Arjun Maini explained his actions yesterday and revealed that his comments were meant to hit at series organisers
What has come as one of the verbal shockers of the season at a top-class racing event, the shining Indian talent, Arjun Maini, was on an emotional outburst at the Sprint Race for F2 championship in Paul Ricard, France. The 20-year-old is a development driver for Haas F1 Team and is the next big talent from India, who is on a right course to compete in premiere racing series, Formula 1, following the footsteps of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok.
The Bengaluru-born driver was the first Indian to finish on podium in GP3 Series two years ago at the Hungaroring. In a field of promising young talents from around the world, Arjun raced for Jenzer Motorsport in 2017 and came home ninth overall in GP3 with a win in Barcelona and a third place in Abu Dhabi. He is having a tough campaign in F2 this year with two retirements despite ending up fifth three times.
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He vented out his frustrations on live radio after having qualified 17th in Paul Ricard, nearly three tenths down on his team-mate Santino Ferrucci, and could only manage 10th in the Feature Race. He was far off the pace compared to eventual winner George Russell by over one and half minute and Sprint Race would not help his fortunes either.
The Trident driver took to the radio for an emotional meltdown. He said “I swear you guys don’t support me at all. I do everything every ****ing session!
“You can’t do this to me, mate! I have no ****ing power out of the corner, why doesn’t anybody ****ing believe me?”
Right after the Sprint Race yesterday, Maini explained his actions and revealed that his comments were meant to hit at series organisers. While Nyck De Vries snatched victory on a thrilling race, Maini said that he lost about 7 kmph down the straight and endured issues during Free Practice. A pipe was found to be melting and his Trident team had to react for qualifying and replace it.
It melted again and his speed plummeted down the long straight at Paul Ricard, crucial for overtakes, compared to his team-mate or other drivers. The same problem occurred for some others drivers too and since the championship has standardised regulations to promote wheel-to-wheel racing, he questioned the one-make nature’s credibility.