Bengaluru, April 30: Haas Development driver Arjun Maini made an inspired comeback at Baku, starting from P17, he made 11 overtakes to finish the race in P6. However, a post-race penalty to Sette Camara meant Arjun moved up into P5, scoring his first points in his debut season of the F2 championship.
Arjun began his race weekend with a P7 in qualifying, and showed some great promise at the start of the Race 1 when he moved swiftly into P4 but problems with the engine meant an early retirement from the race.
#F2 #AzerbaijanGP Baku Race 2 Report https://t.co/w4tMSeqnet Proud of you guys, very good job! #ArjunMaini #SantinoFerrucci
— Trident Team (@trident_team) April 29, 2018
©Dutch Photo Agency pic.twitter.com/d3axdIDO92
Looking to make up for his rather unlucky start to the weekend, the JK Racing and TVS Motorsport supported driver began Race 2, which he started from P17 on the grid, on the front foot. He moved up into P9 by the end of the first lap itself with some great driving. He followed this up with some gritty racing, and eventually passed a few cars ahead, a difficult task in the tricky streets of Baku and finished ahead of his fellow Trident teammate Ferrucci.
About the weekend at Baku, Arjun Maini said, “It’s nice to finish the weekend on a positive note and get my first points in the championship. After the disappointing end to Race 1, I felt it was important to come back strong and this race will hopefully give me and the team momentum going forward.”
Great day for @kmainiofficial (a win and podium today in F3) and @ArjunMaini_ climbing from 17th to 6th in F2! #KCManagement drivers delivering strong results... 👌🏽👍🏽
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) April 29, 2018
Speaking about Arjun’s notable drive, Karun Chandhok, Former F1 driver and Arjun’s mentor said, “Arjun did a great job all weekend. Racing for the first time in a new category on a street circuit can be quite daunting but he coped with the challenge well. It was a real shame that he had a car problem in the first race when running strongly in the top 5 and that sent him down the grid for the next race. However he showed on Sunday that he’s got the speed and potential to mix it in the top 6 and that’s where we’re aiming to be going forward.”
Talking about the next round of the championship he added, “He knows the Barcelona circuit very well and obviously won there in GP3 last year so fingers crossed he can have some good reliability and deliver strong result.”
Starting the Sprint race from P17, some gritty driving and numerous overtakes ensured a superb P5 finish for Arjun at @BakuCityCircuit ✳️ pic.twitter.com/y77GA5cKi5
— Arjun Maini (@ArjunMaini_) April 30, 2018
Arjun will be in action at Barcelona shortly, as round 3 of the FIA F2 Championship is set to take place in a couple of weeks, between 11th - 13th May 2018. Consequently, it’s the same track where he, last year, created history by becoming the first Indian to win a GP3 Series race.
Arjun also joined the thousands of people in India in demanding justice for Asifa, in his own way, by having a message on the side of his car throughout the race weekend to raise awareness through his sport.