Interview
‘I feel like myself again’ – Maini on rediscovering his confidence with ART in 2026
Kush Maini acknowledges that the 2026 season is his “last chance” to win consistently in Formula 2, but says he is mainly focused on rediscovering his best form with ART Grand Prix this year.
The Indian driver kicked off his fourth campaign in the Championship earlier this month in Melbourne. He qualified seventh, but different issues in both races saw him miss out on points.
Speaking prior to Round 1 getting underway, Maini, who has achieved a pole position, two wins and seven podiums in F2, previewed the season.
“I feel good, I think my experience in this championship is quite high now,” he said. “I've got wins, poles, fastest laps, podiums, but not consistently for whatever reason.
“Last year was very difficult for me to get comfortable with the car and for it to click, but the end of season test with ART was mega.
“I felt like myself again and I felt like everything was clicking again and we were very fast again. Going into the winter knowing that there's a lot of untapped potential which I want to show this year. I'm just fortunate, glad, and lucky to be a part of the grid again.”
When asked whether consistency is his main focus this year, Maini responded: “It's strange because my first season in F2 we were fighting for poles almost every race weekend and consistently in the points for the first half of the year.
“It's tough to get everything right in this championship. It's a very tricky championship to put together. This year I would say is my last chance, but I'm just going to enjoy it.
“I just want to feel fast again, feel like myself again, which I haven't felt for a while. I felt it in Abu Dhabi and I just want to carry that feeling and enjoy this year.”
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Maini admits that his form in 2025 where he scored points in just six of the 27 races hit his confidence very hard. However, a strong winter test for ART and the Alpine F1 Team have helped him recapture that trust in himself.
“The toughest thing is as a driver when you give your life to this and it's not coming, but you know what you're capable of,” he explained. “That belief is still there for me, and Abu Dhabi showed me that even when I was at my lowest of lows.
“Obviously, anything can happen in F2, we can go through tough times again and again, but I think I'm ready for anything that comes to be honest.
“ART are a team that's been one of the best and for me they still are. They've been through a rough patch, same as me. It's nice to find each other when we're both at a low and fight our way back to the top.
“Obviously, last year, 2025, was probably my worst year overall. Nothing came together and at the end I had a lot of self-doubt. But at my lowest, jumping into an official Formula 1 session with some of the best drivers in the world knowing that I was quick and, on the money, and the team was very happy with the performance.
“Knowing that I could do that just gave me a lot of confidence back and then I took that into the F2 test and that proved it again. It's sort of like going into the winter, from being at rock bottom, I sort of got a bit of a float, kept the belief and worked hard.”
While Round 1 did not go as planned for Maini, his approach to this season will not change, the Alpine Academy member using his experience to adopt a new mindset for 2026.
“The last three years I've set goals to be honest,” he explained. “But what I've learned from F2 is that there's always a spanner in the works in this championship. Anything can happen.
“There are times when you can be P1 in one track and then one week later you go to another track and you're P20 and you don't know why. It's a championship where I think all we can do is control how we do and as long as I do that, I'm happy and we'll see what happens.”