He burst on to the scene as one among the three selected by Force India in the nation-wide karting trials for its young driver academy before he lost in the final hurdle. Since then, Arjun Maini’s career has been a rollercoaster ride, with average results in karting championships in Europe to finishing second in the BRDC F4 championship in the U.K. in 2014.
Last year was another trough in this ride, with a tough season in the FIA European F3 championship, an important series in the single-seater ladder.
Maini will continue for a second season in European F3 which starts this weekend and it is a make or break season for the Bengaluru teenager.
Speaking about his 2015 season, Maini says, “ I think it was an eventful first year in Formula 3 and I would describe it as a big rollercoaster ride with a lot of ups and downs. I was looking for experience and to learn, which I did, but results-wise I did not achieve my targets as I was looking towards a top 10 finish.”
Racing for Van Amersfoort Racing, Maini had only four point finishes and finished 18th in the championship with 27 points.
While the results don’t make for a great CV, it does not reflect entirely the underlying pace in races where grids had record high entries of more than 30 cars.
“There were times this season where things were working for me and I did not make use of the situation and there were times this season where I felt that I was driving really well but things were just not working out for me.
“The highlights for me, results-wise, were Pau Grand Prix, Zandvoort Masters and the Macau GP.”
Speaking about the main challenge he faced moving from F4 to F3, Maini says, “The main thing that I struggled with initially was using the much higher level downforce available in the F3 car. Power-wise you don’t find it that big a jump but the speed you can carry through the corners really does surprise you.”
Karun Chandhok, who has been mentoring Maini for the last few years, felt one of the main reasons for the lack of results was down to the team he was racing for.
“You would often see that at the start of the weekend they would be very competitive but as the weekend progressed, they slipped backwards as other people would improve the car set up and he didn’t.”
So before the annual Macau GP last year, Maini made a last minute switch to T-Sport and had a very good weekend, on what is one of the most demanding and unforgiving tracks, with a tenth place finish. He will continue with the side for 2016.
