Kush Maini (born 22 September 2000) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

racing driver currently competing in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship for

Campos Racing Campos Racing is a Spanish motor racing team, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos. The team has been successful in Formula Three and the GP2 Series. History After retiring from racing, Campos formed his own team at the end of 19 ...

. He has previously competed in

Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

, the

Formula Renault Eurocup Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault Sp ...

, the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

, the

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships or Karting. H ...

, and most recently

FIA Formula 3 The FIA Formula 3 Championship is a third-tier international single-seater racing championship and organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for the FIA Formula 1 W ...

. He is the younger brother of

Arjun Maini Arjun Maini (born 10 December 1997) is an Indian professional racing driver, currently competing in the DTM. He has previously also competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing, as well as Campos Racing. Early life Maini comes ...

, also a racing driver who competed in GP3 and

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

, and the nephew of Indian business magnate

Chetan Maini Chetan Maini (born 11 March 1970) is a Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at SUN Mobility and a Indian business magnate in the electric car industry. He is best known for building India's first electric car, REVA, and as the Founder of Reva Electric C ...

Career

Lower formulae

2016

Maini started his single-seater career in 2016, competing for BVM Racing in the

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the Formula Abarth. History Gerhard Berger and th ...

. His campaign started in a strong fashion, scoring points in the first six races of the year. After a difficult middle part of the year, the Indian scored his first podium in car racing, taking third place at the final race in

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy. See also * Vallelunga Circuit The Autodromo Vallelunga P ...

. He finished the season 16th in the standings and ended up fifth in the rookies' championship.

2017

For 2017 Maini moved to

Jenzer Motorsport Jenzer Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Switzerland. Founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer the team is currently competing in FIA Formula 3, Italian F4 and F4 Spanish and has had a number of drivers who would turn out to be successful in ...

, once again racing in Italian F4, partnering Giorgio Carrara,

Federico Malvestiti Federico Malvestiti (born 12 June 2000) is an Italian racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA F3 Championship for Jenzer Motorsport. He is a race winner in the Italian F4 Championship. Career Karting Malvestiti was born in Monz ...

, Giacomo Bianchi and

Job van Uitert Job van Uitert (born 10 October 1998 in Dongen) is a racing driver from the Netherlands. He is currently racing in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing. Early career Beginnings and Mazda MX-5 Cup Having come from a ...

. Maini's sophomore year would prove to be more successful, with two podiums at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, as well as a slew of top five finishes helping him finish eighth in the end results.

Progression in single-seaters

2018

In 2018 the Indian driver stepped up to the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

with Lanan Racing. The season ended up being a breakthrough year, winning the reversed-grid race at Rockingham and scoring seven further podiums, which meant that Maini would end up third in the standings.

2019

The following year, Maini switched to the

with M2 Competition. He hit the ground running with a podium in his first race at

, but was unable to replicate such result again throughout the season. He was a consistent points scorer though, and came sixth in the standings with 102 points, as the second highest placed rookie.

2020

Initially intending to remain in the Eurocup in 2020 with 3-time champions

R-ace GP R-ace GP is an auto racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsport, specifically those involving Renault. They are currently competing in the Formula Regional European Championship, Italian F4 and ADAC F4. History R-ace GP was f ...

, the Indian changed his plans following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and returned to the British F3 series, teaming up with

Hitech Grand Prix Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

. Maini finished second in the standings, having won three races throughout the year.

2021

Maini began 2021 competing for new Indian outfit

Mumbai Falcons Mumbai Falcons is an Indian motorsports team established by Ameet Harjinder Gadhoke, Navjeet Singh Gadhoke and Teja Ranade Gadhoke in November 2019. Moid Tungekar is the CEO of Mumbai Falcons. Its main headquarters is located in Pune, Maharashtr ...

in the

F3 Asian Championship The Formula Regional Asian Championship is an FIA-certified regional Formula 3 racing series, which started in 2018. On 26 January 2018 it was confirmed that pan-Asian promoter Top Speed would organise the championship. Despite using Formula Reg ...

during the winter, partnering Formula 2 driver

Jehan Daruvala Jehan Daruvala (born 1 October 1998) is an Indian racing driver currently serving as a reserve driver for the Mahindra Racing Formula E team. He was a protégé of the Force India F1 team, after being one of three winners of a 'One in a Billio ...

. He endured a tough start to the season, but a run of seven points finishes in the last nine races, including a podium at the last round in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, moved him up to 11th place in the standings. He was unable to find a full-time drive for the main season, his sole other race of the year coming at the 6 Hours of Bahrain of the

2021 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship was the ninth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The serie ...

, as a one-off replacement in

ARC Bratislava Autoracing Club Bratislava, also known as ARC Bratislava, is an auto racing team based in Slovakia. The team is led by Miro Konôpka, who has been driving for the team since its inception. ARC Bratislava are currently known for competing in the ...

's LMP2 squad. FIA F3 Austria 2022 Nr

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Maini progressed to the

FIA Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 Championship is a third-tier international single-seater racing championship and organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for the FIA Formula 1 W ...

in 2022, driving alongside

Caio Collet Caio Jotta Collet (born 3 April 2002) is a Brazilian racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for MP Motorsport. He is the 2018 French F4 Championship champion and a member of the Alpine Academy. Career Ka ...

and Alexander Smolyar at

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport (previously Marcel Peters Motorsport) is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team has also participated in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europea ...

. Maini was quoted as saying that he was "excited to join MP Motorsport for isfirst year in FIA F3", and that the team's results the previous year showed "their ability to coach rookie drivers on their way to immediately performing well in the series". He started his season off by qualifying in third place in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, however Maini would be forced to start from the back of the grid for both races due to him missing the weighbridge during the session. At the next round in

, Maini scored his first points of the season with a fifth-placed finish. More points followed at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

, where Maini lost out on the podium to

Reece Ushijima Reece Ushijima (born 13 January 2003) is a Japanese-American racing driver who is currently racing in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with Jay Howard Driver Development. He previously competed in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Van ...

in the sprint race. Maini would experience his best result of the season in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, finishing third on Saturday, thus scoring his only podium of the year, and seventh on Sunday. However, this would end up being his final points finish of the year, as Maini ended up 14th in the drivers' standings.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In November 2022, Maini was confirmed to drive for

in the 2023 F2 season, also taking part in the 2022 Formula 2 post-season test at the

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina was ...

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.
^† As Maini was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F3 Asian Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maini, Kush Living people 2000 births Indian racing drivers BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers F3 Asian Championship drivers Sportspeople from Bangalore Italian F4 Championship drivers ADAC Formula 4 drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers BVM Racing drivers Jenzer Motorsport drivers M2 Competition drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers MP Motorsport drivers Karting World Championship drivers Prema Powerteam drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Campos Racing drivers Mumbai Falcons drivers