Zane Maloney will be making the next step in his career later this year as he joins the Formula E grid.
The Bajan driver will be racing with Lola Yamaha ABT in the 2024/25 season alongside Season Three champion Lucas di Grassi. Maloney becomes the second youngest driver in Formula E history behind McLaren’s Taylor Barnard.
The 20-year-old is competing in his sophomore year in Formula 2 with Rodin Motorsport, currently sitting third in the standings with two wins and seven podiums.
However, due to his new commitments in FE, Maloney will be unable to complete the F2 season, as the final round in Abu Dhabi clashes with the season-opener in Sao Paulo in the all-electric series.
There was another driver who had to curtail his F2 season earlier this year in the form of Franco Colapinto, who was afforded a chance to race in the pinnacle of motorsport.
Zane Maloney is ‘not surprised’ by Franco Colapinto’s performances in F1
The Argentinian was sitting sixth in the F2 standings when he was drafted in to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams for the remainder of the F1 season starting at Monza.
In just three races so far, Colapinto has displayed his pace and his competitiveness with some impressive performances. On his debut at the Italian Grand Prix, he qualified 18th and climbed up to 12th in the race.
Colapinto scored his first F1 points in Baku as he came home eighth, while the 21-year-old narrowly missed out on a points finish last time out in Singapore as he finished 11th.
Maloney has raced against Colapinto for much of his junior career, and speaking with Peter Windsor on his YouTube channel, the Bajan driver explained the similarity between him and the Argentine and it was clear they were showing talent in F2 but had to iron out some faults.
Asked whether he was surprised by Colapinto’s performances in F1, Maloney replied: “No, not at all. I think growing up, from karting up until now, I’ve been against him and I know he’s not always been in the best team in F4, in karting.
“I think he’s always shown his pace though. I mean, you see it in F2, anyone who comes in and even if it’s a one-off weekend, if they perform well, I think it’s clear that they have the talent and they just need to, a little bit rough around the edges. The same as me, the same as anyone else.
“I think there’s so many of us in the world, 20-30 drivers who can jump in any championship and be good.”
Who can win the Formula 2 title now Zane Maloney is out of contention?
With Maloney now officially out of the running for the championship due to his withdrawal from Abu Dhabi, it is now likely to be a two-way battle for the 2024 title.
Paul Aron stands an outside chance in fourth, but he sits 36.5 points behind the table topper Gabriel Bortoleto, who leads Isack Hadjar by just four and a half points with two rounds to go.
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Bortoleto has taken advantage of a poor run of form for Hadjar, as the Frenchman has only scored points in one of the last seven races. Meanwhile, Bortoleto has only failed to score once in the last seven races, grabbing a win and two podiums in that time.
With the rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi still to run and such a slim margin at the top, expect an intense fight for the championship between the two rising talents.