Photo: Mahindra
In little over a month, Formula 2 racer Kush Maini has secured three big deals for the future of his career.
On October 13 it was announced he had become a protege of two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen, then on October 24 he joined the Alpine Academy. Today he was revealed as Mahindra’s reserve driver in Formula E for next season.
Maini takes over the role held through this year by fellow Indian and F2 racer Jehan Daruvala, who has landed an FE seat with Maserati for 2024. The pair head into next weekend’s F2 season finale 11th and 12th in the standings, with Maini having claimed one podium so far in his rookie campaign.
“It’s a huge honour to be joining Mahindra Racing. Being an Indian driver, and the team being Indian, it feels in many ways like coming home,” said Maini. “A lot of my work will be concentrated on the simulator, and hopefully getting in the car for the rookie test. I’m just going to try and learn as much as I can, it’s a different style of racing.
“I’ll be doing as much work as possible on the sim with the engineers to try and be helpful for both Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries [the team’s race drivers], and to try and help push the team forward on-track.
“Mahindra is a huge manufacturer, so for me, it’s a massive deal to be signing with them. Being an Indian brand, it’s the cherry on top of the cake. I’m super excited to get started.”
Formula Scout understands that Maini is targeting a second season in F2 alongside his FE commitments in 2024, and will likely change teams after drivig for Campos Racing this year.