Arjun Maini: “In India, motorsport is still growing a lot…”

For a country boasting a population of over 1.2 billion people – the second most populous nation on Earth – India has been under-represented at the top table of international motorsport. In Formula 1’s 68-year history, only two Indian drivers have taken to the stage: Narain Karthikeyan was the first to make it into the big time with the former Jordan team, before Karun Chandhok made his debut with Hispania five years later.

Arjun Maini is looking to be the third.

Having burst onto the GP3 Series scene midway through 2016, Maini scored points first time out at Silverstone with the Jenzer Motorsport team, proving to be a consistent fixture within the top ten throughout the remainder of the year. Remaining with the Swiss outfit in the following season, Maini secured his first victory in the second Barcelona race, once again impressing ahead of a step up to F2 with the crack Trident team.

How’s the step up been so far? Maini is positive that, after a season-and-a-half of GP3, he came into F2 with a good grounding in how to perform in a higher-level championship.

“It was interesting!” Maini laughs. “For me, the step from GP3 to F2 was a lot easier because the tyres have the same behaviour and that’s the main thing when you come from something like Formula 3, it’s the Pirelli tyres you need to get used to. I managed to make the step quite well, and in the Abu Dhabi post-season test – sure, it was with the old car – but I managed to get to grips with it really quickly.

“When I jumped into the new car, I was feeling comfortable straight away. What GP3 helped me with was the knowledge of the tyres in qualifying and how to bring them in, and how important it is to get them in the working window as they have a really narrow window.

“The difficult thing for me has been the actual races, the pitstops and just managing that; the amount of time you can lose on an outlap from the pits or from your inlap is unbelievable, and that’s the main thing I’ve found difficult. The actual driving, it’s a bigger car but it’s not as hard as the other things like pitstops, and the first lap and start performance.”

It’s also safe to say that Maini’s been enjoying his time in F2 so far, and the Bangalore-born ace waxed lyrical about his time in the F2 2018 car. Showing flashes of pace in pre-season – topping the second day of testing at Bahrain – Maini also drew first blood in the 2018 season proper, taking the honours at the top of the timing boards in the opening free practice session of the year.

“It’s been exciting; to be honest, the pre-season testing went really well and better than anything I’ve ever had in any of my other seasons or in my career of racing. I was really looking forward to the season with the new car, I couldn’t wait to get started and ever since it’s been up and down. There’s been a lot of parts which have been really good for me, and other parts where we’ve been really unlucky or not really had the pace to challenge.

“I really like the car and I’ve enjoyed every minute of driving the car so far – some people have complained about the way the cars and the engines are, but to be honest I just like how you’re meant to drive the car. I liked the old car as well, but I feel a little more comfotable with this one. It’s fun to drive, it’s bigger and it just feels great.”

“After pre-season we were looking really, really strong, so I’m sure we can get back to that form. Monaco has been a big step up for us, but the potential for me is much higher. If I can start consistently getting top threes and top five results, then I’d be really happy. We’re all working towards that and I’m trying to improve my driving to deliver good qualifying results.

“My style usually benefits from having a few days, but you don’t have that in F2 and I’m arriving at the limit a bit late, so I’m working on that with the team.” Maini’s also had to settle into Trident too, whom he describes as “a really good team in terms of professionalism" and “a great group of people”, having joined fellow Haas F1 development driver Santino Ferrucci at the Italian outfit. Linking up with Haas team last year, Maini was retained by the American squad for another season, and was happy to tell us what his role entails.

“The main thing is quite a bit of simulator work, like last year – I was doing it from the middle towards the end of the season with them, and it’s a lot of getting involved in the debriefs and other areas. Of course, Santino’s had more to do with that side because he’s actually driven the car and I’ve only done the simulator work. But this usually comes when they’re testing parts and we don’t have too much to do!”

Are there any specific targets? Maini suggests that both sides understand the capricious nature of motorsport, and that his focus is simply on performing the best that he can.

“Of course, they expect you perform well – and I expect the same of myself – but if it’s a weekend when there’s something wrong…it’s so difficult in racing to say ‘you have to be like this’ all the time. Just look at George Russell in this (Monaco) weekend, he didn’t even get a chance to practice and look where he is on the grid. It’s difficult to put certain results on it, but when you’re performing and you know you’re doing a good job then the Formula 1 guys look at you. It’s just about getting myself in the window, picking the bar up higher and getting my confidence up.”

With Maini pursuing his goal of becoming India’s third F1 hopeful, he’s enlisted the aid of Chandhok, who works as a manager and as a mentor to his younger compatriot.

“Karun has played a big part in my career from the beginning. He’s opened up the path for me and paved the way, and his advice in itself is so meaningful, especially as he’s obviously been to Formula 1 so he knows what he’s doing. “He’s always guiding us into the right places, helping us choose teams and in other work during the off-season – he used to help me out on-track, but he’s backed off a little bit with the driving now. That said, he was always really good around Monaco so he had a few things to teach me, which has been really helpful. It’s amazing to have his support.”

Does Maini feel that the hopes of India’s motorsport success are on his shoulders?

“When you think about it like that it’s a lot of pressure! laughs. But I don’t really feel it. I just like to enjoy what I’m doing, I’m really lucky to have the chance to race in Formula 2 itself and I’m grateful for that. I’m just taking it as it comes, I’m enjoying my racing and what happens, happens. And if I do a good job, I know I can make it to Formula 1, so I just have to keep focusing on what I’m doing.

“It’s not just in India, but Formula 2 is growing worldwide; the number of people who are following it and getting involved has grown. In India, motorsport is still growing a lot, but to be honest it’s growing at a fast rate and there’s a lot of support I get, but so many people aren’t aware of it. You have cricket that’s really popular, but it’s still really growing.

“I’m sure if I do an even better job, that support from home will grow and that’s why I have to keep delivering.”