Paul Aron maintains his firm grip on the lead in the FIA Formula 2 drivers’ standings after securing a podium in the Spielberg Sprint – his seventh in as many rounds – and P5 in the Feature. Sunday’s race saw a double points finish after Amaury Cordeel took seventh place, securing a combined 16-point haul and maintaining Hitech’s own one-point margin to the leader in the teams’ standings.
Paul headed into the second fixture of the Barcelona-Austria-Silverstone triple-header with a nine-point lead over Hadjar. Buoyed by seizing the advantage in the drivers’ battle, but still looking to secure the team’s first visit to the top step of the podium this season, his Austrian weekend got off to a strong start with P2 in Free Practice. He was equally in the hunt for pole in Qualifying but suffered a spin that demoted him to P5 for the Feature Race start.
He lined up in P6 for Saturday’s Sprint but was determined to add to his impressive tally of podium finishes and consecutive run of points. He enjoyed a “fun” battle chasing down the lead pack, including an impressive L6 move on Barnard down the inside at Turn 3 before passing Maini at the same corner on L20 for the final podium placing, which extended his lead over Hadjar to 16 points. Amaury finished just outside the points-paying positions in P11.
Paul and Amaury lined up in P5 and P11 respectively for the 40-lap Feature Race and each gained a place before lights out after Hauger stalled on the grid. The team split the strategy, with Paul starting on the Supersoft, enabling him to attack and defend throughout the opening laps before pitting at the end of lap 9. Unfortunately he rejoined the race behind title rival Hadjar and was dealt a further blow when he picked up a 5-second penalty – having already made his mandatory pitstop this would need to be applied at the end of the race.
Eager to avoid bleeding points to Hadjar he staged another valiant comeback, passing Stanek for P8 to ensure he could keep in touch with the battle ahead between teammates Marti and Hadjar, locked in their own tussle for position.
Amaury went long on the Soft tyre before pitting at the end of his 32nd tour to switch to the Supersoft, immediately posting a fastest lap and usurping Barnard to ensure he secured maximum points in another strong weekend performance for him.
Paul and Amaury finished P6 and P8 but each gained a place in the final classification following the application of a 30-second penalty for Marti ahead.
Paul sits 11 points ahead of nearest rival Hadjar and the Hitech GP team has 142 points to the lead team’s 143.
Sprint Race Result – Saturday
Paul Aron – P3 – 7 points
Amaury Cordeel – P18
Feature Race Result – Sunday
Paul Aron – P5 – 10 points
Amaury Cordeel – P7 – 6 points
Up next, the third and final leg of this triple-header takes the Formula 2 grid to Silverstone for Round 8 of the campaign (5-7 July) and Hitech GP’s home event located just metres from the team’s HQ.
