Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Formula 2 racer Zane Maloney will be heading to the new Lola Yamaha ABT outfit for season 11, partnering Lucas Di Grassi in what is set to be a new era for the German outfit in their fresh technical partnership with Lola and Yamaha from the upcoming season.
Maloney, a seasoned campaigner in motorsport circles, races in Formula 2 for Rodin Motorsport. Now into his second Formula 2 campaign, the boy from Barbados is on a strong run of form, having amassed 135 points to sit third in the standings.
The Bajan racer's biggest accolades all year have been his two wins in Bahrain to kick-start the new era of Formula 2 in 2024. Now a part of the Sauber Academy, Maloney has accumulated seven podiums in 2024, with three runners-up finishes, two wins, and two third places.
Six of his podiums have come in successive rounds. Both of Maloney's wins came at Sakhir, while he finished third in the sprint at Imola, backing up the same finish from the feature race at Albert Park. He also finished second in the sprint and feature events around Silverstone, a defining weekend that helped him find form for the first time since Imola.
Maloney also took his maiden Formula 2 pole at Monza, before converting it into second at the end of the race, only beaten to the flag by Invicta Racing's Gabriel Bortoleto, who benefitted from a well-timed safety car to jump ahead of the Bajan and gain the race lead.
The 20-year old is also an Andretti reserve driver, and has dovetailed his Formula E duties alongside Formula 2 races for Rodin Motorsport, and a reserve driver role for the Kick Sauber Formula One team in 2024. He took part in the Rookie Test at Berlin in 2023, before filling in at the Free Practice 0 session exclusively meant for rookie drivers.
Maloney even took part in pre-season testing for the American outfit, ahead of season ten. He served as an Andretti reserve alongside fellow Formula 2 racer Jak Crawford.
Now making his foray into the series as a full-time racer, Maloney was ecstatic, and was quoted saying:
“I am delighted to be part of the Lola Yamaha ABT team and looking forward to this exciting
challenge,
“Although I already know the championship well, this is a completely new chapter for me, so working with such an experienced team, and alongside such a successful driver, is the perfect next step."
The 20-year-old will join forces with the man popularly known as "Mr Formula E", none other than Lucas Di Grassi. A veteran of the series, Di Grassi has raced for some of the biggest names of the series, including ABT, Audi, and Mahindra Racing. The Brazilian even won a title for the ABT outfit in their previous collaboration with Audi back in the 2016-17 season.
Maloney recalls some of the fine moments watching the experienced racer win his first championship, highlighting his desire to work alongside Di Grassi:
"I’ve followed and admired Lucas’s battles over the past seasons, including when he became champion. I’m sure that I will learn a lot from him and together we will push both ourselves and the development of the car forward,” Maloney said.
Maloney's stellar ascent up the motorsport ladder has garnered plenty of eyeballs. Having started karting at the age of 12 in his native, he took multiple karting titles, beating out drivers much older and more experienced than himself.
The Bajan native then graduated to British F4 in 2019, claiming the title by 20 points at the end of the year. He then moved to the Euroformula Open in a shortened racing season in 2020, finishing eighth in the standings.
This opened up an opportunity to compete in the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) in 2021, and another excellent year of racing saw him wind up fourth in the standings.
He was then drafted onto the Trident team for Formula 3 in 2022. Maloney's exploits across the season included as many as three feature race wins to round out the year, in a late charge that saw him finish only five points behind eventual champion Victor Martins.
The 20 year-old has amassed more points in 2024 than in his rookie F2 campaign for the team last year. Maloney amassed a total of 96 points in 2023, notching up a brace of third and second place finishes each, all year.
The boy from Barbados joins the ABT outfit from season eleven, which means he will have to vacate his Formula 2 seat for the final two rounds of 2024. Although he sits third in the standings, he will have to bid goodbye to his championship aspirations in the series.
As for ABT, the German outfit will be commencing an exciting new chapter in their history. Having worked alongside Audi in the past, before returning to the sport alongside the Cupra marque, under Spanish car marker SEAT, they will now join forces with a familiar name from motorsport's past.
Lola have returned to the motor racing world, and their first project involves working with the ABT squad in Formula E. Having committed to the Gen4 era even before starting a Formula E race, it expresses just how committed the team are to succeeding in the series.
They will be partnering with bike manufacturer Yamaha to produce powertrains for the two ABT cars, in what is an exciting partnership for the years to come.
“We’re delighted to welcome Zane to the team for the upcoming Formula E season, completing
our driver pairing as one of the most exciting on next season’s grid,” said Till Bechtolsheimer, Chairman of Lola Cars Ltd.
"Zane is a hugely talented young driver with an abundance of speed and potential and, alongside Lucas, we have an ideal combination of youth and experience.
Zane has demonstrated his abilities in a variety of junior categories and proven himself as a race winner, and we’re looking forward to seeing him get behind the wheel in testing, and then at round one in São Paulo.”
There's no doubt the sport will be looking forward to seeing how the young Barbadian racer fares in his first Formula E season, which commences on December 7th at Sao Paulo!
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