Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Formula 2 rookie Paul Aron has four podiums from seven races this season, but a first victory has proved frustratingly elusive.
That was especially the case in the Imola sprint race this weekend, as the Hitech GP driver led every lap but the last as MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto got past to win.
“As you can imagine, I’m disappointed. It’s the worst feeling you can have, losing the lead on the last lap,” Aron said to media including Formula Scout after finishing second.
“We were struggling with pace from the beginning. I had a good start, and I took the lead, which was ideal. And I knew that it was going to be hard to overtake me after that. But then I struggled a bit with the car balance, and I think our pace was just not as strong as Franco’s. So I had to play my race really smart.
“When I saw that he was catching me, then I didn’t push anymore. I let him come close to me, and then I tried to just manage, keeping him close in sector one and two and then pulling away in sector three, and it worked for the most of the race. So I can’t really say that I lost the win today because we didn’t have pace. I think if I managed to keep him behind those 19 laps [of green flag action], then I should have done it also on the last lap. So obviously it’s a big shame for that.”
Aron said Hitech “will have to work on the pace for tomorrow” in the higher-scoring feature race. However with Amaury Cordeel finishing fourth, it meant the sprint race marked the first time the team’s got both cars in the top four in 20 races.
“Hopefully with the results we have been bringing, the win will come soon,” said Aron. “Points are something that you need to pick up at all times, so I’m still happy with the points we got today.”
On the hunt for a maiden win, he added: “So far, I would say there’s always been something missing each weekend, but it’s never been the same thing. So it’s not like we have a continuous weakness, both in me or the team. It’s just that we haven’t nailed it fully yet. And I’m sure that with the long season we have, it [victory] will come at some point.”
Having initially questioned the legality of Colapinto’s race-winning move over the radio, then referring to it as “not the cleanest” in the post-race press conference, Aron later acknowledged to Formula Scout in the paddock that the overtake had been fair and he could not have done anything else to avoid being passed after a loss of speed due to a snap exiting the last corner the previous lap.
Colapinto had praised Aron’s defending prior to the “really, really tight” manoeuvre that decided who won.