2021 campaign to stamp his authority on the title race and put himself within touching distance of the crown. Doohan trailed him across the line down in fourth leaving Hauger 43 points to the good in the title race, as Trident’s Clément Novalak moved himself up to third.Hauger earned four race wins across the campaign to end up ChampionHeading to Round 7 and the final race weekend of the F3 season, Doohan faced an alm