Kush-Maini-sportstiger

Picture Credit: Twitter

Indian racecar driver Kush Maini has qualified P3 in his first Formula 3 qualifying session in Bahrain with a blistering lap of 1:46:322s. Maini was the fastest diver in sector one but fell short by only 0.073 of a second to take the pole. He was called to the weighbridge in between the session which he missed before recording his fastest lap. Hence, Maini had to start both the Feature and Sprint races from the Pit Lane. Still, the 22-year-old managed to put on a great show as he ended the Sprint race at P15 and gained 15 positions. Whereas in the Feature race, Maini gained 16 positions to finish 14th in a 30-car grid. 

While speaking at the FIA Formula 3 conference after qualifying, Kush said, “I am honestly really pleased. I think Free Practice we were struggling a bit, so we just made a few tweaks to the balance, and it looked like it sorted itself out. Then I could do some consistent laps and I kept improving. Considering I haven’t done a single-seater qualifying in over a year, and coming in as a rookie, I’m pretty happy with third on the grid.”

Talking about his quick adaptation to the car, he further added, “Obviously, I missed the test because I had no idea until a couple of months ago I was even going to be in this Championship. Honestly, as a racing driver, you don’t really lose your instinct. With the help of my team, who have helped me every step of the way, and my teammates, who are a lot more experienced than me, I feel as good as I’ve ever felt.”

Sander Dorsman, Team Principal of MP Motorsport also said, “It’s tough for Kush to start from the pitlane after putting an amazing lap together which would let him start from P3, in his first FIA F3 Qualifying session.