Kush Maini Just Had His Best F2 Season Yet, and Alpine Has Already Put Him in an F1 Car

The Bengaluru driver is sixth in the 2026 Formula 2 standings after his best season yet, and Alpine already tested him in a real F1 car. Here is how close India actually is to a second F1 driver.

Kush Maini has never been closer to Formula 1, and it is not down to luck. The Bengaluru driver sits sixth in the 2026 FIA Formula 2 championship with a Sprint Race win in Barcelona and a runner up finish at the Hungaroring.

In December he swapped his F2 car for a real Alpine A525 Formula 1 car at an official post season test. India has produced exactly one F1 driver in two decades. Maini’s 2026 season is the strongest on-track case yet that it might get a second.

This site covered Maini’s place in India’s domestic racing pipeline last week, when the JK Tyre national championship turned 29. That piece was about where Indian racers come from. This one is about what Maini has actually done on track in 2026, and what an Alpine reserve seat really means for his chances of getting to F1 itself.

Kush Maini’s 2026 Formula 2 Season So Far

Maini is driving for ART Grand Prix this year, car number 16, his fourth season in F2 and first with this team. His campaign turned a corner at the Barcelona round in June: he passed pole sitter Noel León into Turn 1 and led every lap of the Sprint Race, winning by roughly seven seconds.

It was his third F2 career win and his first of 2026, and it lifted him from 10th to 9th in the standings, according to Formula1.com and thebridge.in.

His best weekend followed at the Hungaroring in late July: fifth in Saturday’s Sprint Race, then second in Sunday’s Feature Race with the fastest lap of the race, 0.8 seconds off the winner. That result took him to 25 points and sixth in the drivers’ championship, his third podium of the season, per khelnow.com’s race report.

“Sometimes you can do everything right, but not get the biggest trophy, but I’m very satisfied with the way we worked and performed over the weekend,” Maini said after Hungary, quoted by khelnow.com. F2 was on its summer break through early August; the next round on the calendar is Monza.

From a Bengaluru Karting Track to an Alpine F1 Car

Maini, born in Bengaluru in September 2000, started karting at seven and won the JK Tyre National Karting Championship’s Rotax Micro Max class at 10, then Italy’s Trofeo Andrea Margutti in 2015, per his Wikipedia record and Forbes India’s profile.

Racing runs in the family: father Gautam raced in Formula 3, and older brother Arjun Maini drives a Ford Mustang GT3 EVO for HRT Ford Racing in the 2026 DTM season, alongside a GT World Challenge Europe programme with Haupt Racing Team.

The more interesting family link for an Indian car buyer is his uncle, Chetan Maini. Chetan founded the Reva Electric Car Company in 1994 and launched the REVA hatchback in 2001, one of the first mass-market electric cars sold anywhere.

Mahindra bought a 55 percent stake in the company in 2010, renamed it Mahindra Reva, and used what Chetan had built to launch the Mahindra e2o, a direct ancestor of the EVs Mahindra sells today.

Does Being Alpine’s Reserve Driver Actually Mean Anything?

Maini has been Alpine’s Academy driver and test and reserve driver since 2025, a role renewed for 2026 alongside his F2 seat. A reserve driver stands by to race if a team’s regular driver cannot, and does simulator and testing work between grands prix; it is a development job, not a race contract.

In December 2025, Alpine put him in the actual A525, the car it raced that season, for the post-season Young Driver Test at Abu Dhabi, his first time in modern F1 machinery rather than the simulator.

Be clear-eyed about what that test was. It was real seat time in a current-spec F1 car, which matters, but it was a single test day open to junior drivers across the grid, not an audition with a contract attached.

Most F1 reserve drivers never get a race seat, and no team has announced a timeline for Maini beyond his current role. What his 2026 season proves is that he is racing at a level, inside a manufacturer academy, that keeps the possibility genuinely alive.

Where India’s Other Racers Stand Right Now

Maini is not racing in isolation, but he is currently the closest to F1 out of India’s active pool. The table below is a snapshot, not a ranking; the series are not directly comparable.

Maini is not one race away from F1. He is one strong F2 season and a supportive Alpine management decision away from being a live candidate for a seat, which is further than any Indian driver has been in a decade.

Is Kush Maini Going to Race in Formula 1?

There is no confirmation either way. He holds Alpine’s test and reserve driver role for 2026, has driven a current-spec F1 car in an official session, and is having his best-ever F2 season. None of that comes with a promised race seat, and Alpine has not announced one.

What Team Does Kush Maini Drive for in F2 in 2026?

He races for ART Grand Prix, car number 16, in his fourth Formula 2 season and first with this team, while also serving as Alpine’s F1 Academy and reserve driver.

Has an Indian Driven in Formula 1 Before?

Yes. Narain Karthikeyan became India’s first F1 driver with Jordan in 2005 and later raced for HRT. He remains India’s only F1 driver so far, which is the gap Maini’s 2026 form is trying to close.