Yahoo Autos Lola Yamaha Abt recruit Maloney eager to make most of new opportunity in Formula E
By rights, Zane Maloney should be well on his way to Formula 1. A rising star in the single seater world with multiple wins in Formula 2 and F3, the Barbadian has what it takes to reach the top. But like so many highly rated youngsters, he’s faced with there being no room at the inn when he’s knocked on the door.
But F1’s loss is Formula E’s gain, with Maloney making the switch to the all-electric series this season with Lola Yamaha Abt. For him, it’s not a backwards or sideways step by any means, but indicative of the talent backlog faced by the entire open-wheel world.
“I always say, first I’m a racing driver, so I take whatever the best opportunity I can get,” Maloney tells RACER. “There’s not many seats in general in IndyCar, Formula E, F1. I mean, it’s just me and Taylor (Barnard, who’s moved from Formula 2 to NEOM McLaren) this year in Formula E. So that just shows there’s not many seats.
“There’s too many good drivers for the amount of seats available. I saw this opportunity as an amazing one. What people don’t quite understand is coming towards Formula E, it’s a world championship — it’s a step up from anything else.”
And while Maloney is happy with his new home in Formula E, he insists it doesn’t close doors to other categories either.
“It also doesn’t stop any other opportunities in the future,” he says. “We saw with Nyck (de Vries), he moved to F1 from Formula E. I’m just trying to be in a race car. I love racing, and this was a new project, an amazing project, I was looking forward to, so I didn’t really think twice.”
It’s a fresh start both for Maloney and his Lola Yamaha Abt team. Sam Bagnall/Motorsport Images
Maloney moves to the new Lola project after a stint as Andretti’s reserve and development driver, where he got first-hand experience working with a championship-winning team and driving a championship-winning car, the Porsche 99X Electric. Abt, too, is a title-winning outfit, but under the skin of the striking yellow and blue car, it’s all new, with Lola returning from a lengthy hiatus to provide the powertrains as part of its new partnership with Japanese giant Yamaha.
“In terms of the environment in the team, and in terms of how the teams are moving forwards, I think that it’s clear to see that Lola Yamaha Abt is a championship winning team as well, straight out the box,” Maloney says. “So we just need to see where we stand in Brazil (at the season opener in Sao Paulo on Dec. 7) and how long we will take to get to that stage. But I’m confident that in the future, at some point, we can be there.
“When you start two or three or four or five years behind, then you’re always playing catch-up. But Abt has been around for a long time, they have a good idea of things. And it’s not a completely 100 percent new team, it’s got some new smart people with some — they call them ‘OGs’ — like Lucas (di Grassi) and some of the engineers within the team. I think we’re in a good place to start with. The development rate is going how we expect and what we want. It’s a team that can clearly win things in terms of the mindset, how motivated everyone is.”
Maloney finished the first day of Formula E’s pre-season test at Jarama on Tuesday in 16th with 13 laps in the bag. Teammate di Grassi was 10th with twice the number of laps under his belt. Maloney says the first day of running was “more of a shakedown” for his side of the garage, and there will be more to come.
“I think (on Tuesday), with the lack of tires and mileage that were allowed, in terms of performance it wasn’t much. The next two days will be a lot more,” he says. “Every day we can get in this car is a step forward, and the development rate is massive.”
That development rate means that the other 10 teams will have made gains from their already solid foundations. Naturally, that makes figuring out the competitive order a near-impossible task.
“From my side, neither the team nor me know where we’re going to stand when we come to Brazil,” Maloney says. “So you can’t really have expectations when you don’t know anything really. So my goal and my expectation for myself is just to maximize the car every time I go out.
“Of course, I have Lucas to compare to, which is a very good comparison, and how I’m doing will be based on where I am compared to him. Having said that, obviously, if we’re P19 and P20, we’re not going to be happy. We want to just keep moving forward.”
Another thing clouding the competitive picture is that every team has come into the test somewhat hindered by the late location change. Teams were deep into their preparation for four days of running at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia when the decision was made to move the test to Jarama near Madrid late last week in light of the floods that have blighted much of Spain. But Maloney sees positives for his team in the switch as it gets to grips with its all-new hardware.
“Everything that’s happening in Valencia, obviously it’s not great. We’re praying for everyone there,” he says “But for us, in terms of racing, it’s a good thing because it throws us in the deep end. We don’t have any data from this track, and every problem that we have will be magnified at this track versus what we would have known at Valencia.
“Everyone up and down the grid is in the same position. It’s just that we’re coming in with no data from any track. We’re always going to be learning.”
