Kush Maini

Kush Maini ( Kannada pronunciation : [kuʃ ˈmai.ni]; born 22 September 2000) is an Indian racing driver who is currently competing in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship with Invicta Racing, having previously driven for Campos Racing in 2023. He has previously competed in Formula 4, the Formula Renault Eurocup, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, and FIA Formula 3. He is a member of the Alpine Academy and the reserve driver for Mahindra Racing in Formula E.

He is the younger brother of Arjun Maini, also a racing driver who competed in GP3 and Formula 2, and the nephew of Indian business magnate Chetan Maini. Maini is also mentored by two-time Formula One champion Mika Häkkinen.

2016
Maini started his single-seater career in 2016, competing for BVM Racing in the Italian F4 Championship. 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. He finished the season 16th in the standings and ended up fifth in the rookies' championship.

2017
For 2017 Maini moved to Jenzer Motorsport, once again racing in Italian F4, partnering Giorgio Carrara, Federico Malvestiti, Giacomo Bianchi and Job van Uitert. Maini's sophomore year would prove to be more successful, with two podiums at Imola and Monza, as well as a slew of top five finishes helping him finish eighth in the end results.

2018
In 2018 the Indian driver stepped up to the British Formula 3 Championship 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 Formula Renault Eurocup with M2 Competition. He hit the ground running with a podium in his first race at Monza, 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, the Indian changed his plans following the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to the British F3 series, teaming up with Hitech Grand Prix. Maini was sustained in a title fight with rival Kaylen Frederick, winning three races that season in Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Snetterton. It allowed to place second in the standings.

2021
Maini began 2021 competing for new Indian outfit Mumbai Falcons in the F3 Asian Championship during the winter, partnering Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala. 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, 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, as a one-off replacement in ARC Bratislava's LMP2 squad.

FIA Formula 3 Championship
Maini progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2022, driving alongside Caio Collet and Alexander Smolyar at MP Motorsport. Maini was quoted as saying that he was "excited to join MP Motorsport for [his] first 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, 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 Imola, Maini scored his first points of the season with a fifth-placed finish. More points followed at Silverstone, where Maini lost out on the podium to Reece Ushijima in the sprint race. Qualifying sixth in Hungary, Maini would experience his best weekend of the season. He finished third on Saturday, after a mistake from Isack Hadjar ahead, thus scoring his only podium of the year. He followed it up with seventh in the feature race. However, this would end up being his final points finish of the year, as Maini ended up 14th in the drivers' standings with 31 points.

2023
In November 2022, Maini was confirmed to drive for Campos Racing in the 2023 F2 season, also taking part in the 2022 Formula 2 post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit. He qualified sixth in the Bahrain season opener He made a storming start in the feature race to second, but was later overtaken by teammate Ralph Boschung and late in the race by Zane Maloney, finishing fourth in the end. Fifth place in the Jeddah sprint race boosting him as the highest rookie in the standings, before securing his first and only podium in the Melbourne sprint race after scrapping with Arthur Leclerc. He finished ninth in the feature race. Baku was relatively superb, scoring a huge haul of points with a fourth and fifth place, lifting him to fifth in the standings early on. The next round in Monaco started on a wrong note, being spun on the opening lap in the sprint. Nonetheless, a timely red flag salvaged his weekend, and was able to finish the feature race in sixth place, having not yet changed his tyres prior.

However, Maini endured his first non-scoring round in Barcelona. He too was also unable to in the following two rounds due to incidents and Campos' declining race pace, despite achieving top-4 in both qualifying sessions. He returned to the points with sixth in the Budapest sprint race, despite starting on reverse pole. In a chaotic Spa-Francorchamps feature race, Maini advanced to the points, with eighth place. He returned to his qualifying form in Monza, securing sixth. Finishing fifth in the sprint race, he was set for more in the feature race but retired after a collision with Jak Crawford, which broke the Indian driver's front wing. Maini qualified third for the Yas Marina season finale. After accruing a penalty for spinning out Juan Manuel Correa in the sprint, he endured a scruffy feature race saw Maini slip down to ninth place as the chequered flag fell.

Maini ended the season 11th in the drivers' standings, scoring 62 points and one podium, even finishing ahead of countryman and F2 veteran Jehan Daruvala.

2024
For his second season in the category, Maini switched to Invicta Racing in 2024 alongside reigning Formula 3 champion and McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto. Maini started the season in Bahrain with the fastest lap time in qualifying, but was disqualified due to a technical infringement. After finishing thirteenth in the sprint, Maini starred in an impressive recovery drive in the feature race, making up fourteen places for seventh place.

At the next round in Jeddah, Maini qualified second next to Oliver Bearman, but was later promoted to pole position after Bearman skipped the round to participate in the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Formula One
In October 2023, Maini was announced to be joining the Alpine Academy. Maini experienced his maiden F1 test at the Red Bull Ring, getting behind the wheel of the Alpine A522, describing it as "a dream come true".

Formula E
In November 2023, Maini was confirmed to be the reserve driver for Mahindra Racing for the 2023–24 Formula E season. He took part in the Berlin rookie test with the team later that year

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

Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † As Maini was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete F3 Asian Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (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
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
 * Season still in progress.