Despite a successful 2023 season in the Euroformula Open Championship, where he finished runner-up behind Noel León, Cian Shields’ maiden F3 season was disappointing. Despite only three retirements from the series’ twenty races, he failed to score a single point, ultimately finishing 30th out of the 34 classified drivers. This was the lowest finishing position for any driver who had competed in all twenty races. This outcome was particularly disappointing as Shields’ Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates, Luke Browning and Martinius Stenshorne, finished third and 18th respectively.
Highlights of the 2024 season
Shields’ best performance came during the sprint race of the 2024 Barcelona Formula 3 round. Shields qualified P19 but put in a steady and strong performance. Combined with two safety cars, that allowed him to work his way up to P14, where he ultimately finished just 4.213 seconds behind race winner Mari Boya. Unfortunately, Shields could not repeat this performance during that Sunday’s feature race. He finished that race P20.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight’s next-best performance came at the Red Bull Ring in Austria where he finished P16 during the sprint race. As in Barcelona, the British driver could not improve during the feature race. He finished P21 despite his P17 start. Further disappointment soon followed in the 2024 Silverstone F3 round. Despite a P17 finish in the sprint race, he was forced to retire on the first lap after a spin in Sector 1 saw his car sustain collision damage. Despite this, Shields somewhat recovered during the 2024 Budapest F3 round. He earned his best finish in a feature race, P17, after a P24 start and a P21 finish during the sprint race.
Shields “progressed massively” during 2024 F3 season – Bellringer
While there are few highlights from Shields’ 2024 season, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Team Manager, Paul Bellringer praised Shields’ progress throughout the season. He noted that the rookie driver had “progressed massively” across all aspects during his time with the team but stated that this had not been reflected on the timesheets due to the competitiveness of the F3 series.
Shields makes early F2 debut with AIX Racing
Shields’ poor performance in F3 also did not deter AIX Racing which called him up to F2 as the replacement for Niels Koolen ahead of the 2024 F2 Qatar GP race weekend. Though Shields could not score points, he did manage an impressive P11 finish in the Qatar feature race, despite starting at the back of the grid, after benefiting from a well-timed pitstop under safety car conditions. This was Shields’ best finish in the 2024 F2 championship. He had finished P18 during the Qatar sprint race and repeated this during both the sprint and feature races of the 2024 Yas Island Formula 2 round.
This did not discourage AIX Racing’s confidence in him. In January 2025, the team confirmed that Shields would be racing with them in 2025, partnering Joshua Dürksen who will continue with the team after a 10th-place finish in the 2024 F2 championship.
