On Monday, 13 May, PHM Racing announced that their F2 and F3 teams had been rebranded as AIX Racing. The outfit’s former title sponsor, Dubai-based AIX Investment Group, has taken complete control of the team, buying out German owner and namesake Paul Müller, who retains the F4 side of the squad. Feeder Series tells you what you need to know about the takeover.

By Martin Lloyd

The new nomenclature marks the second change in ownership for the team since the end of the 2022 season and its fourth new name in 18 months after having competed in F2 and F3 as Charouz Racing System, PHM Racing by Charouz and PHM AIX Racing.

What is AIX?

AIX is an investment group with offices on the 144th and 146th floors of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The organisation was founded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The president of the board is Fadi Dabbagh.

AIX’s activities in motorsport are under the umbrella of the company’s ‘We Are The Future’ investment project. The F2 and F3 teams are now managed by Morne Reinecke, CEO of We Are The Future.

The group has also backed the junior single-seater careers of F3 driver Charlie Wurz and F4 driver Oscar Wurz. Their father, former F1 driver Alex Wurz, was announced as a strategic advisor for AIX in January.

The We Are The Future initiative has had involvement in football through sponsoring RC Celta Vigo, a football club in Spain’s La Liga, as well as two football academies in the UAE.

What is PHM?

PHM Racing is a team created by German app developer Paul H Müller, whose initials name the team. The Berlin-based entrepreneur created Adjust, a marketing analytics app, in 2012 and now acts as an advisor to the firm after 10 years at the helm. Adjust was acquired by AppLovin for 1 billion USD in 2021.

 Müller first discussed an ambition to own a junior single-seater team in November 2021, and weeks later the PHM team was launched.

Müller was the sole owner of the operation prior to the sale, and  Feeder Series understands that he retains ownership of only the F4 team. On the F2 and F3 side, there are no further operational changes; Roland Rehfeld remains sporting director, while Kenny Kirwan continues as team manager.

From Mücke Motorsport to nonprofit

PHM’s story begins with the team’s acquisition of another famous German motorsport team, Mücke Motorsport. The storied Berlin outfit, founded by Peter Mücke in 1998, competed in a variety of junior single-seater series, including national F4 championships and European F3. Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel won the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC championship, his first title in cars, while racing for Mücke, and the team also counts Lando Norris and Felix Rosenqvist among their former racers who moved on to professional racing drives.

Mücke still competes in regional GT categories but ended its single-seater commitments in 2021 as competition costs mounted.. Müller took over Mücke’s junior single-seater assets and remaining personnel with the intention of running the successor PHM outfit as a non-profit team focused on driver development.

In PHM’s last submitted accounts, ending in December 2021, the company possessed more than €2m in liabilities.

Müller told Feeder Series in January 2022, “From my perspective, I do not need my team to generate a revenue. It’s not relevant to me or my life. The experience I get out of running the teams and seeing the drivers develop is more relevant.”

Per the mission statement on PHM’s website, the team focuses on ‘dedication and skill over financial ability’ and ‘support[s] talented drivers that might not otherwise be able to compete’. Müller also placed a focus on job security for engineers and mechanics.

After a year at the F4 level, PHM expanded to F3 and F2 by taking over the assets of Czech team Charouz Racing System in 2022 and competing under the name PHM Racing by Charouz for the 2023 season. The team retained many of its operational staff through the transition as well as its base outside Prague.

PHM’s track record

Müller’s development strategy through PHM was seen in action for the first time in 2022 in F4 championships in the UAE, Italy and Germany.

The team took second place in the ADAC F4 teams’ championship and third in both Italy and the UAE, with drivers Nikita Bedrin and Taylor Barnard taking nine wins between them in the series. Jonas Ried also entered all three series with PHM, while Valentin Kluss raced in ADAC F4 and Viktoria Blokhina in Italian F4. After a strong opening year, PHM expanded their operations for 2023 to add F2, F3, Formula Regional Middle East and Euro 4 as ADAC F4 ceased to exist.

The team shone in Formula Regional Middle East, with Barnard taking two victories and finishing second overall, Bedrin also scoring two late-season wins and Joshua Dufek taking two podiums. Otherwise, the team’s sophomore year was less successful.

None of PHM’s three F2 drivers – Roy Nissany, AIX-backed Brad Benavides and Joshua Mason – scored points. Sophia Floersch’s seventh-place finish in a wet Spa F3 feature race, which PHM–backed Barnard won while racing for Jenzer, brought the team their only six points in F3. PHM was the only F3 team to skip the independently organised Macau Grand Prix in November.

In F4, James Egozi took two victories in PHM’s only two F4 CEZ (then ACCR F4) races that PHM competed in, with Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi adding a podium; the team took only one other podium in F4 UAE and none in Italian F4.

For 2024, the team is fielding Barnard and Joshua Dürksen, a race winner with Mücke in Italian F4 in 2021 who jumps up from Formula Regional, in its two cars. Bedrin, Dufek and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak occupy the F3 cars, with Bedrin taking the team’s first points of 2024 with eighth in Melbourne.

The now separated Formula Regional and F4 squads have again been more successful. Barnard took five wins this time on route to finishing runner-up again in FRMEC, with both Inthraphuvasak and Brando Badoer taking multiple podiums.

Meanwhile, Bedrin’s three wins and a podium in three F4 UAE rounds nearly equalled the team’s totals across F4 series last year even though he was primarily present to serve as a reference for his rookie teammates. The team is racing in Italian F4 this year, with an F4 CEZ entry upcoming this weekend at Spielberg and a Euro 4 campaign also expected later this year.

While the team have not yet won a championship, Müller’s driver development strategy has appeared to pay dividends. Barnard and Bedrin have remained in the PHM stable since, and Barnard has recently impressed in substitute appearances for McLaren in Formula E, which is now thought to be a possible career destination for him in the long term.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency