Arjun Maini will compete in the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Motorsport. Along with racing for Trident, he will continue his association with the Haas F1 Team as a development driver which will see him embedded with the team, attending races and tests throughout the year and also participating in the team’s simulator programme.
Arjun moves to F2 after competing in the GP3 series where he registered a historic win in Barcelona. He became the first Indian to win a race in GP3 and followed it up with a podium finish in race one at the season-ending Abu Dhabi leg. His Spanish triumph was adjudged the ‘best of the year’ by the GP3 paddock.
“I’m very excited to be competing in the Formula 2 championship with Trident. It is a very strong team and I’m sure if we work hard, we will be in for some strong results,” said Arjun.
Testing in the post-season FIA F2 as a rookie, Arjun topped two of the six sessions.
Trident, based in Italy, began competing in GP2 (now Formula 2) in the year 2006 and was founded by Italian entertainment mogul Maurizio Salvadori.
“Arjun is an undoubtedly valuable prospect who has all that it takes to be among the future stars of motorsports. It is certainly not by chance that the Haas F1 team selected him to join their development driver programme," said Triden owner Salvadori.
Guenther Steiner, Haas F1 Team Principal, said, “As Haas F1 Team continues to mature, we must look toward our future and develop potential talent. Arjun was successful in karting and has transitioned well to various Formula series, winning quickly in GP3. We’ll keep a keen eye on his progress this year in F2.”
The Formula 2 championship gets underway at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain on April 6.
