Aitken still going through 'learning curve' with F2 tyres 

ART Grand Prix’s Jack Aitken admits he is yet to get to grips with fully understanding Formula 2’s 2018 Pirelli tyres. 

The Renault Formula 1 reserve driver has endured a frustrating rookie campaign in F2 and occupies 10^th place in the championship standings, 110 points adrift of teammate and series leader George Russell with just four rounds remaining. 

A maiden victory in the Barcelona sprint race has proven the standout moment so far for Aitken, who has been one of a number of drivers to have been hampered by reliability problems affecting F2’s new-for-2018 car. 

But the ART racer and 2017 GP3 runner-up revealed his struggles in races have been partly down to the “real challenge” of understanding Pirelli’s tyres. 

“We’re still trying to get the knack of the tyres because I think like a lot of people it seems to change a lot track to track and I haven’t quite found the right mix yet.” Aitken told Crash.net.

“But I’m learning a lot every race, we’ve had some good results and qualifying has been a real strong point for us. 

“Hungary was by the far the best one we’ve had so far, was so close to getting the first pole, so outright pace I’m really happy with as a rookie but just get a hang on the tyres is going to be the next real challenge.”

Aitken believes his more aggressive style of driving compared to Russell has taken more out of his tyres and is partly behind why he has struggled to match the F2 championship leader so far this season. 

“I think my style has always been a bit more aggressive,” Aitken explained. “It was a bit of a learning curve in my first year in GP3 as well, so maybe it’s not a surprise that it’s taking me a bit longer to get to grips with it.

“But I’m happy that I’m qualifying well and the pace is good. That’s a strong point and I just need to work on everything else but I’ll get there eventually. Just trying to do it as quickly as possible.”

The Briton said he will study his data during the summer break in a bid to make necessary changes to help turnaround his tyre struggles in the second half of the season. 

“We’ve got a bit of a break now so I can get deep into the data and take the opportunity to see what we can learn because we probably need to do something different for the rest of the season in the races.”