Arjun Maini will continue as a Haas F1 Team development driver in 2018 while simultaneously competing in his first full season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Team Trident.
Maini, a 20-year-old from Bengaluru, India, will work with 19-year-old American Santino Ferrucci. Both are Haas F1 Team development drivers and both compete for Team Trident. Each will be embedded with Haas F1 Team at every opportunity, attending races and tests throughout the year.
“I’m extremely proud to be a part of Haas F1 Team,” Maini said. “Being involved with an F1 program has really accelerated my learning in terms of what I need to do on the racetrack and with my engineers. In fact, it’s already helped me transition from GP3 to F2. I’m one step closer to my goal of competing in Formula One thanks to Haas F1 Team’s support.”
Maini joined Haas in 2017. On the weekend of his signing, promptly won his first GP3 race – at Catalunya. He completed his first full season of GP3 ninth in the championship standings with 72 points. Maini competed in 14 of the 18 GP3 races in 2016 and despite missing the first four races, he finished 10th in points with a best finish of second, earned July 23 at the Hungaroring in Budapest.
Arjun Maini will continue as a Haas F1 Team development driver in 2018
“Arjun enjoyed a breakout season in GP3 last year and we’re keeping a close watch on his progress this year in F2,” said, Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team. “He has a history of finding success at every level in which he’s competed and we’re supportive of his efforts as he steps up to F2.”
Maini recently completed an F2 test March 21-24 at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir where he set the fastest time on the second day. The F2 season opener is April 7-8 at Bahrain.
Maini’s path to Formula One began in 2007 when he won the Rotax Mini Max National Championship. Numerous wins and podiums followed before Maini began the transition to open-wheel machines. He won the 2013 Formula BMW Super Six Series in Asia. Maini also finished second overall in the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 championship with four wins, 10 podiums, five poles and six fastest laps. In 2015, Maini competed in the Toyota Racing Series New Zealand. There he finished fourth in the standings with two wins, five podiums, three poles and two fastest laps. That performance led him to GP3 in 2016.
Arjun Maini to race with @trident_team in the @FIA_F2 2018 season!#TeamAnnouncement #ArjunMaini pic.twitter.com/OlTfpq3K5d
— Arjun Maini (@ArjunMaini_) February 21, 2018
