F1: Alpine Signs Upcoming F1 Talent Kush Maini for Their Young Driver Development Program
Kush Maini, a rookie driver for Campos Racing in the FIA Formula 2 championship, has already earned his first F2 podium with a third-place finish in the Australian Sprint Race. The Indian driver from Bangalore is presently ranked 11th in the championship.
By Divyam Dubey
Alpine F1 has signed Indian Formula 2 driver Kush Maini to their academy, and he will compete for the French team in the upcoming season. Maini, who was born in Bengaluru, is a 2023 F2 junior competitor for Campos and has already shown immense potential. With 11-point finishes this season, he is only outside the top 10 in the championship table.
Kush follows the path of his brother Arjun, who also drove for the Haas F1 team as a development driver but never reached the top level of the sport. Prior to Kush, Jehan Daruvala had a Formula 1 opportunity with Red Bull Racing but was unable to proceed to Formula 1 after three inconsistent seasons in Formula 2. Alpine has added Kush Maini to its increasing roster of potential prospects, which already includes Alpine F1 Team Reserve Driver Jack Doohan and 2022 FIA Formula 3 Champion Victor Martins. Formula 1 drivers like Zhou Guanyu, Oscar Piastri, and Olli Caldwell, who currently race for the Alpine Elf Endurance Team, are all graduates of the programme.
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F1: Alpine Welcomes Maini
On joining the Alpine F1 team's academy, Maini said, “I am super excited to be joining the Alpine Academy. It’s a dream come true to be associated with a team like BWT Alpine F1 Team, where I can learn and grow to hopefully one day be ready to take the step into Formula 1. A massive thank you to Alpine for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”
Julian Rouse, Alpine F1 Team Interim Sporting Director added: “We are happy to welcome Kush into the Alpine Academy. He is a young talent who we believe has strong potential and will be a great asset to our driver development programme. The Alpine Academy will enter its ninth year in 2024 and currently features nine drivers of eight nationalities, spanning four different series from FIA Formula 2 through to European Karting. The continual expansion of the Academy’s talent pool runs in parallel to the expansion of our facilities at Enstone with the development of our new state-of-the-art training and testing facilities, the AHPC, underway.”
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Who is Kush Maini?
Kush Maini, also from Bangalore, is the younger brother of Arjun Maini, a former Formula 2 racer and the development driver for the Haas F1 team. Kush finished an impressive second in the 2020 British F3 Championship. In 2018, he clinched third position in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, securing a victory and an impressive seven other podium finishes. Following his most successful season, Kush is determined to solidify his position as one of India's leading Formula 1 prospects.
Kush had a successful karting career before making the switch to car racing. In European events, he established new standards for Indian and Asian drivers. He made history in 2013 by becoming the first Indian to win the 60 Mini class, and he followed that up with a good fourth-place performance in the 2014 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship. Kush's success on the karting circuit is further attested by his finishes of second in the WSK Euro Series and third in the WSK Masters Series.
