Hitech GP’s Paul Aron leads the FIA Formula 2 drivers’ championship after finishing on the podium for the fifth time in the five rounds to date. He took P3 and 15 points in today’s Feature Race, which combined with the points from his P7 finish in yesterday’s Sprint Race propelled him to the top of the leader board.
As ever, Monaco lived up to expectation and the thrills and spills were in no short supply. But Paul delivered one clean and committed performance after another, staying out of trouble on a weekend that has seen its fair share of attrition throughout the field.
“It feels good,” Paul commented. “Firstly, I want to thank the Hitech team because we made a big step forward since yesterday and I had a lot of confidence today and I really enjoyed the race. It’s our fifth podium in five rounds – a podium in every round – so it just shows we are doing a good job together.”
The changing complexion at the front of the race meant Paul’s engineers were urging him to keep pushing all the way to the finish. “In the end it was not easy because I was struggling with my tyres already, but it was a really cool race. Two overtakes at Monaco is not normally what you see in a race and I had two proper overtakes.”
Paul’s impressive consistency in the early part of his rookie F2 season has paid dividends by enabling him to gradually take points out of the top of the table. Now leading the championship with 80 points so early in the season, Paul added: “Hitech has proven throughout the years that they are a top tier team and if I look back at my career, I’ve fought for the title in every category I’ve raced in. In that way, it’s not a surprise, but it was a new car and a new team for me this year and I didn’t know what to expect. After Bahrain Round 1 I already started to have some hope and then the podiums kept coming and I’m just very happy to be here.”
On the other side of the garage, Amaury Cordeel was less fortunate on the legendary Monte-Carlo street circuit. His improved pace, which has been so apparent since the Barcelona test, particularly in Imola and again in Monaco ultimately went unrewarded. The weekend ended with retirement on lap 6 of today’s Feature Race due to an issue on the right rear of the car.
Hitech GP now sits second in the teams’ standings, just nine points adrift of the top spot.
Sprint Race Result – Saturday
Paul Aron – 7th – 2 points
Amaury Cordeel – 14th
Feature Race Result – Sunday
Paul Aron – 3rd – 15 points
Amaury Cordeel – DNF
There is a short break now before the action resumes in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona from 21-23 June.
