Arjun Maini

Arjun Maini
Maini in 2022
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1997-12-10) 10 December 1997 (age 26) Bangalore, India
Related to	Kush Maini (brother) Chetan Maini (uncle)
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2018
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Car number	14
Former teams	Trident, Campos Racing
Starts	29
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	16th in 2018
Previous series
2016-17 2015–16	GP3 Series FIA Formula 3 European Championship

Arjun Maini (born 10 December 1997) ^[1] is an Indian professional racing driver, currently competing in the DTM. ^[2] He has previously also competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing and Campos Racing. ^[3] He was the winner of Force India's 'One in a Billion' driver hunt in 2011. ^[4]

Early life

Maini comes from a family of racers. His brother Kush is also a racer competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Invicta Virtuosi Racing, and his father, Gautam, raced in the National Racing Championship in the late 1990s, at the Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine. ^{[5] [6]} The teenager first fell in love with motorsport when his father gave him an electric car. Maini received his first go-kart, an 80cc Comer Kart at the age of 5.

Maini's uncle Chetan Maini is an Indian business magnate best known for building India's first electric car, REVA, ^[7] and as the Founder of Reva Electric Car Company Ltd, now Mahindra Electric Mobility Limited, where he served as an advisor. ^[8]

He idolises Sebastian Vettel and in his free time enjoys wrestling, cycling, fitness activities and video editing. ^[9]

Career

Karting

Maini received his first go-kart, an 80cc Comer Kart, at the age of 5. At the young age of 8, Maini won his first two championships, the MRF Mini Max Championship in both the Rotax class and the 4-stroke Cadet class in his first year of racing. After his first titles, Maini raced on foreign soil for the first time in the Asia Max championship, which led to immediate success. ^[10] In 2008, Maini became the youngest Indian to win a kart race abroad by winning the Malaysian Royal Kelatan Kart Prix held in 2008. ^[5]

Maini was the youngest driver to take part in the J.K. Tyre Rotax Max Junior Max National championship at the age of 11. He was selected by the Red Rooster Racing Team in 2009. ^[10] He then took part in the Rotax Max Challenge India - Junior in 2010 and finished in 2nd place, with the highest number of fastest laps. ^[11] Maini's major breakthrough came in 2011 where he won the J.K.Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship title in the Junior Max category and followed this up by becoming the Sahara Force India team's One from a Billion winner. He was also the winner of AKOC race in Macau as well as the Ask KF3 Race in Elite, Malaysia. He finished second overall in the AKS Malaysian Championship 2011. ^{[10] [11]}

In his penultimate year of karting, Maini finished a creditable fifth in the ROK Cup International Final in Junior ROK category. Maini was awarded the best rookie at Rowrah while racing in the MSA British Karting Championship. He also finished in second place in Junior category in the Indonesia Kart Prix 2012 along with first place in the Junior max category in Rotax Invitational Karting Race held at Kuala Lumpur. ^[10]

Lower formulas

Maini then stepped up into cars in 2013. He finished runner up in the J.K.Tyre Racing Series championship, winning two races at the Buddh International Circuit as well as winning the Malaysian Super 6 Series. He also competed in the WSK Euro and Master karting in the KF category. ^[10]

In 2014, he then went on to compete in the BRDC Formula 4 championship; finishing second overall and missing out on the championship by 3 points to teammate George Russell. He finished the championship with 8 wins and 9 podium finishes. He was also the highest ranked Indian driver in the Driver Database ^[9]

Maini at the GP3 race at the 2017 Belgian GP

At the beginning of 2015 Maini showed remarkable pace in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand en route to a 4th overall in the championship with two wins, five podiums and 3 poles. He also finished 4th overall in Race 2 of the Pau Grand Prix. However, a learning year in the FIA European Formula 3 series meant he could only manage 18th overall and 9th in the rookie class. Maini did manage to end the season on a high, finishing 10th at the Macau Grand Prix. ^[12]

GP3 Series

2016

Maini with the Russian Time team at the Abu Dhabi F2 post season test

In 2016, Maini raced for Jenzer Motorsport in the GP3 series, he finished the season in 10th position in the championship despite missing the first 4 races. He also became the first Indian to secure a podium in the GP3 series at Hungaroring, after finishing 2nd. ^[13] Maini also raced in the Macau GP for Team Motopark.

2017

Maini signed for Jenzer again in 2017, for his second stint in the GP3 Series. He scored two podiums, including a victory in the sprint race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and ended up 9th in the championship, two positions behind teammate Alessio Lorandi.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

At the end of 2017 he took part in a post season test in Abu Dhabi with F2 teams Trident and Russian Time. ^[14]

2018

Maini signed for Trident Racing in the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, partnering fellow Haas F1 Team development driver Santino Ferrucci.

While driving in a race at Circuit Paul Ricard, Maini said over the radio that the car lacked power and tearfully claimed people didn't believe him and didn't support him, and that Formula 2 was not providing good equipment. ^{[15] [16]} The Trident team analyzed data and agreed and approached F2, and Maini was given a new engine shortly after. ^[17]

Later that season, teammate Ferrucci ran Maini off the track in a race at Silverstone Circuit and then crashed into the back of Maini's car later in the same race after the checkered flag had been waved, both of which were found to be deliberate actions, and Trident apologized to Maini. ^[18] Ferrucci also "appeared to mock" Maini on Twitter over Maini's rant about the car's power. ^[19]

Ferrucci was banned for several races and was fired by Trident shortly thereafter, due to these incidents and others. ^{[20] [21]}

2019

Maini with Campos Racing at the 2019 Spielberg Formula 2 round, replacing Dorian Boccolacci

Maini replaced Dorian Boccolacci at Campos Racing in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship at Spielberg. He raced in six races, scoring no points, before being replaced by Marino Sato.

Formula One

In May 2017, it was announced that the Haas F1 Team signed Maini as a development driver. ^[22] He remained in his role throughout 2018. ^[23]

Endurance racing

Maini changed from single seaters to Endurance racing in the European Le Mans Series with RLR M SPORT. He also competed in the prestigious 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as competing in the Asian Le Mans Series where he won the first race at Shanghai International Circuit.

DTM

In 2021 Maini joined the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters driving for Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed. He picked up his first podium finish in the series at the Norisring. This was also the first podium finish by an Indian in the history of the series. He switched to Mercedes-AMG Haupt Racing Team for the 2022 season, achieving two 4th-place finishes. He stayed with the team for 2023.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2010	Rotax Max Challenge India — Junior		2nd
2011	ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK		19th
	National Rotax Max Championship India — Junior		1st
	Asian Karting Open Championship — Formula 125 Junior Open		8th
2012	Trofeo delle Industrie — KF3	Baby Race	NC
	ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK		5th
	CIK-FIA Academy Trophy		38th
2013	WSK Super Master Series — KFJ		41st
	Trofeo Andrea Margutti — KFJ		17th

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2013	AsiaCup Series	Meritus.GP	12	0	?	1	4	108	4th
	JK Racing India Series	EuroInternational	12	2	4	3	10	198	2nd
2014	BRDC Formula 4 Championship	Lanan Racing	24	4	0	6	9	480	2nd
2015	FIA Formula 3 European Championship	Van Amersfoort Racing	33	0	0	0	0	27	18th
	Macau Grand Prix	T-Sport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	10th
	Toyota Racing Series	M2 Competition	16	2	3	2	5	732	4th
2016	GP3 Series	Jenzer Motorsport	14	0	0	0	1	50	10th
	FIA Formula 3 European Championship	Threebond with T-Sport	12	0	0	0	0	3	21st
2017	GP3 Series	Jenzer Motorsport	15	1	0	1	2	69	9th
	Formula One	Haas F1 Team	Development driver
2018	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Trident	23	0	0	0	0	24	16th
	Formula One	Haas F1 Team	Development driver
2019	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Campos Racing	6	0	0	0	0	0	24th
	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	RLR MSport	6	0	0	0	0	5.5	21st
	Macau Grand Prix	Jenzer Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	23rd
2019–20	Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2	RLR MSport	2	1	1	2	1	26	5th
2020	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	Algarve Pro Racing	2	0	0	0	0	8	22nd
2021	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-AMG Team Getspeed	15	0	0	0	1	48	12th
	Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2	Racing Team India	4	0	0	0	0	42	6th
2022	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	15	0	0	0	0	24	19th
	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	Bilstein Haupt Racing Team	4	0	0	0	0	16	9th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Haupt Racing Team	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Gold			0	0	0	2	56	5th
	Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - V6	Team Mathol Racing e.V.	0	0	1	0	0	0	NC†
	Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT3			0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2023	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	16	0	0	0	0	30	20th
	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	Haupt Racing Team	4	0	0	0	0	6	15th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup		5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Bronze Cup			1	0	0	3	89	2nd
	ADAC GT Masters		4	0	1	0	1	41	13th
	Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9		3	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9	Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein by HRT	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	8th
2024	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	16	0	1	0	3	139	7th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Haupt Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	0*	NC*
	Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9	Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein by HRT	3	0	0	1	1	*	*
		Team ADVAN x HRT
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein by HRT
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	11th
	GT World Challenge America - Pro-Am	Triple Eight JMR

Complete BRDC Formula 4 Championship results

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

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2014	Lanan Racing	SIL1 1 8	SIL1 2 11	SIL1 3 2	BRH1 1 2	BRH1 2 4	BRH1 3 4	SNE1 1 8	SNE1 2 1	SNE1 3 4	OUL 1 7	OUL 2 1	OUL 3 Ret	SIL2 1 3	SIL2 2 8	SIL2 3 4	BRH2 1 3	BRH2 2 2	BRH2 3 1	DON 1 4	DON 2 4	DON 3 1	SNE2 1 8	SNE2 2 5	SNE2 3 5	2nd	480

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

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

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2015	M2 Competition	RUA 1 2	RUA 2 6	RUA 3 2	TER 1 9	TER 2 7	TER 3 4	HMP 1 1	HMP 2 16	HMP 3 4	TAU 1 12	TAU 2 14	TAU 3 4	TAU 4 1	MAN 1 2	MAN 2 17	MAN 3 14	4th	750

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	DC	Points
2015	Van Amersfoort Racing	Volkswagen	SIL 1 Ret	SIL 2 14	SIL 3 16	HOC 1 15	HOC 2 Ret	HOC 3 13	PAU 1 12	PAU 2 4	PAU 3 5	MNZ 1 10	MNZ 2 20	MNZ 3 20	SPA 1 17	SPA 2 23	SPA 3 16	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 14	NOR 3 17	ZAN 1 13	ZAN 2 15	ZAN 3 17	RBR 1 21	RBR 2 15	RBR 3 22	ALG 1 28	ALG 2 24	ALG 3 16	NÜR 1 8	NÜR 2 12	NÜR 3 16	HOC 1 29	HOC 2 14	HOC 3 17	18th	27
2016	Threebond with T-Sport	Threebond	LEC 1 Ret	LEC 2 13	LEC 3 16																															21st	3
		NBE				HUN 1 14	HUN 2 15	HUN 3 15	PAU 1 18	PAU 2 10	PAU 3 9	RBR 1 Ret	RBR 2 Ret	RBR 3 18	NOR 1	NOR 2	NOR 3	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	ZAN 3	SPA 1	SPA 2	SPA 3	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	NÜR 3	IMO 1	IMO 2	IMO 3	HOC 1	HOC 2	HOC 3

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2016	Jenzer Motorsport	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	RBR FEA	RBR SPR	SIL FEA 8	SIL SPR 19	HUN FEA 8	HUN SPR 2	HOC FEA 7	HOC SPR 5	SPA FEA Ret	SPA SPR 16	MNZ FEA 14	MNZ SPR 6	SEP FEA 4	SEP SPR 7	YMC FEA 14	YMC SPR 14	10th	50
2017	Jenzer Motorsport	CAT FEA 7	CAT SPR 1	RBR FEA 10	RBR SPR 16	SIL FEA 6	SIL SPR 5	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 8	SPA FEA 4	SPA SPR 6	MNZ FEA 16†	MNZ SPR C	JER FEA 17	JER SPR 12	YMC FEA 3	YMC SPR 6			9th	72

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

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)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2018	Trident	BHR FEA 15	BHR SPR 14	BAK FEA Ret	BAK SPR 5	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 13	MON FEA 5	MON SPR 5	LEC FEA 10	LEC SPR 13	RBR FEA 14	RBR SPR 10	SIL FEA 14	SIL SPR 13	HUN FEA 12	HUN SPR 14	SPA FEA 14	SPA SPR 8	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 9	SOC FEA 15	SOC SPR 15	YMC FEA Ret	YMC SPR DNS	16th	24
2019	Campos Racing	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	BAK FEA	BAK SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	LEC FEA	LEC SPR	RBR SPR DSQ	RBR SPR 15	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 13	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 16	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SOC FEA	SOC SPR	YMC FEA	YMC SPR	24th	0

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2019	RLR MSport	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC 8	MNZ Ret	CAT 13	SIL Ret	SPA 14	ALG 15	21st	5.5
2020	Algarve Pro Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC	SPA	LEC	MNZ 8	ALG 8		22nd	8

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2019	RLR M Sport/Tower Events	John Farano Norman Nato	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	295	NC	NC

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Points
2021	Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	MNZ 1 13	MNZ 2 Ret	LAU 1 Ret	LAU 2 12	ZOL 1 Ret	ZOL 2 DNS	NÜR 1 10	NÜR 2 13	RBR 1 6	RBR 2 7	ASS 1 Ret	ASS 2 13	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 8	NOR 1 2	NOR 2 6	12th	48
2022	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	ALG 1 17	ALG 2 13	LAU 1 4	LAU 2 13	IMO 1 16	IMO 2 18	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 14	NÜR 1 15	NÜR 2 14	SPA 1 14	SPA 2 11	RBR 1 13	RBR 2 4	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 DNS	19th	24
2023	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	OSC 1 Ret	OSC 2 15	ZAN 1 17	ZAN 2 17	NOR 1 13	NOR 2 15	NÜR 1 16	NÜR 2 DSQ	LAU 1 Ret	LAU 2 14	SAC 1 13	SAC 2 7	RBR 1 14	RBR 2 10	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 13	20th	30
2024	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	OSC 1 83	OSC 2 4	LAU 1 7	LAU 2 12	ZAN 1 33	ZAN 2 6	NOR 1 15	NOR 2 4	NÜR 1 10	NÜR 2 Ret	SAC 1 5	SAC 2 Ret	RBR 1 31	RBR 2 3	HOC 1 8	HOC 2 13	7th	139

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos.	Points
2022	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Gold	IMO 23	LEC Ret	SPA 6H 19	SPA 12H 31†	SPA 24H Ret	HOC 17	CAT 36	5th	56
2023	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Bronze	MNZ 18	LEC 14	SPA 6H 36	SPA 12H 34	SPA 24H 24	NÜR 24	CAT 25	2nd	89
2024	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Gold	LEC 47	SPA 6H 47	SPA 12H 40	SPA 24H 17	NÜR 19	MNZ 22	JED	3rd*	76*

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pos.	Points
2022	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	SP9	NLS1	NLS2	NLS3	NLS4	NLS5 6	NLS6	NLS7	NLS8 DNS	NLS9	NC†	0
2023	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	SP9	NLS1 11	NLS2 16	NLS3	NLS4	NLS5	NLS6	NLS7	NLS8	NLS9 9	NC†	0
2024	Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein by HRT	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	SP9	NLS1	NLS2	24H-Q1 13	24H-Q2 14	NLS3	NLS4	NLS5	NLS6		*	*
	Team Advan x HRT			NLS1	NLS2	24H-Q1	24H-Q2	NLS3 3	NLS4	NLS5	NLS6		*	*

^†As Maini was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete ADAC GT Masters results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2023	Haupt Racing Team	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	HOC 1 6	HOC 2 21	NOR 1	NOR 2	NÜR 1 12	NÜR 2 12	SAC 1	SAC 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	HOC 1	HOC 2	13th	41

References

1. "Arjun Maini | Young Drivers | British Racing Drivers' Club". www.brdc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
2. "GetSpeeds Schlüssel zum Einstieg: Ex-Haas-Tester soll erster DTM-Inder werden". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 25 March 2021.
3. "Arjun Maini - GP3 Series". www.gp3series.com. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
4. "Arjun Maini wins Force India's One in a Billion driver hunt | Formula 1 News". NDTVSports.com. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
5. "Maini siblings on fast track". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
6. "Arjun and Kush Maini: India's answer to Schumacher brothers? - Firstpost". Firstpost. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
7. "Formula 1: How Arjun Maini went from talented rookie to Haas F1 Team's development driver - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
8. "Chetan Maini: Back in the electric mobility business | Forbes India". Forbes India. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
9. "Arjun Maini - JK Tyre Motorsport". www.jktyremotorsport.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
10. "Arjun Maini". Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
11. "Rotax Max Challenge India - Junior 2010 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
12. Achal, Ashwin (7 June 2015). "On track to Formula One". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 3 October 2016.
13. "Driver Database".
14. "Arjun Maini tests with Formula 2 champion team Russian Time". hindustantimes.com/. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
15. "Maini: F2 "killing our careers" with new car issues", Motorsport.com
16. "F2 France: Haas F1 junior driver Arjun Maini delivers foul-mouthed tirade on team radio", Fox Sports Australia
17. "Haas F1 junior Arjun Maini gets new engine from Formula 2", Autosport.com
18. "Trident apologises to Maini after team mate Ferrucci receives four-race ban". 8 July 2018.
19. "Trident apologises to Maini after team mate Ferrucci receives four-race ban"
20. "Trident F2 Shows Santino Ferrucci the Door for Ramming Teammate", The Drive
21. "Trident F2 team ready to take action against dropped Ferrucci", Autosport
22. "Haas sign Indian racer Arjun Maini". Formula1.com. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
23. "Maini to continue in Haas development role". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 March 2018.

External links

• Website
• Arjun Maini career summary at DriverDB.com