Alpine have announced that Formula 2 rookie Kush Maini has become the latest addition to the team’s growing young driver programme.
Maini is about to complete his first full season in Formula 2 with Campos Racing, where the Indian racer is currently 11th in the drivers’ standings. He secured his first F2 podium with a third-place finish in the Sprint Race in Australia, as well as his best qualifying result of second at Silverstone.
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He will now benefit from the from the guidance and support of both the Academy’s fleet of staff and the wider Alpine F1 team, as well as access to their state-of-the-art facilities at their Formula 1 base in Enstone.
The 23-year-old joins an Academy line-up that currently features F2 rivals Jack Doohan – who is currently Alpine’s reserve driver – and Victor Martins, and has a host of successful F1 graduates in Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
“I am super excited to be joining the Alpine Academy,” said Maini. “It’s a dream come true to be associated with a team like BWT Alpine F1 Team, where I can learn and grow to hopefully one day be ready to take the step into Formula 1. A massive thank you to Alpine for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”
Julian Rouse, Alpine F1 Team Interim Sporting Director added: “We are happy to welcome Kush into the Alpine Academy. He is a young talent who we believe has strong potential and will be a great asset to our driver development programme.
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“The Alpine Academy will enter its ninth year in 2024 and currently features nine drivers of eight nationalities, spanning four different series from FIA Formula 2 through to European Karting.
“The continual expansion of the Academy’s talent pool runs in parallel to the expansion of our facilities at Enstone with the development of our new state-of-the-art training and testing facilities, the AHPC, underway.”