How F2 is 'playing to strengths' of surprise title contender

Estonian Paul Aron has been an unexpected sensation in his rookie Formula 2 season. Although no longer affiliated with the Mercedes junior scheme, having stepped away from the programme following his F2 debut in the 2023 Abu Dhabi finale, the Formula 3 graduate enters the Austrian weekend which marks the midpoint of the campaign at the head of the standings.

The Hitech driver has achieved that feat in a field stacked with talent, with a mixture of experienced drivers and highly-rated fellow rookies including the seemingly Mercedes Formula 1-bound Andrea Kimi Antonelli, despite having yet to stand atop the podium.

But his level of consistency in a fluctuating competitive order has seen Aron finish outside of the points only once – this coming in the Melbourne sprint when he was the innocent victim of a collision between Prema’s Antonelli and Trident driver Richard Verschoor. At the time, he had been running fourth.

The only driver with a three-figure points score, on exactly 100, Aron has notched up a podium on every weekend so far this season, an achievement the 20-year-old alone can boast in 2024.

Asked by Autosport if he had expected this level of performance having finished third in F3 last season and in the same position in the previous two seasons of the Formula Regional European championship, Aron said: “It’s a difficult question to answer because I need to pick my words.

“If I say ‘yes’ then I sound very arrogant but if I say ‘no’ then it sounds like I don’t believe in myself.

“I feel like if you look back in my career, I’ve always been up there – in karting, in my 2018 season, I had a very successful year and I basically won every race and championship I competed in.

“Then, in car racing so far, I haven’t had that breakthrough season where you win everything but I’ve always been fighting up there and I’ve always been fighting for titles and race wins.

Paul Aron, Hitech Pulse-Eight

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“In motorsport, there is a lot that goes into a season and there are a lot of things that need to fall in place to have that winning season. It seems that this year with Hitech and with this new car, we have been getting it right.

“It doesn’t mean that this is the season that we are going to win the championship but we are certainly in a good place and the important thing is to keep going.”

The F2 season is comfortably the longest that Aron has contested with 28 races spread across 14 weekends, a significant increase from the 18 races from nine weekends of F3.

Explaining why the longer format appears to be suiting him better, Aron added: “I have never doubted myself as a rookie because I have always felt that I adapt to new things quickly.

“I knew coming into Formula 2 that this championship would play to my strengths because I’m a driver who approaches a season with a structured, learning approach and kind of a wise approach, which definitely plays off in a long and difficult championship like Formula 2.

“Because if we compare it to Formula 3, that’s such a short championship. After this busy period, they basically have one round left, so there is not really time to get yourself into the championship. You need to be there straightaway and at the beginning, with a new car, that is quite risky.

“So I would say that this Formula 2 season is definitely playing to my strengths. I’ve been able to build a season how I want, the team has done a good job, we have a really great atmosphere and we are just executing things so far quite well.

“To easily answer your question; no, I never doubted that this was possible and I never doubted the team either because, from previous years and previous results, you could always see that they had the potential to be up there.”

Pepe Marti, Campos Racing, 2nd position, Zane Maloney, Rodin Motorsport, 1st position, and Paul Aron, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 3rd position, on the podium

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

While it is not unheard of for a rookie to claim the F2 title, with Oscar Piastri the most recent driver to achieve that feat in 2021, Aron would be the first to achieve this since its 2017 rebranding from GP2 without entering as the reigning GP3/F3 champion.

Piastri had won the F3 crown in 2020, while Charles Leclerc and George Russell also conquered F2 after becoming champion in the prior category the year before.

Aron, who made his Formula E debut for Envision at Berlin earlier this year, has been closely pursued by Campos Racing driver Isack Hadjar in the standings. Nine points separate the pair, while third-placed Zane Maloney (Rodin) is 25 points off the lead.

Faced with the suggestion that the title race was now a two-horse battle, Aron said: “We still have a long way to go. But I agree – with Zane [Maloney], the gap is basically one race win, which is starting to be something.

“In the big picture, it is a bit too early to say still, and I think the real reference point will be after this triple header and the double header that follows straight after.

“When we go into the summer break, we will have a good idea of where everyone is.”