Who is Zane Maloney, the surprising leader in the Formula 2 championship?

Ahead of the 2024 Formula 2 season, talk often focused on Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman. However, Zane Maloney is the man who came out strongest and is making a big impression on behalf of Rodin. Who is the 20-year-old driver from Barbados?

Zane Maloney was born on 2 October 2003 in Bridgetown, Barbados. At the age of three, Zane was already getting into a go-kart. He came second in his first race, which proved to be a sign of success. At age five, he crossed to mainland Europe to compete on behalf of Barbados in various karting competitions.

Maloney proved to have talent. At 12, he made the crossing from America to Europe. There, too, Zane immediately did well. He finished fourth in the European karting championship and fifth in the world championships. In 2019, he started racing formula cars.

Maloney gets the chance at Red Bull

This, too, is an instant success. On his debut in formula cars, Maloney won the British Formula 4 championship for Carlin. A real breakthrough then took a while. In 2020, Maloney finished eighth in the Euroformula Open Championship, and a year later, he finished fourth in the FRECA on behalf of R-ace GP.

His real breakthrough for the European public followed in 2022. On behalf of Trident, Maloney finished second in the Formula 3 championship. He finished just five points behind the more experienced Victor Martins and ahead of big names like Oliver Bearman, Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc. It earned Maloney a place on the Red Bull Junior Team.

In Formula 2, Maloney needed more adjustment time. He rejoined Carlin (now called Rodin Carlin) and showed spectacular things in the races. He struggled in qualifying, making it difficult to compete for the title. Maloney was on the podium four times and finished 10th in the championship.

Why Maloney has a chance of getting an F1 seat

At the end of 2023, Maloney left Red Bull's programme, and Stake F1 announced he became part of their team. Therefore, Maloney is driving his second year in F2 in Stake's colours. He has also been appointed as the team's reserve driver, as has Theo Pourchaire.

Going into the new F2 season, it is clear that Maloney knows what he needs to work on. The driver from Barbados qualified third in Bahrain and made a particular impression by winning both the sprint and feature races. Not many drivers have done that before. Maloney's weakness in Jeddah resurfaces with a 16th place in qualifying. The problem may also lie on the side of his team, Rodin, given teammate Ritomo Miyata cannot get beyond the 20th starting spot. In the races, however, Maloney again shows his class by finishing fifth and seventh.

Prior to the season, Maloney was not considered a favourite for the title, but he is now one because of his start. Maloney will need to work on his qualifying if he is to have any chance of moving up the ranks. At Stake, both drivers' contracts are expiring, so the man from Barbados will sense his chance. He could become the first-ever F1 driver from that country.