With only few top level racers from India currently, it marks for a huge achievement for any racers to make it well in motorsport from the country. One of the upcoming talents, Kush Maini will start his third year in international single-seater racing this season.
The dearth of Indians at the top level means, the expectation on the younger crop is huge. The 17-year-old has joined Lanan Racing in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship as he moves up the ladder of motor racing in his career.
The eventual goal is Formula 1 for sure, but one has to go through years of racing to reach that level. Certainly, Maini has still at least four to five years more to go. But he is already under immense pressure to deliver. The two years in Italian Formula 4 had a mixed report for the Indian.
“Yes, there is definitely a lot of pressure [on me],” admitted Maini in an exclusive interview. “But you can either channel that pressure in a positive way or negative. I have been working a lot with Shree Advani (my mind coach) and I feel that pressure will not distract me from my goal this season.”
It is some big words from a 17-year-old, but that is what racing helps in. Not only you achieve your dreams, but also one grows as a person in life. Knowing that the eyes will be on him, the Bangalorean is not going to rush into anything, which may bite him in the future.
“I am going to take this year race by race and not think about the outcome,” he said. “I want to focus on the process and delivering every race. Because all you can do as a driver is give your best every race, and if that’s good enough, then results will follow and so will opportunities in the future.”
A year in British F3 is definitely growth for Maini with the next challenge being the bigger level of F3, followed by Formula 2 – where his elder brother Arjun will be racing this season. For Maini, choosing this championship was an obvious decision after two years of F4.
“The feeling I had with the team was really good [initially],” he said. “I felt really comfortable in the car, and we were pretty quick. Arjun also helped a lot in this decision [to compete in BF3]. And at the end of [private] testing I was really happy.”
It was the British F4 – during the time Arjun competed in it – which gave him his big break internationally, when he ended up second in the 2014 season to the current Mercedes F1 reserve Geroge Russell. The Brit only beat the Indian by a three points margin, which remains a defining moment for Arjun in his career so far.
For Kush, he will have to do something similar or go better and take the title, which he is confident enough after topping the ‘Media Day’ test and also some sound private testing. Even though it will be his rookie year, but it is not deterring him to go all out in the series.
The 2018 season starts this weekend at Oulton Park, followed by rounds in Rockhingam (April 28-29), Snetterton (May 26-27), Silverstone (June 9-10), Spa-Francorchamps (July 21-22), Brands Hatch (August 4-5), Donington Park (September 22-23) and Silverstone again (October 13-14).