Haas has announced the addition of Arjun Maini to its driver development programme. The Indian joins his GP3 rival Santino Ferrucci on the team’s roster of junior talent.
Maini, who competed in all bar four of last year’s GP3 races, returns to the championship for Jenzer motorsport this weekend. He finished runner-up to Mercedes junior driver George Russell in the 2014 BRDC F4 series (now known as BRDC F3).
The 19-year-old from Bangalore is bidding to become the third Indian to race in Formula One following Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. Maini is a member of the British Racing Drivers Club’s Rising Stars programme.
Team principal Guenther Steiner said his new hire “was successful in karting and has transitioned well to various Formula series and now GP3”.
“As Haas F1 Team continues to mature, we must look toward our future and develop potential talent,” Steiner added.
Ferrucci, 18, joined Haas’s development programme last year. He will continue as the team’s reserve driver and also race in GP3 for DAMS,
“We liked what we saw of him last year in our test at Silverstone and his maturity inside and outside of the car is impressive,” said Steiner. “Santino is a young, American driver with plenty of potential.”
Ferrucci said he “learned a lot last year in GP3 with DAMS and with Haas. The combination of the two allowed me to learn more and at a faster rate. I feel so much more prepared this year.”
View the updated list of 2017 F1 drivers and teams
2017 F1 season
- Sepang pays Haas compensation for Grosjean’s 2017 crash
- Williams revenues rose in 2017 after Bottas deal with Mercedes
- Australian Grand Prix cost government £56 million last year
- “Grand Prix Driver” takes you inside McLaren’s nightmare final year with Honda
- Undisputed champion: 10 titles name Hamilton top driver of 2017
Mashiat (@mashiat)
11th May 2017, 14:00
Can someone tell me, is he any good or just another Chandok? His stats so far don’t seem great.
NeutronStar
11th May 2017, 14:29
@mashiat It’s hard to say…I felt that his debut GP3 season was pretty good (He finished ahead of Ferrucci, despite missing the first four rounds), at least relative to his teammates, and a massive improvement over his time in F3, which was not good.
Those are the only two major series he has participated in. Considering his youth, if time with Haas helps him grow, and he does well in other junior series, maybe he’ll become a worthy driver. :)
Mallesh Magdum (@malleshmagdum)
11th May 2017, 16:51
Only time will tell @mashiat he was selected from Force India’s One in a Billion programme. He is backed by his father who started the Maini electric car company (the company that produced cars like Reva and G-Wiz)
Mallesh Magdum (@malleshmagdum)
11th May 2017, 17:22
just looked up. He isnt the son of Chethan Maini. He is from a family of racers.
C
11th May 2017, 18:51
He does bring big bucks to the team.
PT (@pt)
11th May 2017, 20:08
Strangely, Force India didn’t follow it up with Maini. Instead they’re all behind Jehan Daruvala who did manage to finish 2nd at the last European F3 round at Monza.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
11th May 2017, 18:24
At first when I saw his name I thought he was Italian and then I saw Arjun.
Yeah nice to see another fellow Indian drive in F1,
His stats don’t show anything to prove his is exceptional. But I really hope HAAS saw something different in him and didn’t pick him up for backing up their finances.
Patcee
11th May 2017, 18:52
I would have hoped that there would be enough American talent available for Haas to choose from. It’s been a long time since we have had American drivers in F1. They started out with an American junior driver as reserve, I wonder why they didn’t continue in the same vein?
Jason Miller (@flatdarkmars)
12th May 2017, 0:02
I’ve been saying this since the Haas team was first announced: I don’t think Gene Haas cares very much about having an American driver, nor should he. The F1 team is about promoting his machine tool brand to the global market; he already has a very strong position in the US market, and he also has a NASCAR team to do US advertising. Hiring an American driver doesn’t add anything to the F1 team’s finances, marketability, or performance.
Todfod (@todfod)
12th May 2017, 5:44
Too early to tell how good this kid is. So far, all the signs point to a junior driver who can bring in some finances. Let’s wait and see though.. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he isn’t another Karthikeyan or Chandhok.