A career of ups and downs the one of Paul Aron who, after the farewell to Mercedes, now seems to aim for the title in Formula 2
This year Paul Aron decided to make things clear right away. With three podiums in six races in his first season in Formula 2, the next step for the Estonian would be to climb to the highest step on the podium. It does not look like a difficult task for him, after his good start to the season. He is second in the championship standings, 15 points from the leader Zane Maloney. Aron had a brilliant journey in his career with some difficulties and this year, maybe, he could get his payback.
The debut in a single-seater
Aron debuted in a single-seater in the Formula 4 Italian championship in 2019. He started his journey with Prema, which will follow him until Formula 3. In F4, he won four races and got nine podiums. However, it was not enough to win the tile, and he had to settle for third, first among the rookies. The following year, he left Prema to race for Art Grand Prix in Formula Renault. He ended the championship only in eleventh place. In 2021, he came back to Prema to race in one of the most famous series after F3 and F2: Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. He raced in the series for two years and, in both of them, he finished third, still far from the top step.
The number third seems to follow him throughout all of his career. Last year, Aron made his debut in Formula 3 and despite a consistent season, he finished third again. The Estonian won only one race in Austria, and he got three podiums during the season. In 2023, he showed his skills, but he did not manage to make that step forward to fight for the championship with Bortoleto. Aron arrived in Monza as vice champion, but he had to give the place to his ex-teammate Zak O’Sullivan after a disappointing last weekend. A retirement and a sixth place were not enough to keep the second place in the F3 championship.
Leaving Mercedes
In November, Aron took part in the Macau GP, but his fans immediately noticed something different. In his race suit the Mercedes logo was missing. Later on, Paul confirmed his step-up to Formula 2 with Hitech. He also confirmed his departure from the Mercedes junior program after four years. The reasons are still unknown, but there are a lot of speculations.
Maybe Mercedes expected a higher result from him in Formula 3, or they wanted to focus their full attention just on one driver in Formula 2, Kimi Antonelli. He is a member of the Mercedes junior program since 2018 when he was still racing on go-karts. The Italian’s debut in Formula 2 changed a lot of things for Aron, who lost his seat in Prema in F2 and the one in the Mercedes program. To Paul, winning this year in Formula 2 or finishing near the top places in the championship, could be a sweet payback.
The impressive start to the season continues for @PaulAron16 🙌#AusGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/LHOPf8kBK8
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 25, 2024
A new begging for Paul Aron in Formula 2
Until the end, Paul Aron’s debut in F2 was not taken for granted. After Prema and the other top team announced their lineup for 2024, it seemed less and less possible to see the Estonian in the series this year. Luckily for him, things went differently, and in November he announced his step-up to Formula 2 with Hitech. Now, Paul Aron is close to fighting for the title with Zane Maloney. His teammate, Amaury Cordeel, is in his third year in F2, in the sixteenth position. If Aron manages to keep this trend and improve his performance even more, he could be one of the few drivers to win the tile in his season debut.
Other drivers managed to do it, like Oscar Piastri, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc. However, in Formula 2, everything can change in a second, and the gap between him and Hauger in third place is only six points.
