Hughes: F3 "opens up more doors" than GP3

In 2016, Hughes entered GP3 with DAMS with three years of single-seater experience in F4 and Formula Renault 2.0 under his belt, and scored two wins on his way to eighth place in the standings.

Hughes also ventured into F3 at the end of the season with Carlin, and impressed by making it to the podium in the final race of the European series at Hockenheim and then taking sixth in the Macau Grand Prix.

Instead of returning to GP3 this year, the 22-year-old ended up making a full-time switch to European F3, which kicked off last weekend at Silverstone, driving for Hitech GP.

Like his teammates, Hughes had a mixed weekend, finishing only 13th in both the first and third races, but claiming a third place in Race 2, which puts him sixth in the standings.

Hughes argued his switch to F3 will lead to more career opportunities in the future rather than staying in GP3 for a second season would have afforded.

"I think it's better for my career in the long term," Hughes told Motorsport.com. "It opens up more doors should I need them.

"Also if I was to win the championship, for me to win Formula 3 would help more than to win GP3.

"I think Formula 3 opens more doors outside of F1 in championships like DTM or the World Endurance Championship, but they are just sort of external things in my mind at the moment."

While he is optimistic about F3 giving him more options, Hughes remains focused on his primary goal of reaching F1, which he hopes to move a step closer to through a strong campaign with Hitech this year.

"I'm a realistic guy," he continued. "I'm blessed enough to be able to do this, but I don't have an unlimited supply of money. So I know I have to keep winning to be able to achieve my dream and that still would be to try to go to F1.

"Obviously, I realise I need to win this series to be able to do that, but at the same time I don't put any extra pressure on myself because I know what I can do in a car."