Formula 1 is always looking for the next star and appears to have found its latest favourite sons in Prema pairing Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman, with the latter already confirmed as a Haas driver for 2025. But while drivers connected to the academies of current teams often steal the headlines, those without connections sometimes fly under the radar.
This has certainly been the case with Hitech’s Paul Aron, a Mercedes junior between July 2019 and November 2023, who has been a consistent figure at the front of the F2 field this season as a rookie. Despite not having a win prior to the summer shutdown – something that fellow rookie Antonelli has achieved twice – a steady stream of podiums has kept the Estonian at the sharp end of the standings, while others have come and gone in the top order.
Some may point to the lack of wins as a sign that he is not yet ready to make the jump, but there is certainly merit in his level of performance and lack of serious errors. And he’s already underlined his speed with three pole positions, at Barcelona, the Hungaroring and Spa.
“We have tried our best to talk around the paddock and get my name going as much as possible,” says the 20-year-old of his bid to secure an F1 seat. “I’ve talked to as many people as possible. We are doing our best but it’s obviously not easy and, for sure, if we were related to a junior team, it would be easier.
“But at the same time, at least we have the freedom to talk to everyone. There is a lot of movement going on in the F1 paddock, so all I can really do is try to get my name around the paddock as much as possible and, to be honest, this year has definitely shown that the best way to do that is through results.”
The timing of Aron’s Hungarian feature race performance – a poor start from pole and tangles with first Bearman and then Zane Maloney (Rodin) in a move that ended both their races – was unfortunate given it came off the back of a disappointing weekend at Silverstone, where technical issues in both races cost him. And at Spa a feature race podium was lost to last-lap mechanical woes.
Conceding that Silverstone was “not one of my proudest moments”, Aron suggests that the top drivers in Formula 3 each year “deserve” to graduate to F2, with Autosport questioning whether this logic translates to the next step, with top F2 talent deserving an F1 seat.
“I think that if you’re young and if you’re a rookie in F2 and are performing well – I’m not saying this because that’s the position that I’m in – that is what it’s for,” he replies. “If you’re young and doing well, you should get interest from F1 and you should get a chance to go there.
“In the end, that’s why Ollie has got his chance. He’s having a very difficult time this year but he managed to do the job last year, in his rookie [F3] year, to perform and impress the F1 grid enough. And I don’t see why my position or Gabriel’s [Bortoleto, currently second] position as rookies who are doing well is any different.
"I’m very glad to have the opportunity to race here with Hitech, but I certainly won’t have the possibility to do the series again – at least with my current funding"
Paul Aron
“But it’s not that simple, and I could say that the guys on the grid this year – me, Isack [Hadjar, current points leader], Zane – have all had a good season so far and we’re all good drivers, but it’s always hard to say who exactly deserves the chance to go up and who doesn’t.”
However, while silly season has been a prolonged affair this year since Lewis Hamilton announced his shock move to Ferrari, there have been no real surprise names linked to seats, with both Antonelli and Bearman already having been in strong positions.
Of course, there is greater scope for opportunities to arise in the reserve driver market, with 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri taking this role with Alpine for a year before joining McLaren, and Bearman currently serving as one of three reserve options for Ferrari while competing in F2.
Although keen to keep as many doors open as possible, one option Aron has all but ruled out is a return to F2: “It’s never looked on positively if you finish quite high in the championship and you do it again. Nobody really likes that because then people assume that you don’t believe in yourself enough.
“Speaking about the facts, every year is different. It’s a technical sport, so there is a lot that goes into having a quick car and having the synergy between the driver and the car, and you can never fully guarantee that, because everybody is different, every car is different, every team is different – so it’s always a bit of a risk of doing a series again. Yes, if you were quick one year, most likely you will be quick the next year, but you can never guarantee that.
“The thing with me is that this season has obviously cost a budget and they are not cheap seasons, and I almost struggled to have a place on the grid this year, even after finishing third in F3. So, I’m very glad to have the opportunity to race here with Hitech, but I certainly won’t have the possibility to do the series again – at least with my current funding.
“If there was potential help from somewhere then it could be a possibility but, if you finish top three in the championship, I would definitely expect to have a chance to make a step up and, if not, to explore other options.
“We have approached this year as a one-year plan. We never approached F2 as taking the first year to develop and then go for it in the second year. I’ve taken the mindset that this is the year and that is why I’ve been pushing so hard with myself and the team.”
This is all well and good, but why should an F1 team consider a driver that is not part of its junior academy, is yet to win a race and has yet to put a title to his name?
While the answer may not be immediately clear to those watching Aron for the first time this season, his ability to learn from mistakes and develop his driving between seasons is a trait that only the top drivers share. While his Hungary collision was clumsy and was likely the product of a desire to quickly make up for his poor start, this is an error that you can be sure will not be seen again.
You then look to his progression between seasons and see that, even with a run of difficult weekends, he remains ahead of Zak O’Sullivan, one of the two drivers who bested him last year in F3 – and is just five points behind the other, Bortoleto. And in that F3 campaign he beat Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic, the two drivers that had finished ahead of him in the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship – and are this year still competing in F3.
“That has been the story of my whole career,” adds Aron, who has finished third four times in junior series. “There have been people who have beaten me in a year and have won a title, but I’ve always been able to make a step forward and beat them the year after.”
F2/F3 CEO Bruno Michel has seen a raft of talented drivers move through the ranks and on to F1, so has a keen eye for those destined to reach the top.
“He is definitely a very gifted driver – he is very fast,” offers Michel on Aron. “But for the moment, he hasn’t won a race yet, and he has made a few mistakes that cost him a few points.
Even with a run of difficult weekends, he remains ahead of Zak O’Sullivan, one of the two drivers who bested him last year in F3 – and is just five points behind the other, Bortoleto
“He’s been extremely consistent, and that’s a massive advantage when you want to win a championship and he’s smart on that because he knows how to run it. But also he needs at some point to win a race in F2, which I’m sure he will do before the end of the season. That’s going to be his next step. After that, it is a little bit unfortunate that he’s not part of an F1 programme, but I’m sure he will be in the near future and I don’t have any doubt with that.”
“It obviously means a lot,” says Aron of Michel’s assessment. “He sees all these young kids go through the ranks so certainly, he has got some experience of what a driver needs to be good and what he needs to be quick and what he needs to be ready for F1.”
Of course, it’s the F1 paddock that Aron really needs to persuade. But if he keeps on improving – and finally gets that win – he will be harder and harder to ignore.
