Hugo Schwarze was the runner up in the Ginetta Junior Championship last season, beaten to the title by F4 UAE champion-to-be Freddie Slater. But it was only the 17-year-old’s second year in motorsport having started karting on home soil during 2022. The German is continuing his rapid racing ascension in 2024 as he moves into GB3  – a daunting move, although it has been executed successfully in the past.

By George Brabner

Many young drivers begin their motorsport careers before they even hit double-digits, but Schwarze started racing just two years ago. He made his first steps into karting at the German Kerpen track, home venue of F1 legends Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, and went to compete in the Rotax Max category, which coincidentally is what led him to compete in the UK.

He and his father were still “quite new to motorsport,” but when a chance to test a Ginetta Junior G40 car popped up through a more experienced teammate’s father, who “looked around for what he was going to do next,” they jumped at the opportunity.

“My first test, I did Blyton Park with Elite and it was a great test,” Schwarze told Feeder Series. ^“I was on the pace fairly quickly. But then Ed [Ives, team principal] from Elite invited me to another test day with other drivers there as well and it went really well, so we decided to go that step,” he said.

Looking back, Schwarze admitted that it “was a big step after one year of karting” to move straight into the competitive Ginetta Junior Championship, which has seen drivers such as McLaren F1’s Lando Norris progress under its gaze.

But triumph quickly followed. He finished on the podium three times during his debut weekend and went on to take second in the standings with two wins and another ten podiums under his belt, underlining his early graduation from karts as a “success” in a heartbeat.

“It was only my second year in motorsport, and the guys I was competing against, they have a big history in karting, especially Slater. So yeah, racing against them, being able to compete against them was definitely like a moment of, ‘Oh, I can actually compete in this and going forwards I’ve got a good chance.’”

Moving quickly within Elite Motorsport

Schwarze’s first test in the Ginetta G40 took place in October 2022, but by August 2023, only nine months later, he was already stepping into GB3 machinery.

He explained that his first test in the Tatuus MSV-022, which came in the middle of the Ginetta Junior season, was “really just to see how I would perform.” However, “from that point on,” he “knew” that he wanted to continue with Elite – even if it wasn’t set in stone that would signal graduation to GB3, as two of his Ginetta Junior teammates, Finn Harrison and Alisha Palmowski, would opt to stay within Elite’s stable for GB4 drives.

Sticking with Elite has been a key piece of consistency in Schwarze’s otherwise fast-moving career, offering some comfort as he jumps into a new discipline of racing.

“I know the guys very well. Staying with the same team is definitely a big positive side. I know everyone and I feel comfortable,” he said.

“I’ve got great mechanics, engineer, coach, and they’re doing everything to get me to where I want to be, which is at the front. They’re working very hard to give me the car that fits me and that will help me to get to that spot.”

In preparation for his debut GB3 season, Schwarze has already been able to feed off the experience of third-year GB3 driver and championship favorite McKenzy Cresswell as well as series returnee Jarrod Waberski, both of whom will be competing alongside him at Elite throughout 2024.

“I’ve already learned a lot from them,” Schwarze said. “In pre-season testing in Spain, we had a couple days and the amount of knowledge those guys have from last year, or the last two years, is very big. Obviously, that’s very helpful for me, the first-year driver, and them giving me all their experience, I would say. So yeah, it’s great to have them onboard.”

Skipping a step on the ladder

It is a risk to skip F4-level competition, but Schwarze has proven that he is not one to shy away from making bold career moves, and within the UK’s ranks, it is not out of the ordinary.

The cost to run in GB3 for a year is roughly the same as a season in British F4, whilst the high approachability of the F3 regional series’ bespoke Tatuus package makes it an even more attractive offer, especially compared to GB4, which still uses the first generation F4 machine that is known for being difficult to get a handle on.

“Everyone was interested in how I would be doing in the GB3. It was only at the end of the year that we decided to actually do GB3, just looking at all the options. But GB3 is a great way to learn how to drive a high downforce car, so that’s why we did it.”

Not only has Schwarze’s bold move to GB3 been completed before, but it’s been completed successfully. Reigning GB3 champion Voisin took three wins in his debut season as he graduated from Ginetta Juniors, whilst Bennett finished eighth in the 2022 standings as he stepped up from the slightly faster Ginetta G55 category.

“For sure,” Schwarze said reaffirming that Voisin and Bennett’s success in GB3 from Ginetta competition is a confidence booster for his rookie season. “I mean, they’ve done two years, which we’ll see if I do it or not, but I’ll treat this year as a learning year. The competition is very high, all the rookies that have done F4 have done well in F4 as well, and there are drivers in their second or third years. So this is all about the learning and improving,” he explained.

“It’s very difficult because on one side, of course, I am here to win, but on the other side, I see, okay, the guys I’m racing have a year or two of experience, not just in this car but maybe also in an F4 car, so in a single-seater. And that’s why I am just looking to improve myself and at the end of the year be on the pace of the other guys.”

Pre-season encouragement

Schwarze finished inside the top 15 four times in six official test days ahead of the season opener at Oulton Park – results that he is confident are “a good sign” for what’s to come in his rookie GB3 season.

“I keep improving every session, lap by lap. The experience I get through pre-season testing is beneficial of course, it’s essential. Lap by lap, I get better and better, big jumps every session I go out.

“I think as the steps of the other guys start to decrease, mine are still the same, so I am starting to catch up quite quickly, which is very promising.”

There is no doubt that his competition is stiff, not only within his own team but across the rest of the 2024 grid – title hopefuls are plentiful as ten drivers return for a second or third campaign in GB3. However, Schwarze explained that increased competition is “a good help” in the bigger picture of his accelerated development.

“Like last year in Ginetta Juniors, having a good benchmark is essential for me as a driver just to learn and improve. I can have bad competition and win the series and I will learn a lot less than I will in a series that’s very competitive, so I’m very happy that that’s the case in GB3.”

But despite the measured approach, Schwarze is still feeling the pressure of his GB3 debut, perhaps inevitably.

“A driver always puts a lot of pressure on themselves, even if there isn’t a lot of pressure on them from around,” he said. “The team are trying to not put pressure on me, but I, as a driver, put a lot of pressure on myself. I want to do well, of course, but yeah, obviously I am treating this as a big learning experience and just wanting to improve every time I go out on track.”

Header photo credit: Artie C Photo