F1: Kush Maini joins the Alpine Academy program

The BWT Alpine F1 Team announced Tuesday that FIA Formula 2 driver Kush Maini has joined the Alpine Academy.

As the latest addition to the team’s young driver development program, Kush will benefit from the guidance and support of both the Academy’s fleet of staff and the wider BWT Alpine F1 Team, as well as access to the team’s state-of-the-art facilities at its Formula 1 base in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

Currently competing in his rookie FIA Formula 2 season with Campos Racing, Kush secured his first F2 podium with a third-place finish in the Sprint Race in Australia and his best Qualifying result of second at Silverstone. The Bangalore-born Indian driver currently sits just outside of the top 10 in the championship standings having secured 11 point scoring finishes across the season.

The 23-year-old driver will join the growing Alpine Academy line-up which currently features drivers such as BWT Alpine F1 Team Reserve Driver Jack Doohan and 2022 FIA Formula 3 Champion Victor Martins, and has a host of successful graduates including current F1 drivers Zhou Guanyu and Oscar Piastri, and Olli Caldwell who currently competes for Alpine Elf Endurance Team.

Kush Maini, Alpine Academy driver: “I am super excited to be joining the Alpine Academy. 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, BWT Alpine F1 Team Interim Sporting Director: “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 program. 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.”