At Silverstone on the F1 British Grand Prix weekend, India's Arjun Maini made his GP3 debut in the third round of the championship and managed to score an eighth place finish in the feature race after qualifying fourth.
Maini was racing for Jenzer Motorsport, replacing Oscar Tunjo at the third round of the championship. For the sprint race, Maini started on pole on account of his eighth place finish 19th in the feature race. A messy opening lap and persistent problems led to him finishing 19th, however, while his team-mate Akash Nandy retired on the seventh lap of the race.
The 18-year-old from Bangalore was passed by Sandy Stuvik on the opening lap, followed by Charles Leclerc and Alex Palou who had started from seventh and tenth respectively. Matt Perry also started to attack Maini and collided with the back of his car. This resulted in a damaged front end for Perry and a rear puncture for Maini, thus ruining their race. The stewards gave Perry a black-and-orange flag as well as a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Maini. Maini dropped down the order to finish 19th, as three drivers including his team-mate retired from the race.
Maini joined team T-Sport in the European Formula 3 line up for the 2016 season, but has struggled to perform. Maini pulled out of the series after four rounds of the championship. It is likely, that following his debut in the series, Maini may keep his seat with Jenzer Motorsport for the rest of the GP3 season.
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