Paul Aron has starred in the first half of the Formula 2 season, scoring a podium in every round and leading the championship. Before the seventh round in Austria, Aron spoke to Feeder Series alongside selected media at a press conference.

By Martin Lloyd

Aron’s consistent form has propelled him to the top of the standings, where he leads Campos’ Isack Hadjar by nine points after six events. Most recently, the Hitech driver took a pair of top-four results from the Barcelona round despite a trip to the gravel in the feature race.

Despite his early-season successes, Aron has yet to win a race in his debut year of F2. He has tasted victory in Spielberg before on three previous occasions: twice in Formula 4 in 2019 and in the 2023 Formula 3 sprint race. But, he does not want to be over-confident about his chances of repeating that success.

“It’s true, it’s been quite a successful track for me, but I don’t think it has any relevance for this year. Every year is different, every car is different. If you take, for example, Barcelona, I’ve only got one pole position and one win there in my career, but last weekend I got another pole there, and we were really fast.”

Aron’s pace is evident from his fourth-place finish in last weekend’s feature race despite a trip through the gravel at the final corner. Even though he has been quick and is racing at a happy hunting ground, Aron believes that thinking about previous successes could hinder his performance in Spielberg.

“If anything, talking about being successful at a circuit and knowing it can actually put extra pressure on [you] because you think that you’ve always been successful here, so that must mean that you’re going to be successful again.”

While the Estonian has not yet won, he has scored points in 11 of the 12 races in 2024, including nine top-six finishes. This dependability on results has propelled him clear of Hadjar, who has won two feature races but has failed to score on four occasions. Despite this and his previous form there, Aron does not want to assume that he will retain his strong pace in Spielberg.

“I’m just trying to stay open-minded, to do the free practice tomorrow, see where we are, and then try to maximise qualifying. If I go into qualifying hoping that we’re going to fight for pole, and then we are not, then I need to take the best result possible, and that will just put extra pressure on.”

Aron is thinking about the championship, knowing that he must continue to consistently score points, even if a win is not possible. As the series heads to the Styrian Hills, he leads Hadjar and Zane Maloney in the standings. Barcelona feature-race winner Jak Crawford is fourth, followed by MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency