Paul Aron

Paul Aron
Aron in 2024
Born	(2004-02-04) 4 February 2004 (age 20) Tallinn, Estonia
Relatives	Ralf Aron (brother)
Nationality	Estonian
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2024
Current team	Hitech Pulse-Eight
Car number	17
Starts	18 (18 entries)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	7
Poles	2
Fastest laps	2
Previous series
2023 2022 2021–2022 2020 2019 2019	FIA Formula 3 FR European FR Asian Formula Renault Eurocup ADAC F4 Italian F4

Paul Aron (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈpɑu̯l ˈɑ.ron]; born 4 February 2004) is an Estonian racing driver, currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech.

Aron previously raced in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing, coming third in the standings. Beforehand, he competed in the Formula Regional European Championship for Prema in 2021 and 2022, in which he ended both series in third. Aron was part of the Mercedes Junior Team.^[1] He also won the rookie cup in the 2019 Italian F4 Championship and placed third in the regular standings.

Aron made his Formula E debut with Envision at the 2024 Berlin ePrix.

Starting in Estonia at the age of 8, Aron climbed the karting ladder as he was soon racing all over Europe but mostly in Italy. Aron won the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship in 2018.^[2][3]

Aron made his single-seater debut in the 2019 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, racing for Prema Powerteam.^[4] Aron did not wait long to take his first win, taking his first in Austria.^[5] Two rounds later, he would win again in Netherlands, both of aforementioned wins would be his only podiums.^[6] He continued to score consistently and ended seventh in the standings.^[7]

Aron's more successful campaign in 2019 came in the Italian F4 Championship, also racing for Prema. He again took his first win at the Austria, the fourth round of the season.^[8] His other win was achieved at the penultimate round in Mugello.^[9] Having scored six other podiums, Aron finished the year in third behind Red Bull junior driver Dennis Hauger and Brazilian FDA-member Gianluca Petecof.^[10] Thanks to nine rookie victories Aron became the rookie champion.^[11]

After testing with them in the post-season test at Paul Ricard in November 2019, Aron was signed to ART Grand Prix's new Formula Renault Eurocup outfit for the 2020 season.^[12][13] Aron had a difficult campaign, his high point of the season being his only podium, a second place at the Nürburgring.^[14] the Estonian was outscored by his more experienced teammates Grégoire Saucy and eventual champion Victor Martins and finished eleventh in the standings.^[15]

In 2021 Aron moved back to Prema to partner David Vidales and Dino Beganovic in the Formula Regional European Championship.^[16] The Estonian's first podium came at the opening round at Imola, where he finished second in race 2, being beaten only by previous year's teammate Grégoire Saucy.^[17] Aron was able to finish third at the following two rounds respectively, but would then go on a podium drought that lasted until the seventh round of the season, which included a non-points scoring round at Circuit Paul Ricard.^[18] He would end that streak by finishing third during the first race at the Red Bull Ring.^[19] After a round in which he finished fourth and twelfth in Valencia, Aron claimed his first pole position of the season at the Mugello Circuit.^[20] He would then swoop by to take his first win in the series.^[21] The next day was just as superior for him, again taking pole and ending a complete sweep with a win.^[22][23] He concluded his season in Monza with a second place.^[24] Aron finished the year third overall with 197 points, two wins and seven total podiums behind Saucy and Hadrien David.^[25]

During pre-season in 2022, Aron joined Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema for the Asian Championship.^[26] Aron did not win a race during that championship, but did manage to take a double pole during the third Dubai round.^[27] Claiming three podiums, he was classified ninth in the standings.^[28]

Aron continued with Prema for the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship.^[29] He got off to a great start, winning pole and the second race during the Monza opening round.^[30][31] After a third place in Imola, he had a terrible weekend in Monaco as a crash in qualifying hampered a chance of points.^[32] He would bounce back with a win at Paul Ricard,^[33] before completing a complete sweep in the next round at Zandvoort.^[34][35] However, the Estonian would go podium-less throughout the next three rounds, despite taking two pole positions at Spa-Francorchamps and the Red Bull Ring.^[36][37] A win followed in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya which was followed by another podium in the second race.^[38] The final round in Mugello witnessed Aron notch up yet another victory in the first race, but his title challenge ended as teammate Dino Beganovic was crowned champion.^[39] However, a poor second race meant that he failed to score, and race winner Gabriele Minì pipped Aron to second in the standings by four points.^[40] This meant Aron again finished third in the standings but he scored more points that the year before (238), had the most wins of anyone that season, (6), and the most poles (7).^[41]

In November 2021, Aron partook in the post-season test with Prema Racing on Day 2 and Day 3.^{[42] [43]}

At the end of September 2022, Aron again took part in the FIA Formula 3 post-season test with Prema, contesting on all three days.^[44] During the following month, the team confirmed that Aron had signed up to compete in the 2023 F3 season, partnering FREC rival Dino Beganovic and GB3 champion Zak O'Sullivan.^[45]

He had a solid debut in Bahrain, finishing fifth in his first outing, but in the feature race, ended outside the points after a penalty for forcing teammate O'Sullivan wide.^[46] Aron qualified in sixth and finished in fourth for the sprint race.^[47] However, race winner Franco Colapinto was disqualified, promoting Aron to his first podium.^[48] He finished sixth in the feature race.^[49] He qualified third in Monaco.^[50] He then held off Gabriele Minì to take the final points-paying position in the sprint race.^[51] He capped the weekend by maintaining his third place in the feature race.^[52] He continued his consistent qualifying form in Barcelona, securing fifth.^[53] He would finish both races in the same position.^[54][55]

In Austria, Aron produced a lap that took him to pole, but due to exceeding track limits, was demoted to fourth.^[56] In the sprint race, he would redeem himself, jumping all the way to second from eighth by lap 8. A safety car helped to close the gap to race leader Pepe Martí, and Aron overhauled him for his first and only win of the season.^[57][58] The feature race provided contrasting fortunes, as he would clip his front wing in a battle for the lead with Grégoire Saucy and Aron had to pit for repairs.^[59] At Silverstone, Aron scored good points with fourth in the feature race.^[60] In Budapest, Aron persisted his qualifying form, doing so in sixth, despite labelling it as "difficult".^[61] Despite that, he would finish both races in fourth and fifth, again continuing his consistent form.^[62]

Aron had his worst qualifying session in Spa-Francorchamps in 11th.^[63] After a slow start from second in the sprint race which dropped him to fourth, he later overcame Hugh Barter for third, which was where he would finish.^[64] In the feature race, Aron was one of the minority who started on wet tyres. It proved to be the right gamble, hitting the front at the end of the first sector on the first lap. After Oliver Goethe crashed, Aron opted to pit under the safety car on a drying track for dry tyres. This resulted him in throwing away a potential victory, as the track had not dried enough yet. He eventually was left to rue his choice, finishing in eighth place.^[65] Aron qualified third for the Monza season finale.^[66] His failure to secure pole position handed Gabriel Bortoleto, the F3 title as Aron was now 38 points behind the Brazilian with 37 left on offer.^[67] His sprint race was over within seconds, as Caio Collet hit him, causing Aron to suffer a rear puncture and lose control, slamming into Jonny Edgar and Martí.^[68] Aron had a messy race, being involved in many battles that saw him slip to seventh.^[69] Aron finished third in the standings with 112 points, achieving one win and four podiums, and helping Prema to clinch the teams' title.^[70]

Aron took part in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix with SJM Theodore Prema Racing.^[71] His Macau debut would not go as planned, suffering a massive crash in the main race which tore his car in half.^[72]

Prior to the final round in Yas Marina for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship, Trident announced they had signed Aron to replace Clément Novalak.^[73] Aron qualified 21st for his F2 debut. He finished the sprint in 16th and the feature race in 18th.^[74]

In November 2023, Aron partook in the post-season test with Hitech Pulse-Eight.^[75]

In November 2023, Aron was announced to step up to Formula 2 with Hitech Pulse-Eight for the 2024 season alongside Amaury Cordeel.^[76] Qualifying 12th for the Bahrain opener, he made a charge in the sprint race to fifth place, barely holding off former F3 rival Gabriel Bortoleto.^[77] The feature race saw Aron making another comeback to finish third despite a penalty for speeding in the pitlane, therefore taking his first F2 podium.^[78] Qualifying on reverse pole in Jeddah, Aron led the sprint early on but dropped to third at the flag after losing out to Richard Verschoor and Dennis Hauger.^[79] However, race winner Verschoor was later disqualified, promoting Aron to second.^[80] He finished the feature race in tenth after a collision with Victor Martins towards the end.^[81] A first non-score during the Melbourne sprint race as he was caught up in an incident with Verschoor and finished down in 18th.^[82] Despite that, Aron moved up the field to finish in second place, securing his third podium in as many rounds.^[83][84]

In Imola, Aron avoided the carnage at the start of the sprint to take the lead but was passed by Franco Colapinto on the last lap, missing out on a first win.^[85] He finished sixth in a solid feature race, closing the gap to points leader Zane Maloney to five points.^[86] Qualifying fourth for Monaco, he finished the sprint race in seventh.^[87] His podium streak continued with third in the feature race, allowing Aron to take the championship lead.^[88] Aron secured his first F2 pole in Barcelona.^[89][90] Initially finishing fourth in the sprint, Juan Manuel Correa ahead was penalised for track limits, and Aron was promoted to end on the podium once again.^[91] In the feature race, Aron was jumped in the pits by Jak Crawford, and later slid into the gravel at the final corner. He eventually recovered to fourth place, maintaining his points lead.^[92]

Qualifying fifth for Austria, Aron sprinted to third place in the sprint race, keeping his podium streak alive.^[93] He maintained his lead with fifth place in the feature race despite a five-second penalty for excessively weaving.^[94][95] However, a disappointing weekend followed Silverstone where he only qualified 12th. In the sprint Aron would retire after being hit by Pepe Martí when his engine cut out on lap 7. The feature race was not better as Aron would get a penalty for colliding with Joshua Dürksen on lap 2 leading to a 12th place finish, and therefore dropped to second in the standings.^[96] Aron bounced back by taking pole for the next round in Hungary.^[97][98] Returning to the points in the sprint race in sixth, his feature did not bode well as he lost places at the start following a lock-up. He then made crashed into with Zane Maloney on lap 7, causing both drivers to retire.^[99] Back-to-back poles followed in Belgium.^[100][101] In the feature race, Aron fought for the lead and later dropped to third place as title rivals Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto passed him. Unfortunately for Aron, his engine would fail on the last lap, dropping him out of the points and losing second in the standings to Bortoleto.^[102]

He qualified third Monza, continuing his good qualifying form, but ended the sprint in 20th after contact with Maloney late in the race, and Aron was given a ten-second penalty.^[103][104] However, his feature race retirements continued as he was taken out by Martí on the opening lap, which dropped Aron out of the top 3 in the standings.^[105] In Baku, Aron qualified 12th, and avoided chaos in the sprint race to finish sixth.^[106] He replicated that result in the feature race, meaning that Aron sat fourth in the standings heading into the final two rounds.^[107]

In July 2019, the Mercedes Formula One team added Aron to their junior team.^[1] He was part of the junior team until November 2023, where he confirmed his exit.^[108]

Aron made his Formula E debut at the 2024 Berlin ePrix for Envision Racing subbing in for Sébastien Buemi who was racing at the 6 Hours of Spa for Toyota GR Racing.^[109] Although he failed to score points, he finished both races in a respectable 13th and 14th.^[110]

Aron's older brother is 2015 Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron, who currently is a team manager at Prema Powerteam.^[111]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2023	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	Dallara F3 2019	14th	7th	DNF

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Aron.

• Paul Aron career summary at DriverDB.com