Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney has amassed a 15-point lead in the Formula 2 standings over the first three rounds. He told media in Melbourne that he was satisfied with his start to the season, but he also revealed what he hopes to improve ahead of the season’s European leg.

By Steven Walton

Maloney has led the 2024 Formula 2 Championship since his sensational double victory in the first round in Bahrain. He has 62 points to his name, 15 more than second-placed Paul Aron.

In Melbourne, Maloney told select media, including Feeder Series, that he was satisfied with his start to the season, but added, “We just need to keep making steps forward.”

“I think we have showed the last three rounds that Bahrain wasn’t a fluke. We have had the pace each round,” he said.

While Maloney has been consistently quick, he has not always extracted the maximum. In Saudi Arabia, problems in qualifying left him to start both races outside the top ten, though he recovered to fourth in the sprint race and seventh in the feature race.

In Australia, he fell from fourth to tenth in the sprint race because of an error at turn six, which forced him to run across the gravel.

“It’s not the best start to the year, but it is very good for sure,” Maloney said.

Trying to find the ‘sweet spot’

Maloney said he’s been better in qualifying this year. He qualified third in Bahrain and fifth in Australia. On the same tracks last year, he was 18th and fifth.

“I just need to keep improving that,” he said. “We have always been fast in the race and made good moves so we just need to keep going.”

Maloney said if he wanted any chance of an F1 seat, he had to win races and consistently feature on the podium.

“If I just survive each weekend and [I’m] collecting points and win the championship, that’s not enough to get into Formula 1 nowadays,” he said.

This wasn’t just an assumption, though, as last year’s F2 champion, Théo Pourchaire, was a consistent podium finisher, but he only won one race throughout the year. Despite winning the title, Pourchaire didn’t earn a 2024 F1 drive and thus has headed to Japan to race in Super Formula. How will Maloney avoid a similar fate?

“So, I need to be consistently on the podium and to do that I need to be aggressive and we saw that yesterday I was a little bit too aggressive,” Maloney said, referring to the Australia sprint race mistake that cost him points.

“So it’s finding that sweet spot within myself, which I feel like I’m going to get there soon.”

Rodin boss ‘couldn’t be happier’

Maloney’s strong start to 2024 has propelled his team, Rodin Motorsport, into the lead of the F2 teams’ standings. Rodin Motorsport is sitting on 78 points, 18 more than second-placed Campos Racing.

In Melbourne, Rodin Motorsport team owner David Dicker told Feeder Series: “I couldn’t be happier.”

“We came third last year and I’d like to do better… so I guess we just see how it goes. It’s good so far,” he said.

The teams that beat Rodin Motorsport last season – Prema Racing and ART Grand Prix – have both endured lacklustre starts in 2024. Prema sits eighth in the F2 standings with 26 points while ART is tenth with 21 points.

“I’m really happy with the way we’re going and let’s hope we can just keep it moving forward. Like I said, it’s a very long season, so you’ve got a lot of room to manoeuvre,” Dicker said.

He also said Maloney had a really good chance of winning this year’s F2 championship.

“He’s leading the championship right now, that’s where you want to be, and when you’re in front it’s easier to defend than when you’re behind and you’ve got to, in effect, attack.

“He’s in an excellent position. It’s a long season, and if you drive consistently and – say – score in every round, you’re going to do well.”

Header photo credit: Stake F1 Team