Bengaluru, February 21: Arjun Maini, supported by JK Racing and TVS Racing, on Wednesday confirmed his association with Trident for the upcoming 2018 season of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Arjun moves to the F2 after competing in the GP3 Series where he achieved a historical victory at Barcelona, as the first Indian to win a race in the GP3 Series and followed the victory with a podium in Race 1 at the season ending Abu Dhabi round. His victory in Barcelona was also judged the best win of the year by the GP3 paddock.
DRIVERS ANNOUNCEMENT: @trident_team to line up Arjun Maini @MainiBros #16 and @SantinoFerrucci #17 in 2018 @FIA_F2
— Trident Team (@trident_team) February 21, 2018
Press release: https://t.co/9UKRuxpZdI pic.twitter.com/fsC2H9iisb
Testing in the post-season FIA F2 as a rookie, Arjun also displayed remarkable pace, topping two out of the six sessions, making the transition to Formula 2 a natural progression.
Talking about his association for the season, an enthusiastic Arjun shared, "I’m very excited to be competing in the FIA Formula 2 championship with Trident Motorsport. I felt we were quite competitive during the post-season test and given that the series is using all new cars for the coming season, I’m quite excited for the year ahead. Trident is a very strong team and I’m sure if we work hard we’ll be in for some strong results during the course of the season.”
DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT -@SantinoFerrucci and @MainiBros will be @trident_team's line-up in #F2: https://t.co/mvCmX9YDYy pic.twitter.com/WWsTLF8Vu1
— FIA Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) February 21, 2018
Trident, a team based in Italy began competing in the GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2) in the year 2006 and was founded by Italian entertainment mogul Maurizio Salvadori. The team has a strong pedigree in the series having run ex-Formula One driver Gianmaria Bruni in its first year of racing and featured several notable names in motorsport including the likes of former Formula One driver and race winner Pastor Maldonado and ex-Ferrari Driver Academy star Raffaele Marciello.
Team owner Maurizio Salvadori said, “Arjun is an undoubtedly valuable prospect who has all that it takes to be among the future stars of motorsports for the years to come. It is certainly not by chance that Haas F1 Team selected him to join their development driver program. Team Trident will provide Arjun with the experience and energy needed for him to continue growing up and reach his ultimate professional goals."
Arjun Maini to race with @trident_team in the @FIA_F2 2018 season!#TeamAnnouncement #ArjunMaini pic.twitter.com/OlTfpq3K5d
— The Maini Brothers (@MainiBros) February 21, 2018
Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager added, "We have been following Arjun Maini for a while and he is an undoubtedly talented driver. He showed great driving skills and race conduct which are going to be some really important aspects in a demanding series like Formula 2. We hope to see him bring home solid results and to have a really competitive season together."
Along with racing for Trident, Arjun will continue his association with Haas F1 Team as a development driver, which will see him embedded with the team, attending races and tests throughout the year while also participating in the team’s simulator program.
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.”
Big year ahead for Arjun! https://t.co/ii7O0VfvUP
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) February 21, 2018
Arjun’s mentor, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok added, “Racing in F2, which was of course called GP2, was the most important phase of my junior Formula career. It’s a great way to put yourself on the radar of the F1 team bosses, and really without winning races and getting podiums in the category, I would never have ended up in F1 or at Le Mans. Arjun did a very good job at the F2 winter tests and this is a logical next step in his career. He will learn about racing a big and powerful car with tyres that are very similar to F1 so it should be a good education for him.”
The FIA Formula 2 Championship kicks off at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain from April 6.
Source: Press Release