Arjun Maini will continue as a Haas F1 Team development driver in 2018 while simultaneously competing in his first full season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident.
Maini, a 20-year-old from Bengaluru, is paired with 19-year-old American Santino Ferrucci. Both are Haas' development drivers and both compete for Team Trident.
Being involved with an F1 program has really accelerated my learning in terms of what I need to do on the racetrack and with my engineers. In fact, it's already helped me transition from GP3 to F2. I'm one step closer to my goal of competing in Formula One thanks to Haas, said Maini.
Maini joined Haas in 2017 and on the weekend of his signing, promptly won his first GP3 Series race May 14 at Circuit de Barcelona, becoming first Indian to do so.
He completed his first full season of GP3 ninth in the championship standings with 72 points. Maini competed in 14 of the 18 GP3 races in 2016 and despite missing the first four races, he finished 10th in points with a best finish of second, earned July 23 at the Hungaroring in Budapest.
Arjun enjoyed a breakout season in GP3 last year and we're keeping a close watch on his progress this year in F2, said, Guenther Steiner, Haas team principal.
He has a history of finding success at every level in which he's competed and we're supportive of his efforts as he steps up to F2.
Maini recently completed an F2 test from March 21-24 at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir where he set the fastest time on the second day. The F2 season opener is April 7-8 at Bahrain.
F2 is the stepping-stone division to Formula One, and the 24-race series runs in conjunction with the Grand Prix calendar.
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