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Paul Aron of Hitech Pulse-Eight spoke to FormulaNerds about his performance in FIA F2, which sees him lead the championship without having taken victory.
Paul Aron, the current F2 Championship leader. (Credit: X @Formula2)The 2024 FIA Formula 2 season is at its halfway point. This weekend is the seventh round of the year in Spielberg at the Red Bull Ring.
So far, F2 has seen 10 different winners, with Zane Maloney and Isack Hadjar being the only repeat drivers on the top step of the podium. Maloney was leading the championship initially but has handed that role over to Hitech Pulse-Eight’s driver, Paul Aron.
Currently, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Aron leads Hadjar by nine points. The Estonian driver has completed six rounds of the season, consecutively scoring points. He has also taken a podium in at least one of the races of every race weekend so far.
However, he has yet to take a victory.
F2 is more than just ‘being on top of the driving’
In a Virtual Media Roundtable ahead of Austria, FormulaNerds asked Aron what he needed to do to ensure he achieved a race weekend this season. Aron admitted:
“There’s always stuff to improve. It’s still a new car and we’re only halfway through the season, so we’ve only done six rounds with this car and bear in mind, I’m still a rookie. This is my seventh round basically in the car.
“I’m always learning and getting more comfortable with the car and I think also the team is understanding the car better. We are constantly making steps forward and I think Barcelona was a clear sign of that. We were first in practice, on pole in qualifying and generally we had really good pace.
“So the race win, I think F2 is a lot more about executing many things to win a race than being on top of the driving or having a quick car.”
On a roll ?@PaulAron16 continued his podium streak in Barcelona ?#F2 #RoadToF1 pic.twitter.com/IPvzuqs0Jm
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 26, 2024
Aron continued, reflecting on last weekend in Barcelona. Around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Aron took his maiden pole position, but couldn’t turn it into a victory. He did, however, finish P3 in the Feature Race.
Touching on Barcelona, Aron told FormulaNerds:
“In Barcelona, we had a quick car and we had a good start, but I think we came to box one lap too late and with that we lost the race lead and then I made a mistake on my side, which cost us a podium.
“There’s a lot more that goes into winning a race and I don’t think there’s a point to focus on it too much. What we’ve done so far this year is put ourselves to the front and then see how the race plays for there.
“That will be the goal this weekend and if we get the first win that’ll be great but I don’t think there’s any point to force it.”
Whilst Aron leads Hadjar in the Drivers’ Championship, Campos Racing are leading the Team Standings by one point to Hitech Pulse-Eight. F2 Qualifying in Austria is tomorrow at 13:55 UK time.
Headline Image: GettyImages