Cian Shields on ‘no-brainer’ decision and re-signing with AIX Racing for 2026

3 November 2025

Staying put at AIX Racing was a “no brainer” says Cian Shields, with the Scotsman returning in 2026 with the team.

His re-signing was confirmed earlier in October, and speaking about his collaboration with AIX, he said that his rookie season has taught plenty of lessons that are beginning to bring improvement.

“I’m looking forward to it. It has been a difficult year for us, and we’ve made some changes behind the scenes, but I think we’ve learned with every weekend and we’re finally getting somewhere,” Shields explained.

“The team works well together, all the management, mechanics and everyone else – it was a no-brainer to stay with them. There was no reason to go anywhere.

“I feel comfortable within the team, and stability definitely helps with performing on a weekend. To work with the same people, they know what you like and you know what they like, it definitely helps.”

The AIX driver explained how he’s been able to take steps forward throughout the year as he and the team have learned how to get the best out of one another.

Shields says the familiarity with AIX is a huge bonus going into year two in FIA F2

He added that the more time in the car he’s had, the more he’s been able to feed back to the team.

Having an experienced driver alongside him in Joshua Duerksen has also been another positive, with Shields able to compare data with the Paraguayan driver in pursuit of performance gains.

“The more laps you do in the car, the more you learn. I think the struggle this year has been one lap pace in Qualifying. That’s been the biggest thing we’ve had to work on. But I feel like we’re getting there with it now.

“Track time can be quite limited every weekend, and that has been the biggest learning curve throughout the year. But we’re definitely getting there now.

“At the start of the year, every time I jumped in the car, it wasn’t starting afresh but you started out with a lot to learn. As the season’s gone on, I’ve felt more comfortable, and it all comes a bit more naturally now.

“Having Joshua alongside me has been a good reference point. It’s useful looking at the data. We had a bit of a tough point in the middle of the season, so that wasn’t ideal but more recently, Josh has got back on top form, and up towards the front pace-wise.

“The further up the front he is, the better data you have to compare to, and that makes things better overall.”

While 2025 has been a learning year, the AIX driver says he has learned plenty to take into 2026

Before his 2026 preparations begin, there are the final two rounds of the current 2025 season to go, and he will be returning to the venue he made his F2 debut at 12 months ago.

It’s an important factor according to the Scottish driver, with less time taken to learn the circuit itself and more time allocated to finding out and out performance.

He is targeting a positive final two race weekends to end his rookie campaign on, and in Lusail and Yas Marina, he has two tracks he’s visited before around which to achieve them.

“Even though there’s been a big break, you’re always preparing for the next event. It’s going to be a bit more difficult getting back into the swing of things without any testing, but there shouldn’t be any issues.

“I drove the car in Qatar and Abu Dhabi last year, and learning some of the tracks this year has been half the battle, like Jeddah for example.

“Having already raced in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, I already have the references from last year and it’s more just a case of jumping back in and getting a feeling of the car.

“As long as you have a good Qualifying, anything can happen. It puts you in a good place and Qatar is quite a good track to race on. I enjoyed it last year but it’s definitely one of the more physical tracks on the calendar, but I’m looking forward to it.”