Zane Maloney faced a tough weekend at Circuit Barcelona Catalunya, whilst his Carlin teammate Enzo Fittipaldi thrived in the mixed conditions. The two drivers faced dramatically different ends to both of their races.
A lap deletion in Qualifying left Maloney lining up in P21 for both the Sprint and Feature Race, whilst his teammate qualified in P2.
Whilst speaking to Inside F2, he said “Such a shame about qualifying. Once qualifying is done the weekend, especially in Barcelona, is almost over if it’s good or bad.”
“It’s that type of race if you start at the front you finish at the front, if you start at the back, you finish at the back. There’s not much you can do really.”
During the race, Maloney aided Fittipaldi by letting the Brazilian driver pass. Fighting for P16, he gave him enough space to pass and go on to gain time on the race leader.
“I knew before the race he [Fittipaldi] was starting P2, I’m starting P21 so, I lifted off and let him by. I would expect the same in that scenario. It’s not like if we were fighting for second and third”
“We just need to come together a bit and be on the podium together!”
“This weekend could’ve been a completely different story if it wasn’t for certain scenarios out of our control in qualifying. I’m happy with my pace this weekend and I’m happy with everything I did except for the result.”
Despite battling at the back, Maloney spoke positively about the pace he showed throughout the weekend’s sessions, taking it as a positive from his P14 finish in the Sprint Race and P16 finish in the Feature Race.
“I would say in terms of my actual driving this weekend I think has been probably the best round of the year. How I got on it at the start of the weekend, how I worked with the team.”
Maloney had hoped to carry on after a good weekend in Monaco put him in sixth in the Driver Standings but a good weekend from his close competitors meant he dropped down to ninth with 48 points, only two points from Richard Verschoor who now sits in sixth.
“I got stuck a bit behind Jehan which shows that we did have the pace because if I am able to stay on his gearbox, I know he’s quick so the pace was there.”
Keeping up with the MP Motorsport driver Jehan Daruvala, the young driver from Barbados confirmed that there are no concerns surrounding his pace and is confident that the car is able to perform.
After a three-week break for Formula 2, the drivers will head for a double header for the first two weeks of July at the Red Bull Ring followed by Silverstone before another double header at the end of the month at the Hungaroring then Spa-Francorchamps.
When asked about the races to come, Maloney said:
“I’m ready, I’m ready for it. Going home doing a bit of rally stuff now, get my sliding going and then I’ll be back soon at the tracks I won three races last year so I’m looking forward to it. I know we can come back strong. We’re all motivated”
FIA Formula 2 returns in Spielberg, Austria June 30th to 2nd July.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
