He has not yet won in Formula 2, but Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini has been a consistent presence at the front of the pack in 2024. Bad luck has cost him points this year, though he still sits fifth in the standings after three rounds. Feeder Series caught up with the Indian driver in Melbourne.

By Steven Walton

Maini turned heads as soon as Formula 2 got underway this year in Bahrain. During qualifying on Thursday afternoon, he produced a scintillating lap that put him two-tenths clear of the field and netted him a maiden F2 pole position.

Unfortunately for him, he later lost the pole due to an undertray infringement. Still, the lap was a sign of the immense pace he could deliver.

In Bahrain, Maini started both races from the back of the field. In the feature race, he fought his way up the order and recovered to seventh.

In Jeddah, he qualified on the front row and finished second in the feature race, bagging his first podium of 2024.

In Australia, Maini was again in the mix. He briefly led the feature race, but he ultimately missed out on points because an ill-timed safety car handed cheap pit stops to his competitors, pushing him down to 12th.

While Maini now sits fifth in the F2 standings, he has been the series’ top qualifier this year. Ignoring his Bahrain disqualification and Bearman’s Saudi Arabia F1 call-up, Maini has qualified first, second and fourth. He is the only driver who has qualified inside the top five at all three rounds.

Focused on collecting points

On Thursday in the Melbourne paddock, Feeder Series caught up with Maini and he described his year so far as positive. He said he recovered well in Bahrain and maximised what he could in Saudi Arabia, where he finished second in the feature race behind Enzo Fittipaldi.

“That’s all it takes in this championship, just chipping away and grabbing points every weekend,” Maini said. “Then there’ll be weekends where you are unstoppable, like how Enzo [Fittipaldi] was in Jeddah and that’s the weekend you make the most of it.

“But until then you’ve just got to keep it on track and keep collecting points.”

Asked about his chances of winning this year’s F2 championship, Maini said he planned to stay calm and focus on collecting as many points as he could.

“I’m here to fight for the championship … and I wouldn’t be racing in this championship if I didn’t think I could win it.”

Understanding the tyres

Maini’s superb qualifying results in 2024 are not overly surprising when you consider how strong he was over a single lap last year. His 2023 team Campos Racing were often outside the points, yet Maini qualified inside the top ten at seven out of 13 rounds. His best qualifying result was second in Silverstone.

But, Maini said last year was tough because while he would fall back in the races.

“So coming into this year, it’s sort of like a bad memory to be honest, so going into races you’re always quite nervous,” he said.

“But after finishing on the podium in the Jeddah feature race [this year], that’s built my confidence back up in the races and now I feel I can actually properly fight,” he said.

Asked about why he lost ground during races last year, Maini said the Pirelli tyres were very sensitive and he had to work hard to keep them in the right operating window.

“I think as a rookie, I probably didn’t know what was happening properly, but this year I feel I have a much better grasp on it and the team are working really well around me, so I feel a lot more confident.”

Getting on well with his engineer

Maini said to maximise his points during the rest of the season, he would need to take things session by session, stay out of trouble and prepare well. His preparations for each race weekend have been helped this year by a strong working relationship with his new Invicta engineer, Geoff.

“There’s good banter in there as well which I think is very important. In an atmosphere like this, it can get a bit too serious sometimes, so it’s good to have some laughs and jokes along the way,” he said. 

“There’s no secrets between us, we’re always on the same page, so it’s a pleasure to work with him.”

Maini said having a good relationship with your engineer was a big factor for being successful in F2.

“You don’t have a lot of time [to prepare for a weekend]. If you guys are not on the same page, that’s losing valuable time,” he said. F2 drivers only get one 45-minute practice session at each track before qualifying and the races.

“There’s not a lot of room for error, so you’ve really got to trust in each other’s talent and then make the most of that.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency