Then and Now: Zane Maloney on his growth from Formula 3 to Formula 2

Zane Maloney’s second campaign in FIA Formula 2 is nearly at the end with the Rodin Motorsport driver firmly in the mix for the Drivers’ Championship with two rounds to go.
But getting to this point has not been straightforward and the Bajan driver has grown a lot since his title-contending year in Formula 3. So, recently he sat down to talk about the last three years and how he has improved both inside and outside of the car.
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“I’ve grown so much since I was in F3, I am a faster driver now, and a more consistent driver. The F3 car I kind of clicked well with, I just struggled to find that end result and to not crash or make big mistakes like missing the weigh bridge on a race weekend.
“There were many things in F3 I just stupidly did, and I just think a lot more now without thinking. I’ve become more aware of the important things on a race weekend. I am still the same person, still fighting for the same thing, but I think I generally improved as a driver, improved as a person and I am making less mistakes.
“Some of it is natural growth, more experience, a lot of it is definitely inner thoughts, and also speaking to the people around me, management, my family etc. Trident did a very good job with me in F3 to allow that growth and being able to be a bit more mature in certain moments during a race weekend, that makes a bit more of a difference.
“Of course, every weekend we go trying to be as fast as possible in Practice, quali and the two races but to do that, there is a bigger picture and just seeing the bigger picture from a wider standpoint, that’s what I am better at.
“It’s funny because a lot of people don’t see the bigger picture of a season. The start of my F3 season I was just as fast as I was at the end, but I was just finally getting the results. But that was down to growth and Trident really helping me to get that end result.
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“I think at some stages of my career I was thinking about the end result and not the process of getting to that end result, and Trident really helped with that process and that’s when you started seeing me on the podium, winning, and generally being closer to the front.
“I was always closer to the front in Qualifying but then I would make a mistake or miss the weigh bridge and have to start from the pit lane or crash with someone else just because I didn’t want to lose that one position.
“There are loads of things from the F3 season that I have learned from, which is good. I hope not to look back on my career and that being a defining factor, I think that it won’t be but it would have been nice to have a Championship under the belt in F3 but that was down to me, and I have grown and learned from it.
“It’s difficult to look back on yourself and see where you were and where you are now. But I am an all-round better driver in all scenarios, in all conditions, I am better at everything, but of course when I look 10 years down the line, I hope to be much better than I am now, so it’s difficult for me to look back.
“But it’s not about being faster only, I am just able to use the tools around me to do a better job and to get the most out of everything that I am driving. I don’t really look back at where I have come from, I look at where I want to go and I know there are lots of things I have to improve on, there are a lot of things I still need to adapt better in certain scenarios, I still need to do a better job of when I am on the track, so that’s all I am really thinking about – how I can be better.
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“I think I have grown a lot from a communication point of view as well. When you are younger you think a bit more in terms of emotion and not factually. Of course, there is so much data in racing, those are the facts, you need to look at those compare them to your feeling in the car and have a constructive conversation and discussion with the team.
“When everything is going well, it’s so easy to perform well, be happy and everyone is having an amazing time. But as soon as it starts to go bad, how you turn that around is the most difficult part and for sure I am better than I use to be at that.
“I am not thinking too much with emotion, I am seeing the facts, seeing everyone’s opinions and taking what I need too from that to improve and putting things in the bin that are not constructive for me.
“Current Zane Maloney wants to win races. I can do a much better job at getting that end result still, I think mine and Rodin’s pace has been amazing all year.
“It’s really easy to see a P17 in Qualifying and for us to get our heads down and really not understand why that was but there are so many scenarios, so many different reasons for things. It’s all technical and you can really spin yourself in circles searching for it instead of getting the main points and moving on.
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“My main goal for this year was to have as few errors as possible and enjoy racing. I am enjoying racing; I was especially enjoying racing at the beginning of the year of course, but even when I was not winning races at the beginning, I was enjoying racing.
“It’s easy to hate racing in a lot of ways so I am trying to get back to the stage where I go into the car, enjoy racing, enjoy pushing the car to the limit. Hopefully I look back at the end of the year and no matter what I can say I did the best job I could and did something good for my career, that’s the main thing.”