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A lot of untapped potential: ART Grand Prix Season Preview
ART Grand Prix head into this upcoming FIA Formula 2 season looking to bounce back from a tricky 2025 campaign, statistically their toughest in the Championship.
But that does not tell the full story, as while the record shows eighth in the Standings with 127 points, there are a lot of positives for them to build on. Brought in to help them do that is Kush Maini and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.
Just two seasons removed from their double Championship victory, could this pairing help the French outfit get back on top?
CONVERTING PACE INTO POINTS
ART will have gone into the offseason wondering how they did not score more points, podiums, and victories than they did.
Their car, especially in the hands of Victor Martins, was outstanding over one lap, with the Frenchman in the top three in eight out of the 14 rounds – two of those being Pole Positions in Melbourne and Silverstone.
However, they struggled to convert those into podiums, with the team scoring four across the season. Martins achieved three of them, including their lone victory at the Lusail Feature Race.
There were several reasons for this, but speaking in Qatar two days prior to his first win of the season, Martins said they had worked hard to improve their package, even if the points table did not show that.
That positive momentum continued at post-season testing, with Maini and Inthraphuvasak both expressing how happy they were with the car and how the team was performing.
They will be back in the car next month for pre-season action in Barcelona, ahead of opening round in Melbourne, so what can we expect from the duo this year?
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TWO RACE-WINNING DRIVERS
It is all change at ART and this year they bring two drivers to the grid who had race-winning seasons in 2025.
For Inthraphuvasak, he impressed in what was his second campaign in Formula 3 last year, winning three races – second most behind Champion Rafael Câmara.
The Thai driver wound up finishing seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, and impressed with his consistency, as he was the only driver on the grid to complete every racing lap.
While Inthraphuvasak’s speed would have caught ART’s eye, it would have also been the level of progression they saw from his rookie campaign to his second, as he took a major step forward in 2025.
The 20-year-old will also come into the season with some experience of an F2 race weekend, after competing at the final round of the year in Abu Dhabi.
This means Inthraphuvasak will have gotten a feel for the racing, as well as all the procedures, giving him a head start ahead of Round 1 in Melbourne.
The rookie will also be able to learn from the driver in the car next to him, with Maini returning for a fourth season in the Championship.
The Indian driver has achieved seven podiums during his time in F2, including two victories, winning the Monte Carlo Sprint Race in 2025.
Maini’s experience should be of great help to ART, not only on the track, but also off the track, in terms of giving feedback to the team during debriefs and his work in the simulator.
On the track, the 25-year-old will be feeling confident after a good day driving for the Alpine F1 Team at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, and positive three days of running in F2.
Maini has shown strong pace in all three of his seasons in F2, and will be confident of doing so again with ART this year. The French outfit will be optimistic that their two drivers can lead their large back up the Standings.