The 37-year-old German drove straight to the podium in his first outing in the premier class of powerboat racing. In the sprint race, the 2022 F2 world champion secured third place behind three-time world champion Jonas Andersson and Stefan Aarand. And he did so despite only having five warm-up laps and five push laps available to him in free practice - a strict limit to preserve the material for qualifying and the sprint race.
Challenging start to the race weekend
Hagin's start to the race weekend did not initially go according to plan. In qualifying, the German only managed twelfth place on the grid for the main race and eighth place for the sprint race. "Of course, that didn't make things any easier, as I'd never driven a Formula 1 car before," said Hagin, explaining the difficult conditions of his debut. The sprint race was held in two groups, based on the qualifying results. Despite the supposedly unfavourable starting position, Hagin then pulled off a major coup: from eighth on the grid, he fought his way up to third place in the sprint race and secured a place on the podium - a result that nobody had expected, least of all himself.
Bitter end to the main race
However, Hagin then suffered a major setback in the main race. After just one lap, the German had to retire his boat prematurely. A defective trim pump immediately after the start meant that the boat could no longer accelerate properly. Despite the retirement in the main race, Hagin made a clear statement with his podium finish in the sprint race and proved that he can also compete at the highest level in the premier class of powerboat racing.
Career of the powerboat racer
The Wittlingen-based racing driver began his career at the age of eight in karting before switching to motorboat racing at the age of 17. His competitive career began in the F5 category, in which he competed in the German national championship for two years. He then moved up to F4, where he took part in national, European and world championships. He became F4 World Champion in 2009 and won the European Championship title in 2010. He also secured three German national championships in this class.
From F2 world champion to F1 debutant
Hagin's greatest success to date was winning the UIM F2 World Championship in 2022 with Team Rowe Powerboat and RPM Performance Management. The title was fiercely contested and characterised by controversy. After the final race in Portugal, Hagin, Finn Sami Selio and Norwegian Tobias Munthe-Kaas were initially disqualified due to engine irregularities. However, the decision was cancelled after an independent investigation, as it was found that the engine complied with UIM regulations. The cancellation of the disqualification secured the world championship title for Hagin ahead of the driver from the United Arab Emirates, Mansoor Al Mansoori.
New driver for the China CTIC Team
Hagin's appointment to the China CTIC team for the Grand Prix of Jeddah comes after the team has already had to change its second rider several times this season. With Frenchman Peter Morin as regular driver, the team had already fielded Australian Grant Trask in the season opener in Indonesia and Canadian Kyle Maskall in back-to-back Chinese Grand Prix earlier this month. Regular second driver Brent Dillard is still recovering from back surgery, which has necessitated the frequent changes. The team is currently fifth in the UIM F1H2O World Championship team standings.
E-series of powerboat racing
In addition to his success in powerboat racing, Hagin has also gained experience in the field of electric powerboat racing in recent years. For the past two seasons, he has worked as a performance coach in the E1 series, the world's first all-electric powerboat racing series. He also acted as a reserve driver before being given a competitive seat for the Monaco round of this championship. There he competed alongside his wife Ieva Millere-Hagin, who also races in this series.
