Zane Maloney won the FIA Formula 2 feature race in Bahrain on Saturday, following up his victory in Friday’s sprint. Behind him were Campos Racing’s Pepe Martí and Hitech GP’s Paul Aron. All three spoke to Feeder Series, alongside selected media at the post-race press conference. 

By Martin Lloyd

Rodin’s Maloney enjoyed a stellar weekend, giving him an early championship lead of 12 points over Martí. Having stormed through from eighth in the sprint race, he started third for the main event. Immediately, Maloney picked off the front row of Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar. No driver was a match for the Bajan driver from that point onwards, and he won by an eventual margin of 4.6 seconds. But Maloney felt that the reason for his success was a new mentality. 

A change of mindset for Maloney

“I didn’t get a win in over a year, so to now have two after two races is amazing. I think that when I have the right mindset, and I go into the sessions attacking, then I drive a lot better, and I’m a better driver.”

Certainly, Maloney struggled at times in his debut F2 season, and he felt that this change in mindset was a key factor in his improved results. He felt that he had a ‘bad year’ in 2023 but that this was now behind him. 

“I think just believing in myself a bit more, I know the team believe in me, Stake F1 Team believe in me, Andretti in Formula E believe in me, so I just need to believe in myself. I’m starting to do that now, and it’s working out. I’ll just keep it that way.”

Nonetheless, Maloney is confident that the story will be different next weekend in Saudi Arabia. Numerous teams and drivers struggled in Bahrain, with Prema Racing and ART Grand Prix notably off the pace compared to their usual standards. Maloney explained that the approach to Jeddah’s high-speed twists and turns is different to Bahrain’s layout. 

“Going into Jeddah, almost forget Bahrain in terms of pace and how to drive a racing car. It’s going to be completely different, and we need to understand what Jeddah takes, which I have a good idea about. Enzo (Fittipaldi, Maloney’s then-teammate) was very fast there last year.”

If Rodin can use previous data to help Maloney and teammate Ritomo Miyata, they could be strong again on the Red Sea coast. 

Meanwhile, Campos showed strong pace throughout the weekend. Isack Hadjar qualified on the front row and could have finished on the podium if he had not been tagged by Gabriel Bortoleto, which caused a race-ending crash with Van Amersfoort’s Fittipaldi. His rookie teammate Martí impressed for Campos in F3 last season and continued his form with a highly impressive double podium on debut. 

Martí’s unexpected speed

The Spaniard was pleasantly surprised by his pace and also felt that the Saudi weekend will show a different picture.

“Next weekend is going to be a very different weekend. I feel like Jeddah, for me is when the season starts (because of pre-season testing), I had that in my mind going into the weekend, but I definitely didn’t expect that pace.”

Rookies were helped in Bahrain by an extra three days of testing, as Martí alluded to. Even so, his performance remained impressive, defeating established F2 fighters, as well as all other rookies. 

Aron: “This is a long championship”

Another rookie finished third in Paul Aron. The Hitech man was third in F3 last season, but was dropped by the Mercedes junior programme in November 2023. He soundly defeated his teammate Amaury Cordeel in both races, finishing fifth in the sprint race before today’s third place.

Afterwards, the Estonian was circumspect about his chances for the rest of the season.  

“This is a championship that’s 14 rounds long. Last year the F3 championship was only nine rounds, so it’s very long. Like the top guys said, Bahrain is always a standout track, we’re going to Jeddah which is a city track and super high-speed, which is the opposite of Bahrain.”

He also felt that Melbourne would be the point at which a pecking order could become clear. 

“I think we’ll have a bit more of an idea of how the season is going to pan out after Melbourne, I think the first three rounds are quite different. After Melbourne, I think we’ll have a good idea of where everyone is, and then we have the two days of in-season testing in Barcelona. 

“If you are struggling, you have that last chance to figure it out, and if not, then you can try to gain even more.”

A common theme throughout the press conferences in Bahrain has been the likelihood of a changed picture in Saudi Arabia and the following races. Indeed, it is difficult to draw conclusions into title contenders after the first race of the season.

For now, it is Maloney and Rodin on top after a supreme opening weekend at Sakhir. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency