Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Kush Maini achieved his second best Formula 2 qualifying result with third place at Yas Marina Circuit today, but thinks his team needs race pace improvements to keep that position.
After being 10th fastest and 0.665 seconds off the pace in practice, Maini improved a few hours later to be 0.409s off pole.
The Campos Racing driver’s average starting position for feature races this year is 8.8, bettered by only five drivers, yet he has only scored in five of those 12 races and finished in a position higher than he started in four.
“After FP, I didn’t really feel great. But this whole year I feel, we always make a step with the softer compounds. So I knew we had some time in the pocket, and straight away from lap one with the softs I felt like we were we were in the game,” he said.
“Honestly, I thought we could push for pole today. But Jack [Doohan] did an amazing lap and he deserves it. Happy with third, we’re in the mix and we can have a strong weekend from here.”
Maini currently sits 11th in the standings with one podium.
“We’ve made a lot of mistakes this year as a team. Sometimes me, sometimes something that’s out of my control. But the pace we’ve shown this year, we deserve to be high up in the championship. I truly believe that,” the rookie explained.
“I think the biggest thing is our race pace hasn’t been amazing this year. We’re always looking in the mirrors in the race. There’s been a couple of times where we’ve gone forwards, but not too many times as I’d like.
“I’ve learnt a lot from you manage a few more things in the race than I did in past formulas. And keeping the balance neutral, trying to keep it neutral as much as possible, and keep the tyres in the right window. The Pirellis are very sensitive, and I didn’t really expect it.
“Our car is amazing in quali. I’ve said this all year, but I think we do need to make a small step in the races, and we’re working super hard to hopefully make the step for this weekend and sign out on a high.”
While Maini is frustrated by the pace he has had in races, he is still setting good impressions as since the previous F2 round he has started being mentored by Formula 1 champion Mika Hakkinen, become an Alpine junior and Mahindra’s Formula E reserve driver.
“I know the races haven’t been as good as I’d wanted to this year, but it’s happy to see that the people that are important can see my performances in quali at least and my pace. So a lot to work on, but I have the best people around me to do it.”
He joked that “I do believe if I had the [Alpine] livery this quali, I think I would have poled it” since the top two were also Alpine juniors but running F1-inspired liveries.