5 things to know about Zane Maloney, the new Red Bull driver

An important point in common with Rihanna

What do Zane Maloney and Rihanna have in common? Are you drying out? Not easy at first… Come on, we’ll give you the answer… well, like the 34-year-old pop star, he’s Barbadian. The young 19-year-old pilot was in fact born in Barbados, on this Caribbean island of 200 inhabitants that he loves so much and where he grew up. When we asked him last year to tell us about his island, he mentioned “the sun, the heat, the sea and our beaches! I think we have the 3rd most beautiful beach in the world: Crane Beach. We live mainly from tourism. In fact, we're known as a place where you come for two weeks and do nothing but enjoy the beach and the sun (laughs). »

An honorable junior career

The Barbadian truly revealed himself this season by finishing runner-up in the FIA Formula 3 behind the crowned Victor Martins. Yet a rookie, and while he only had 19 points at mid-season, the young man took advantage of his racing intelligence, his burst of speed and probably the fastest car in the field to come back at the end of the season. year and win the last three main races. The previous year, he finished 4th in FRECA at R-ace GP, the French team crowned team champion. Also proof that Maloney is capable of making the right choices every year. A year earlier, he was lost in the Euroformula Open (8th) after having been British F4 champion with Carlin, whom he also found in Formula 2 in 2023.

Zane Maloney has won the last three main races of the year in F3. © Paul Vaicle / DPPI

Invited to a Grand Prix by… Lewis Hamilton

This story begins in Barbados, in 2014. Lewis Hamilton is passing through the island for the filming of the show Top Gear and to make a performance with his Mercedes at the Race of Champions. There, Zane, the little local kart driver who is on the rise, has the opportunity to talk with the British star, who will promise to take him to a Grand Prix one day. Five years later, in 2019, the Hamilton clan invited him to the United States Grand Prix, the 6th title weekend for Lewis. "Obviously, we're not the best of friends, although I would love to (smile), but it was great to be able to talk to him so much” he confided to us about this.

He has already driven against… Jenson Button!

Rest assured, the two men have obviously never ridden in an official racing competition. car together, it's not as if there was a 23-year gap between the two boys... Again, it was in Barbados that Zane had the opportunity to see the British star. This time, as part of the Festival of Speed ​​in 2017. Maloney drove in an F4, and Button in a prototype, during an exhibition which aimed to entertain the public. And when asked who won? “Let’s just say that at that point I wasn’t that good yet.”, he replied, smiling from ear to ear.

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Congratulated by the Prime Minister of his country after his victory in Monaco in 2021

Among his career feats, there is obviously his victory in the streets of Monaco last year in FRECA, in a weekend dominated head and shoulders by an exceptional Isack Hadjar. Monaco, even when it is not yet in F1, always has a particular resonance, even 6 km away! The next day, Zane received a video from the Prime Minister of Barbados (Mia Mottley) who paid tribute to him. “She compared me to Sir Garfield Sobers (a distinguished cricketer) and to Rihanna. It was pretty cool!” 

In 2021, Zane Maloney won on the streets of Monaco in FRECA. © Florent Gooden / DPPI