Carlin Racing has announced its lineup for the 2023 Formula season as rookie Zane Maloney joins Enzo Fittipaldi.
2022 Formula 3 vice-champion Zane Maloney will join his fellow Red Bull Junior teammate Enzo Fittipaldi racing for Carlin next season. This will be Fittipaldi’s second full season in the series. They are the 18th and 19th drivers to be announced for the upcoming campaign.
Maloney’s 2022 Season
Maloney made his Formula 3 debut this past March after finishing fourth in the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship. Racing for Trident, the Bajan driver outperformed his teammates Roman Stanek and Jonny Edgar. A second-place finish was his best result in the first half of the season, but Maloney returned from the summer break reenergized and would go on to win three Feature Races in a row (Spa, Zandvoort, Monza). He finished the season in second – five points behind champion Victor Martins.
Maloney would make his Formula 2 debut at the finale in Abu Dhabi for Trident following Calan Williams’ departure. Despite scoring no points, Maloney was also invited to participate in the Formula 2 post-season test for Carlin. At the beginning of the year, Maloney was announced as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team as well as a Formula 1 Red Bull reserve driver for 2023.
Fittipaldi’s 2022 Season
Fittipaldi first made his Formula 2 debut in 2021 when he replaced David Beckmann for Charouz Racing System during the second half of the season. Beckmann had to relieve his seat due to a lack of funds. Fittipaldi was able to claim one podium and finished the season in 17th after scoring 25 points.
In 2022, Fittipaldi was announced as a full-time driver for Charouz and would go on to achieve six podiums, finishing the season in eighth with 126 points. Earlier this month he signed onto the Red Bull Junior Team. Maloney and Fittipaldi join Jak Crawford, Isack Hadjar, Dennis Hauger, and Ayumu Iwasa as Red Bull Junior drivers that will be participating in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship.
DOUBLE ANNOUNCEMENT ✌️@enzofitti and @zane_maloney link up at @CarlinRacing! 🔗#F2 #RoadToF1https://t.co/jpbTNXODCv
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) January 18, 2023
Following the announcement, Maloney stated:
“Joining Carlin in F2 and to do so as part of the Red Bull Junior Team is a fantastic opportunity after my first year of F3 last season, I’m re-joining a team I know extremely well and have won a championship with before in F4. I’ve seen first-hand how strong the team are in F2 and we had a great test together last year in Abu Dhabi. To embark on this journey in Red Bull colours is a dream come true and I’m incredibly excited to get the season underway in Bahrain next month.”
Fittipaldi stated:
“I’m extremely excited to be joining Carlin and as well to be part of the Red Bull family for the 2023 season, it’s an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait for the first race weekend in Bahrain.”
Trevor Carlin (Team Principal at Carlin) added:
“As a Team boss, Enzo and Zane are a dream pairing with both experience and potential. Enzo was a driver who really caught our attention last year and will be looking to build on the strong results he had in his rookie season. Zane was incredibly impressive in his rookie season of F3 and it’s fantastic to welcome him back to Carlin. He certainly needs to focus on building his experience in the first half of the season but I think by the mid-way point we’ll start to see some real flashes of potential.”
2023 Driver Lineup
- Campos Racing: Ralph Boschung & Kush Maini
- Carlin Racing: Zane Maloney & Enzo Fittipaldi
- DAMS Racing: Arthur Leclerc & Ayumu Iwasa
- Hitech Grand Prix: Isack Hadjar & Jak Crawford
- MP Motorsport: Dennis Hauger & TBD
- PHM Racing by Charouz: Roy Nissany and Brad Benavides
- PREMA Powerteam: Oliver Bearman & Frederick Vesti
- Trident Racing: Clement Novalak & Roman Stanek
- Virtuosi Racing: Jack Doohan & Amaury Cordeel
- Vans Amersfoort Racing: Richard Verschoor & Juan Manuel Correa
