Arjun Maini Is Haas F1 Team's New Development Driver

Good news racing fans! Bangalore boy Arjun Maini is a step closer to being a full-time driver in Formula 1! The 19-year old racer has been selected as one of the two new Development Drivers at the Haas F1 Team. He becomes only the third Indian driver to be a part of Formula 1, following in the footsteps of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok.

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Arjun has come into the team as a replacement for Monégasque racing driver Charles Leclerc (who is concentrating on his stint in the 2017 Formula 2 Championship) and will accompany American racing driver Santino Ferrucci. Both the drivers will be tasked with developing Haas's VF-17 Formula One car over the course of the season and also gain more knowledge about F1 in general in their endeavour to becoming full-time drivers in the sport.

“It’s an honour to be a part of Haas F1 Team’s driver development program,” Maini said after the announcement. “I am eager to learn, understand and experience how a Formula One team operates. Everything I learn can be used immediately in GP3 while preparing for my ultimate goal of Formula One.”

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Concurrently, Arjun will also be participating in the 2017 GP3 Series where he will continue to race with Jenzer Motorsport for the second consecutive season. Maini joined the team mid-season, with a transfer from the Formula 3 European Championship and even though he missed 4 races, he was able to finish in a respectable 10th place overall in the championship. His highlight in the 2016 GP3 was when he finished second in Race 2 at the Budapest GP.

Arjun has had help from a lot of people in his rise to the highest echelons of racing, including fellow Indian driver and former F1 competitor Karun Chandhok. Karun has been mentoring the teenager for over three years now and had advised him to shift base to the UK around 2011 to be closer to the racing action all the time. Karun's mentorship, managerial skills and friendship have sure seemed to help Arjun put his career on the right track in becoming a successful Formula 1 driver in the future. Arjun Maini may be getting ready to move to the US to be closer to the Haas Team's development centre in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

Arjun's work at the Hass F1 Team should help him become a better driver in GP3, while his performance in GP3 will affect his future prospects at Haas and Formula 1 in general. The 2017 GP3 season began on May 11, 2017, with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

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Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team 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 and now GP3. We’ll keep a keen eye on his progress this year.”

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The Haas F1 is the latest entrant to the sport, joining the competition in 2016 - the first all-American team to do so after 30 years. The team had a good start last year, securing eighth position in the constructor's championship in a fight between 11 teams. In 2017, with four of the 20 races completed, Haas is currently in 7th position in the constructor's championship - with French Romain Grosjean and Dane Kevin Magnussen driving the car.