Indian driver Kush Maini could make a move from F3 to F2

The Bengaluru-boy is a front-runner for the Spanish team Campos.

With only one round left, most of the following year's F2 grid has started taking shape. Some will graduate, some will shuffle teams and some will be new faces in the grid. In regard to new faces, Bangalore-boy Kush Maini, who raced in Formula 3 this season, is understood to be making a move up to Formula 2.

News outlet 'F1 Feeder Series' have understood that after an unsuccessful season, Olli Caldwell will be making a move to fellow F2 team Charouz Racing, leaving a vacant seat. For placing someone in the vacant seat, 22-year-old Kush Maini has emerged as the front runner for the Spanish squad. He will supposedly be partnering with Swiss driver Ralph Boschung who will be having his sixth year in the series and fourth year with Campos.

A year break

After finishing the 2021 F3 Asian Championship with a podium, Maini took one year off from racing. He came back through MP Motorsport in F3 where he partnered Alex Smolyer and Caio Collet. Maini had a mixed rookie season with the Dutch squad in Formula 3. He did put in some strong performances but was unfortunate to not score many points. He finished behind both his teammates in the final standings. Both Collet and Smolyer scored 76, compared to Maini's 31. He ended up 14th in the 30-driver championship.

His best race result was the podium finish in the sprint race at Hungaroring, where he surged up the grid from P7 to finish P3. Maini scored his first F3 points in the feature race at Imola. He had qualified P10 for the Sunday feature event. On the back of his tenacious drive, he finished P5 and took home 10 valuable points.

Maini's deeper racing accomplishments consist of being the runner-up in the 2020 BRDC British Formula 3. He has also competed in the Italian F4 Championship and Formula Renault Eurocup. His brother Arjun Maini used to be an MP Motorsport driver in Formula 3 too. Arjun last competed in the recently concluded DTM Championship.

Woeful season for Campos

Campos Racing didn't have the greatest 2022 at all. With 67 points, they finished 10th in the 11-team constructor's championship. Boschung was in and out during the season due to constant injuries. He missed Spain, Monaco, Britain, Austria, France and Hungary due to injuries. He finished 15th with 40 points. The season prior was comparatively better for Campos in terms of position. They finished P7 in the constructors. The Spanish team's best-ever performance came in 2019 when they finished P5 with 189 points.

However, the move can't be confirmed at this point as Campos obviously have some other drivers on the list. Apart from Maini, Richard Verschoor is understood to be the other major contender for the seat. The Dutch driver had won the opening F2 race of the season.