Zane Maloney: My ultimate driver

1 June 2022

Trident’s Zane Maloney explores what key characteristics make up his ultimate racing driver, both on and off the track.

Following the examples set by icons of the past and present, the Bajan driver focuses on creating his perfect all-rounder, with his clear admiration for a certain seven-time F1 World Champion never far from his mind.

INTELLIGENCE

“Lewis Hamilton - he's been doing it for so long, so he has a lot of experience. He’s gotten himself into many different areas in life and not just racing. I think he's quite intelligent in how he handles himself and how he goes about life – making money, having fun, and enjoying what he wants to do.”

DRIVING IN THE WET/DRY

“I would say Max Verstappen because he's just ruthless in the wet and finds the limit very quickly. As a racing driver, that's our biggest job.

“In the dry, it has to be Lewis (Hamilton) again – I think you can tell who I support! For me, Lewis is the best overall package but of course in the dry weather, I think he’s able to outperform everyone when it comes to Q3 in Qualifying. He’s able to get everything out of the car possible. He’s been doing it for so long, so it’s not like he has one off season and then doesn’t perform the next, he’s been doing it year after year, which I’m sure is very difficult.”

QUALIFYING

“I think Lewis and Max are very close and Charles (Leclerc) too, but I still have to go for Lewis. He's been performing for too long not to choose him.”

TYRE MANAGEMENT

“For sure Lewis, but I don’t want to say him for every answer! Maybe I'll go for (Sergio) Perez - he seems to be able to go much longer than anyone else on their tyres and still perform well. So, I assume he's very good at managing the tyres and being fast at the same time.”

BRAVERY

“I think you can choose a driver from the past because they were driving in much more dangerous scenarios and cars. I would probably go for (Ayrton) Senna. From what I've heard and seen like everyone else, he was ruthless. They weren't driving in conditions as good or as safe cars as us now, so they must have been very brave to do that. Obviously, in that era he was winning everything too.”

SMOOTH OR AGGRESSIVE

“Aggressive. In terms of the driving style, I’d want in-between - you don't want to be too aggressive because then potentially you don't manage the tyres properly or maybe you crash a lot.

“I’d still go for aggressive because in racing, you need to be aggressive and hold your own on track. Then with the driving style, I'd still say aggressive because when it's slippery or in the wet, you need to be aggressive. It's only really when it's very grippy that being very aggressive won't be so fast."

ANYTHING ELSE?

“Just an all-round package. For me, you can't get much more all-round than what Lewis does on the track – I'd say him straight away. I think you can be a bit more aggressive than Lewis is, more towards how Max is. Maybe he's a bit too much, but I think if you put both of them together, it’s almost the perfect driver.

“Off-track - the perfect driver needs to be able to branch out to other stuff in life and enjoy life to the fullest. My perfect driver would be into other things and be good at lots of sports and not just racing.

“And hopefully there’d be a bit of me in there as well!”