Alpine has signed Kush Maini as a take a look at and reserve driver for the 2025 Formulation 1 season.
Maini has been a part of the Alpine Academy since October 2023 and accomplished his second Formulation 2 marketing campaign with the Invicta outfit in 2024, taking one victory – his first in any sequence because the 2020 British F3 marketing campaign – on his strategy to thirteenth within the standings. He has moved to DAMS for the 2025 season.
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As a part of his new cope with the Enstone-based squad, the Indian driver will partake in simulator work whereas conducting monitor testing with older automobiles to achieve F1 expertise himself, by way of the Testing of Earlier Automobiles guidelines.
“I’m trying ahead to getting extra monitor time in Formulation 1 equipment on this function and to construct on what I’ve already discovered with the group in 2024,” Maini stated. “I’m very excited to start the function as quickly as attainable however for now my focus is on my third season in Formulation 2 kicking off this weekend in Australia.”
Alpine Academy director Julian Rouse added: “Kush has impressed the group throughout his TPC performances and Formulation 2 outcomes while we now have been working with him and we count on he’ll proceed to take action in 2025. His wider function permits us to additional develop our pool of driving expertise who can present assist and useful resource to the entire group throughout the busy season.”
Kush Maini on the rostrum in Jeddah, alongside Enzo Fittipaldi and Dennis Hauger
Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photographs
Alpine actually enjoys a lot depth by way of ‘third drivers’, ought to any in poor health befall regulars Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan.
The group has signed three drivers to “take a look at and reserve driver” offers, which incorporates Maini, present Toyota Hypercar racer Ryo Hirakawa, and Franco Colapinto, who’s extensively rumored to be a right away risk to Doohan’s seat. In the meantime, former Mercedes junior Paul Aron has been employed as merely a “reserve driver”.
All 4 drivers are set to take part in Alpine’s Testing of Earlier Automobiles programme, with Hirakawa already introduced as a Free Observe 1 driver on the Japanese Grand Prix, serving to the group fulfill the regulatory rookie necessities.
Beforehand requested how the outfit was going to organise issues round its first three reserve drivers, group principal Oliver Oakes replied: “They’re all going to share a room. No, I am joking!
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“They have a fairly busy 12 months. All three of them are doing TPC testing, all three are doing a little bit of operations assist, they usually’re all attending a race.”
As to how a lot F1 testing every of them will get, Oakes stated: “I do not know off my head. I believe there’s a little bit little bit of a cut up, as a result of clearly Franco has performed a load of grands prix, Paul Aron hasn’t performed something and Ryo’s performed in all probability a little bit of the whole lot, so there’s a little bit of a stability there.”
Extra reporting by Oleg Karpov
On this article
Ben Vinel
Formulation 1
FIA F2
Ryo Hirakawa
Kush Maini
Franco Colapinto
Paul Aron
Alpine
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