Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Paul Aron paid credit to Hitech GP for the work behind his first Formula 2 pole position at Barcelona.
The rookie leads the championship after a consistent campaign so far, but is yet to win and had not qualified inside the top three before now. At the previous round in Monaco he said he hoped to “make a small step forward in qualifying”, which was realised in Friday’s ultra-close session in Spain where he beat Jak Crawford to pole by 0.002 seconds.
“I must say a huge thank you to the team, to Hitech, because I think the results have shown but no one has seen the work we have done inside the team,” he said. “Even during this two-week break that the drivers had, I know the team was pushing flat-out.
“As a rookie, I’m still getting used to the car,” he added. “So it was normal that in the beginning, we were not going to be amazing in qualifying, because I think there was a lot for me to improve. Also the team was learning how to build the car more around me and then, round after round, we’ve been making steps forward.”
While teams had in-season testing to hone set-ups around Barcelona, qualifying there posed a new challenge of strong winds.
“It was a tailwind on most high-speed sections of the track, which is always a tricky thing to manage, and on top of that, it was very gusty,” Aron said. “Lap to lap, the wind direction and the strength could change quite a bit, so it was hard to predict going into the corners. I think it’s also a job to suit the car best to the conditions. And Hitech certainly did that. I was very comfortable even with the strong wind.
“The car’s been in the window the whole day, and the guys back at Hitech have been on it, and my job’s to deliver when the car is there and I’m happy that today we did.”
As he aims for a maiden win, Aron expects two “interesting races” in Spain.
“It will be our first time on this track this year with this car running in these hot conditions. So again the tyres will behave differently. I’m sure every team has an idea what to do, but in the end, the sprint race will be the first time they actually get any confirmation that what they planned works or doesn’t work.
“In the sprint, I think there’s possibilities to move forward and score some good points. That’s what we’ve done the whole year. Then in the feature race, we’ll have to go step-by-step.”
Aron reckons if on lap one “I enter turn one third it doesn’t mean that I’ve lost the race” as “there’s still a lot to play for with the strategy” and “my podiums have come starting outside of the [top three]”.
“I like that F2 races are long because that means that one moment doesn’t define it, and that’s what makes it so enjoyable.”