Kush Maini (; born 22 September 2000) is an Indian racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for ART Grand Prix as part of the Alpine Academy, and serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Alpine and in Formula E for Mahindra. Maini has previously competed in Formula 4, the Formula Renault Eurocup, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, and FIA Formula 3.
Born to a prominent Punjabi business family settled in Bengaluru, he is the younger brother of Arjun Maini, also a racing driver who competed in Formula 2 and DTM, and the nephew of Indian business magnate Chetan Maini. He is also the grandson of Sudarshan Maini, founder of Maini Group of industries. Maini is mentored by two-time Formula One champion Mika Häkkinen.
Career
Lower formulae
2016 Maini started his single-seater career in 2016, competing for BVM Racing in the Italian F4 Championship. His campaign started in a strong fashion, scoring points in the first six races of the year. After a difficult middle part of the year, Maini scored his first podium in car racing, taking third place at the final race in Vallelunga. He finished the season 16th in the standings and ended up fifth in the rookies' championship.
2017 For 2017, Maini moved to Jenzer Motorsport, once again racing in Italian F4, partnering Giorgio Carrara, Federico Malvestiti, Giacomo Bianchi and Job van Uitert. Maini's sophomore year would prove to be more successful, with two podiums at Imola and Monza, as well as a slew of top-five finishes helping him finish eighth in the end results.
Progression in single-seaters
2018 In 2018, Maini stepped up to the British Formula 3 Championship with Lanan Racing. The season ended up being a breakthrough year, winning the reversed-grid race at Rockingham, and scoring seven further podiums, which meant that Maini would end up third in the standings.
2019 The following year, Maini switched to the Formula Renault Eurocup with M2 Competition. He hit the ground running with a podium in his first race at Monza, but was unable to replicate such result again throughout the season. He was a consistent points scorer though, and came sixth in the standings with 102 points, as the second highest placed rookie.
2020
Initially intending to remain in the Eurocup in 2020 with 3-time champions R-ace GP, Maini changed his plans following the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to the British F3 series, teaming up with Hitech Grand Prix. Maini was sustained in a title fight with rival Kaylen Frederick, winning three races that season in Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Snetterton. It allowed to place second in the standings.
2021 Maini began 2021 competing for new Indian outfit Mumbai Falcons in the F3 Asian Championship during the winter, partnering Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala. He endured a tough start to the season, but a run of seven points finishes in the last nine races, including a podium at the last round in Abu Dhabi, moved him up to 11th place in the standings.
Maini was unable to find a full-time drive for the main season, his sole other race of the year coming at the 6 Hours of Bahrain of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, as a one-off replacement in ARC Bratislava's LMP2 squad.
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Maini progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2022, driving alongside Caio Collet and Alexander Smolyar at MP Motorsport. Maini was quoted as saying that he was "excited to join MP Motorsport for [his] first year in FIA F3", and that the team's results the previous year showed "their ability to coach rookie drivers on their way to immediately performing well in the series". He started his season off by qualifying in third place in Bahrain, however Maini would be forced to start from the back of the grid for both races due to him missing the weighbridge during the session. At the next round in Imola, Maini scored his first points of the season with a fifth-placed finish. More points followed at Silverstone, where Maini lost out on the podium to Reece Ushijima in the sprint race. Qualifying sixth in Hungary, Maini would experience his best weekend of the season. He finished third on Saturday, after a mistake from Isack Hadjar ahead, thus scoring his only podium of the year. He followed it up with seventh in the feature race. However, this would end up being his final points finish of the year, as Maini ended up 14th in the drivers' standings with 31 points.
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2023
In November 2022, Maini was confirmed to drive for Campos Racing in the 2023 F2 season, also taking part in the 2022 Formula 2 post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit. He qualified sixth in the Bahrain season opener He made a storming start in the feature race to second, but was later overtaken by teammate Ralph Boschung and late in the race by Zane Maloney, finishing fourth in the end. Fifth place in the Jeddah sprint race boosting him as the highest rookie in the standings, before securing his first and only podium in the Melbourne sprint race after scrapping with Arthur Leclerc. He finished ninth in the feature race. Baku was relatively superb, scoring a huge haul of points with a fourth and fifth place, lifting him to fifth in the standings early on. The next round in Monaco started on a wrong note, being spun on the opening lap in the sprint. Nonetheless, a timely red flag salvaged his weekend, and was able to finish the feature race in sixth place, having not yet changed his tyres prior.
However, Maini endured his first non-scoring round in Barcelona. He too was also unable to in the following two rounds due to incidents and Campos' declining race pace, despite achieving top-four in both qualifying sessions. He returned to the points with sixth in the Budapest sprint race, despite starting on reverse pole. In a chaotic Spa-Francorchamps feature race, Maini advanced to the points, with eighth place. He returned to his qualifying form in Monza, securing sixth. Finishing fifth in the sprint race, he was set for more in the feature race but retired after a collision with Jak Crawford, which broke Maini's front wing. Maini qualified third for the Yas Marina season finale. After accruing a penalty for spinning out Juan Manuel Correa in the sprint, he endured a scruffy feature race saw Maini slip down to ninth place as the chequered flag fell.
Maini ended the season 11th in the drivers' standings, scoring 62 points and one podium, even finishing ahead of countryman and F2 veteran Jehan Daruvala.
2024
For his second season in the category, Maini switched to Invicta Racing in 2024 alongside reigning Formula 3 champion and McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto. Maini started the season in Bahrain with the fastest lap time in qualifying, but was disqualified due to a technical infringement. After finishing thirteenth in the sprint, Maini starred in an impressive recovery drive in the feature race, making up fourteen places for seventh place.
At the next round in Jeddah, Maini qualified second next to Oliver Bearman, but was later promoted to pole position after Bearman skipped the round to participate in the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
2025
In 2025, Maini once again switched teams, joining DAMS Lucas Oil alongside Jak Crawford. After a slow start to the season, he took his second F2 victory in the Monaco sprint race, having started from reverse-grid pole.
2026
Maini remained in Formula 2 for a fourth season in , joining ART Grand Prix alongside Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.
Formula One In October 2023, Maini was announced to be joining the Alpine Academy. Maini experienced his maiden Formula One test at the Red Bull Ring, driving the Alpine A522 and describing it as "a dream come true". Over the following six months, Maini took part in further tests with Alpine at Imola, Yas Marina and Lusail. In March 2025, Maini was announced as one of the test and reserve drivers for Alpine for the season, alongside Paul Aron, Franco Colapinto and Ryō Hirakawa. In July that year, Maini drove the Alpine A523 during the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed. At the end of the year, he drove the 2025 Alpine A525 during the Yas Marina young drivers' test, where he clocked 128 laps.
Maini continued to act as test and reserve driver for Alpine in .
Formula E In November 2023, Maini was confirmed to be the reserve driver for Mahindra Racing for the 2023–24 Formula E season. He took part in the Berlin rookie test with the team later that year. In February 2025, Mahindra Racing selected Maini once again for the rookie free practice session at the Diriyah ePrix, where he topped the timesheets. He returned with Mahindra in July to compete in the Berlin rookie test.
Maini continued as reserve driver for Mahindra for the 2025–26 season. He would make an appearance with the team during the Madrid rookie test.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship - Mini ROK 4th JK Tyre National Karting Championship - Rotax Micromax Maini Racing1st All Stars Karting Championship Malaysia - Yamaha Cadet SRV Motorsports 2012 Andrea Margutti Trophy - 60 Mini Baby Race 5th 41° Trofeo delle Industrie - 60 Mini3rd WSK Super Master Series - Mini 8th WSK Euro Series - 60 Mini 14th ROK Cup International Final - Mini ROK 7th 2013 WSK Super Master Series - Mini3rd Andrea Margutti Trophy - 60 Mini 28th WSK Euro Series - 60 Mini Babyrace Srl2nd 42° Trofeo delle Industrie - KF3 15th 2014 WSK Champions Cup - KF Junior 38th CIK-FIA European Championship - KF Junior Babyrace Srl 31st Andrea Margutti Trophy - KF Junior Baby Race 16th CIK-FIA World Championship - KF Junior RB Kart Technology SA 4th Italian ACI Karting Championship - KF3 13th 2015 WSK Champions Cup - KF Junior 4th 20° South Garda Winter Cup - KF Junior Forza Racing 33rd WSK Night Edition - KF Junior 11th Andrea Margutti Trophy - KF Junior1st WSK Super Master Series - KF Junior 7th CIK-FIA European Championship - KF Junior 10th
Racing record
Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2016 Italian F4 Championship BVM Racing 21 0 0 0 1 53 16th 2017 Italian F4 Championship Jenzer Motorsport 21 0 0 0 2 114 8th ADAC Formula 4 Championship 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Lanan Racing 23 1 2 4 8 366 3rd 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup M2 Competition 20 0 0 0 1 102 6th 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Hitech Grand Prix 24 3 2 1 12 448 2nd 2021 F3 Asian Championship Mumbai Falcons India Racing Ltd. 14 0 0 2 1 55 11th FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 ARC Bratislava 1 0 0 0 0 1 30th 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship MP Motorsport 18 0 0 0 1 31 14th 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship Campos Racing 26 0 0 0 1 62 11th 2023–24 Formula E Mahindra Racing Reserve driver 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship Invicta Racing 28 1 1 1 5 74 13th 2024–25 Formula E Mahindra Racing Reserve driver 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship DAMS Lucas Oil 27 1 0 2 1 32 16th Formula One BWT Alpine F1 Team Test & reserve driver 2025–26 Formula E Mahindra Racing Reserve driver 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship ART Grand Prix 17 1 2 1 2 69 7th*Formula OneBWT Alpine F1 TeamTest & reserve driver † As Maini was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. Season still in progress.
Complete Italian F4 Championship 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 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pos Points 2016 BVM Racing MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 MIS4 ADR1 ADR2 ADR3 ADR4 IMO11 IMO12 IMO13 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 VLL1<br/ > VLL2<br/ > VLL3<br/ > IMO21 IMO22 IMO23 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 16th 53 2017 Jenzer Motorsport MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 ADR1 ADR2 ADR3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 MUG11 MUG12 MUG13 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 MUG21 MUG22 MUG23 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 8th 114
Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results