You are the busiest of all reserve drivers because you have F2 too. How do you manage both?
The mountain has trust in me and they have seen me driving an F1 car in a private test. But my F2 duties are now ahead of F1. according to [my role in] Alps, I was there to ask for any help they need. However, I still have to prove myself in F2.
Even though we showed the flash of speed and promise, F2 didn’t disappear exactly the way I wanted it to. In F2, I had the opportunity to participate for another year and my main goal was to win the championship.
I know F1 guys, engineers and other staff. If my performance improves, I’m almost likely next.
Have you talked to Alpine about free practice classes?
This is one of the goals of the reserve [driver] Alpine is very open, but ultimately F1 is a performance sport. They trust me completely, but I have to show the world what I can do. I have a great team in F2 and I feel very positive.
The last Indian Grand Prix was held ten years ago and there is still some time since the Indian team competed in Formula 1. Do you think the absence of a family GP is a barrier to your F1 aspiration, especially when it comes to getting a sponsor? Yes? but [Netflix docu-series] “Survival drive” helps and is getting bigger and bigger. Obviously, cricket is big in India, rightly so: we are really good at it. And many of us are very good at it. But the reason we are very good at is accessibility, the training the athletes receive, and the infrastructure that the car has not yet. So it’s much harder for us.
Again, racing is a very expensive sport. If you go to the sponsor and say, “You can be on my cricket bat or my F1 car, I think they will choose cricket”. The Indian Grand Prix will be of great help [in changing this] Winning F1 in India is also one of my dreams. I would choose a thousand times instead of Monaco.
I think my F1 arrives properly [with a seat] It can definitely help the Indian GP come back.
Have you not seen a recent increase in sponsor interest?
have. Otherwise this is impossible.
I remember in 2021, after Covid, I was going to stop the game because we ran out of sponsors and money. There are companies that keep my dream alive – JK Tire has been with me from the beginning; TV really helps; obviously high mountains – without them I wouldn’t be my place.
But I just feel like I’m a country and we can do more things – not only for me, but for everyone who is trying, there are more drivers now attracting people’s interest, but it’s very hard compared to other sports.
How is the competition in the Buddhist International Tour…
I did the X1 Racing League there and we won. I have a circle record in BMW. My first recipe racing ever was at the Buddha’s JK Tire Championship, and I was the last one died. So some interesting memories.
But it’s a world-class track and I love it. Long-term straight lines provide amazing overtaking opportunities for a very tight break zone.
Do you think India is ready to host the F1 competition?
100%. We were ready 15 years ago and did a great job the first time. But again, the people in the organization need to have some understanding of racing – it is an elite sport. I think we can do whatever we want with the right leadership and the right organization.
How has the Indian racing scene evolved since you first started the race or the overall follower of the sport?
I saw more people joining it. I see more Indians in Grand Prix such as Bahrain etc. It is certainly growing, but in a sense it is growing slowly. It does help back to India for the Grand Prix.
But I feel more exposure, and more help from the country does help.
In the racing car in India…
Indian racers still need to go to Europe, where they cannot develop their skills. There is no proper series here. So, there is still a long way to go, but, I think we can speed it up.
You started with a kart, how did this happen?
I started karting when I was seven. I just wanted to beat my brother (Arjun Maini, also a racer). He won everything and attracted all the attention. So I am a jealous little kid and I want to defeat him. (laugh)
The first three years – from 7 to 10 – I was terrible. Nothing wins. I am an athlete from the school and used to participate in and participate in different sports, while Arjun just focused on racing. Then, when I was 10, I won the first game. That was when I started to take it more seriously and I started to really get into it and sacrifice for it.
Then at the age of 12, I headed to Europe. When people asked me when I started karting, I said seven, but, actually, when I moved to Europe, the real karting started.
Favorite F1 driver of all time…
Mika [Häkkinen]- Not just because he is my mentor, but Kimmy [Räikkönen]both are my own great heroes.
Senna is obviously someone I’ve never met before, but he was inspired a lot. And the current grid: Lewis [Hamilton].
How is working with Mika? He always has confidence in you reaching F1…
Mika believes most, and it’s so refreshing because it’s Mika.
After every game, I report with him and I see him in some games.
When I was chatting with him, Jeddah developed – even though the pace, car setup, driving were all on Point, we had some problems that we couldn’t control – he gave me some advice on how to solve the problem and how to get the results we wanted. He also gave me some ideas for setting up and asked questions about the engineer.
This kind of thing is priceless.
His belief in me will never waver, and even if I do it sometimes, he really believes in me. And, I think, when the stars are aligned, I can be the fastest.
So far, there hasn’t been a great season in the mountains…
We saw everything they did at the end of last year and how they picked it up… They are a very capable person who knows what they are doing.
I really believe we will see the repetitions from last year.
Have you chatted with Flavio [Briatore]?
We had a few chats here and there and he was always nice to me.
He is obviously a very busy person and I am busy with F2. After the F2 game, I only went to the F1 paddock. On the weekend when the game wasn’t conflicted, I fulfilled my reserves. I’m sure I’ll spend more time.
You used the F2 car in the Formula E and now the F1. How do you quickly learn and adapt to different cars, and what are the key differences?
F1 is just a completely different world – even compared to F2. How fast is this, the amount of things you can manipulate when you are inside the car.
Imagine you only use two controls to play video games where you can only hit and punch 15, where you can do a lot of different things. This is the difference between F2 and F1.
It may take 30-40 minutes of change in F2, and pressing a button in F1 allows four mechanics to be performed in F1. You can adjust your balance frequently and report more deeply. The F1 is more predictable than the F2 car because it has a much better design.
So F1 is very fun, very fun, very fast. But F2 can still help you prepare for F1 to some extent. I’m already very comfortable in my first test in the F1 car [because of F2 experience].
Equation E is very interesting. The basics remain the same, but the way you can do it quickly changes significantly. For example: Trying to break in F1 might work, but not in FormulaE, so you have to adapt to these things. But honestly, I welcome the challenge because the more you adapt, the more uses you have for a driver, which helps drive in the rain, manage grip, tire management, and more.
How do you manage your game day nerves
In my opinion, nervousness is not a bad thing. It shows that you still care what you are doing, which is important to you. I don’t think this will go away, and it does go, maybe it’s a day I should stop.
But you can use nerves for negative or positive results. Over the years, through a lot of work, I started turning it into positive, in which case it can actually help your performance instead of making it worse.
